From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   Episode 9   
   Death in  Chains   
       Brief Recap   
      
   The episode starts out with Celesta (Death) gliding up to a castle and one   
   of the guards tells her the king isn't seeing anyone and he tries to make   
   time with her. She touches him and he falls dead.  Inside is King Sisyphus   
   and his wife, a MUCH younger Karas.  There is a knock at the door, and it is   
   Celesta.   
       Celesta comes in looking for Sisyphus, but first he invites her to sit   
   and enjoy a meal before they go. She suddenly appears in front of her chair   
   then sits down, and places her candle on the table. Then clamps come out and   
   entrap her wrists, chains criss-cross her chest. Celesta is confused, she   
   thinks Sisyphus is a sorcerer, but he tells her it's just a simple trick.   
   So we cut to Xena and Gabrielle, who is wearing new clothes, some kind of   
   leather outfit showing a pair of really GREAT legs!!  (Obviously, all that   
   walking she had to do while Xena was riding (Argo) really paid off!) But   
   even though blue is a very complimentary color for Gabrielle, I didn't much   
   like the necklace thingy she was wearing.   
              [Another episode out of order - in the next one we see Gabrielle   
   changing into what she's wearing in this one!]   
   And of course there is the obligatory band of thugs, lead by Toxeus, who   
   wants Xena to join him or die.They fight, Toxeus gets stabbed, his men run   
   away and Xena and Gabrielle leave. But Toxeus wakes up. While Celesta is   
   captured, no one can die.   
      While they are traveling, Hades rides up on them, Gabrielle hides while   
   Xena confronts him. He tells Xena that Sisyphus has captured Celesta, his   
   sister, and wants Xena to free her.   
       Xena and Gab come across people who have been hurt in a rock slide, and   
   once again, Gabrielle meets the Love Of Her Life, Talus. Xena heads to the   
   castle while she sends Gabrielle and Talus to a hospital. While there   
   Gabrielle an old woman, who tells Gabrielle  that if Xena touches Celesta   
   she will die. So Gabrielle and Talus rush off to warn Xena.   
       They get into the castle through a secret passageway but are separated   
   when they have to run from Toxeus' men who have followed them. Talus falls   
   through a trapdoor and ends up in the bottom of the castle with Xena, who   
   has fallen through her own trapdoor while talking to Sisyphus.   
        Xena finds out that Talus has a bad heart and is dying. But they   
   finally find Sisyphus and Talus, who grew up in the castle, talks the king   
   into freeing Celesta, but before he can, Toxeus and his men arrive. Toxeus   
   grabs Gabrielle and puts a knife to her throat, saying she will be the first   
   one to die if Celesta is freed.   
      Everyone fights, and while Xena is using her Chakram on the bad guys, it   
   also cuts open the clamps and Celesta is freed.   
   But Celesta is there to take Talus not Sisyphus.   
      
   Okay -- a few problems here....   
       If Celesta is after Talus - WHY go to the castle and make Sisyphus think   
   HE'S the target?   
      She's a god, so if no magic was involved, why couldn't she just   
   transport/orb out of the chair?   
     Hades is a god, why can't he free Celesta himself?  (Actually, according   
   to Whoosh! he is afraid that if the other gods find out, HE will a laughing   
   stock; lame.)   
   Going back to the beginning –   
   Sisyphus:  “I know I can’t blow out your candle, Celesta.  But I’ve   
   noticed,   
   when you’re not holding it, it burns down very nicely.”   
   Celesta:  “If it burns out, I will cease to exist.”   
      Okay, the candle is burning down, but it grows back even BEFORE she picks   
   it up.   
   Celesta puts her hand on Talus' shoulder and, presumably, he dies.  So – we   
   can assume it was his spirit that left with Celesta, so what happened to his   
   body? And what happened to the bodies of the other guys that died?   
      
   Despite the myriad of plot holes, I really liked this episode.  I liked   
   seeing Hades, and wouldn't mind seeing more of him   
      
   I give this one a 7 out of 10.   
      
      Sins of the Past  -- 7   
       Chariots of War – 7   
       Dreamworker ---   8   
      Cradle of Hope --   6   
      Path Not Taken --  6   
      The Reckoning --   8   
      The Titans -------    6   
      Death in Chains -- 7   
      Average...............  8   
      
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)