Written by RJ Stewart
Directed by John Fawcett
Gabrielle tracks down Xena who is going on a suicide mission to settle unfinished business in Nordic lands.
Tropes
- Barrier-Busting Blow: Just when the two thought the area has become quiet, Grendel punches through the gate and sends him flying.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Gabrielle finding Beowulf but no sign of Xena other than her armor.
- Cool Horse: Valkyries ride horses that can fly without the need for wings.
- "Dear John" Letter: Xena leaves behind a letter to Gabrielle stating she doesn't expect to make it back to her.
- Fighting Your Friend: Gabrielle ends up fighting the woman she was talking to earlier in the day. Gabrielle puts up a good fight and draws blood, but she is eventually overwhelmed. It turns out the lady wanted to see how good Gabrielle was in a fight.
- Greed: Evil Xena approves of the way the vikings died in the name of greed:
"Greed is one of the fundamentals of life. It's like sex. It's-it's like the will to power. It's survival."
- Last Stand: Evil Xena convinces a group of vikings to stand and fight instead of retreating as suggested by Brunhilde.Xena: This is a battlefield! The only thing to do here is fight. Your pursuers come over that rise in seconds. So you can surrender and crawl back to your hovels and the everlasting scorn of your kinfolk, or you can go out in a blaze of glory and fight and die in Odin's name!
- Punched Across the Room: Both Xena and Beowulf are knocked around all over the barn.
- Ring of Power: Xena creates a ring out of the rheingold in order to make her invincible.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Grendel was trapped in a prison created by Odin. 35 years later, it was revealed that he has escaped.
- Sparing the Aces: Xena decides to spare head valkyries Brunhilde for reasons unknown at the time.
- Story Arc: This is the first of a three-episode arc set in Northern Europe.
- Suicide Mission: Xena makes things clear to Gabrielle on her letter that her trip up north is one she sees no chance of surviving. It's why she left Gabrielle behind.
- Valkyries: It's revealed that Xena was once a Valkyrie under the service of Odin.
- Wham Shot: Other than the new armor and the terrifying monster, it didn't seem to be out of the ordinary for a Xena episode. That changes when Xena hops on a horse... that proceeds to fly on its own.
- Whole Episode Flashback
