From: davideml@bellsouth.net
"Ahroo" wrote in message
news:H69Yh.12618$YL5.9044@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...
> Jumping into the conversation late, as usual!
>
> Since a lot of things have already been discussed, there is one point that
bothers me about the
> end of this episode (despite which, I still give this a solid 10!).
>
>> Ming T'ien crawls out from the rubble and says to Xena he has something to
tell her. Xena sends
>> Gabrielle away. He says he killed Lao Ma himself. Xena says she was his
mother and he replies
>> that he knew it, and knew she wouldn't use her powers against her little
boy. He gives Xena the
>> lethal hairpin from Lao Ma. Then he says he cut her heart out.
>>
>> When Gabrielle returns Xena is talking to Ming T'ien as he sits on his
throne. She tells him he
>> lost face with his people and they won't follow him anymore. She takes the
book of Loa Tzu's
>> sayings and she and Gabrielle leave.
>>
>> Gabrielle tells Xena she loves her, and Xena says it back.
>>
>> And then we see the hair pin sticking out of Ming T'ien's right temple.
Xena killed him after
>> all, and let Gabrielle believe she didn't.
>>
>> '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
>>
>> I think Xena was actually going to just walk away from Ming T'ien until he
gloated over killing
>> Lao Ma.
>>
>> But then she killed him and set him back on the throne, and was talking to
him when Gabrielle
>> came back in like he was still alive. A lie that may come back to haunt her
(as, no doubt, Hope
>> will return to haunt Gabrielle).
>
> I'm not sure that Xena did intend, initially, to just walk out without
killing Ming Tien. As she
> begins to destroy the palace, and she's killing many of his soldiers, at one
point she throws one
> of her "energy missiles" in his direction and he is buried under rubble. I
think it is very
> possible that at that point, she did believe she had actually killed him,
and had fulfilled Lao
> Ma's last wish. She seems to register a brief look of surprise on her face
when he does emerge
> from the pile.So why there would then be a sudden change of heart and she
decides she doesn't
> need to kill him after all to "make him small" has never made sense to me.
It doesn't make sense
> the other way either - if you think that it was not her intent to kill Ming
Tien, by the time she
> breaks free and starts destroying the palace, I still don't see why she
changed her mind to
> arrive at that decision. It didn't bother either Xena or Gabby that Xena
undoubtedly killed a
> number of Ming Tien's soldiers in her effort to break free and destroy the
palace. Why are their
> lives worth nothing, but Ming Tien should be spared? Some real double
standard issues going on
> here!
>
I guess the scene can be interpreted in a couple of ways. It did look
like she directed one
of her mind blasts in his direction, so maybe she did intend to kill him. But
I felt that if he had
kept his big mouth shut Xena would have just walked away. But after she killed
him, it was still an
overt, big FAT lie she perpetrated on Gabrielle.
> Brief note - I think that when Gabby first re-enters the room (just after
Xena has killed Ming
> Tien - even though we don't know it yet), the expression on Xena's face
momentarily registers
> fear that perhaps Gabrielle witnessed the killing.
>
> One of the things I wish was that they had found a way to bring Lao Ma back
into the series at
> some point. She was such a great character, she deserved more screen time!
Perhaps Jacqueline Kim
> was not interested/available, or TPTB couldn't think up a way to do so that
made sense, but I
> certainly would have liked to see much more of her!
>
> Laura
>
>
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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