From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   1-09  Death In Chains   
      
   First air date –  November 13, 1995   
      
       The episode starts out with Celesta 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.   
        *She's a god, she's Death – why would she bother to knock? *   
       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.   
        *She's a god, so if no magic was involved, why couldn't she just   
   transport/orb out of the chair? *   
       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.   
       And of course there is the obligatory band of thugs, lead by Toxeus, who   
   wants Xena to join him or die (haven't we heard this one before?). 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.   
       And then while they are traveling, Hades rides up on them (in a VERY   
   cool chariot), Gabrielle hides while Xena confronts him. He tells Xena that   
   Sisyphus has captured Celesta, his sister, and wants Xena to free her.   
       *He's a god, why can't he do it himself?  (Actually, according to   
   Whoosh! He is afraid that if the other gods find out, HE will a laughing   
   stock; go figure.)   
   While walking toward Corinth, where Sisyphus' castle is, Gabrielle makes a   
   very astute  observation –   
   "I’ve been thinking.  If Sisyphus gets his way, and nobody ever dies, people   
   will have to watch how   
   they word things.  I mean, if you tell someone that you’ll love them   
   forever, it means forever."   
   * I just love that!   
       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. They bond while   
   helping the injured and while getting water from a pond.   
       Toxeus shows up again, and again they fight, but for some dumb reason   
   Xena tells him why he didn't die and that she's going to free Celesta, so of   
   course he's going to do all he can to stop her.   
       Xena heads to the castle while she sends Gabrielle and Talus to a   
   hospital. While there Gabrielle tells Talus to get water for an old woman,   
   who tells Gabrielle  that if Xena touches Celesta she will die. So the water   
   is forgotten about and 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.   
       Gabrielle hides behind a curtain from the thugs and has a cute encounter   
   with a rat.   
       While Xena and Talus are crawling through some kind of drainage system,   
   they are inundated with rats (one of Lucy's 'favorite' scenes!).   
   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.   
   [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.   
   Sisyphus tells Celesta he's ready to go. But she says his time will come,   
   that she has to take someone else instead, who is Talus.   
   Gabrielle can't understand, but Xena tells her how sick he is. As Celesta   
   and Talus are leaving, a devastated Gabrielle turns to Xena for the   
   consoling hug, and for some reason, Xena looks very uncomfortable.   
   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?   
   * Also, if it was Talus' time to die, and not Sisyphus – why go to Sisyphus'   
   castle in the first place?   
   * Sometimes I have a problem figuring out these gods and their powers. I   
   would assume (don't say it!) that despite their specialties, they should   
   pretty much be able to do whatever they want to do, and should have to   
   abilities of each other, even though there are the major gods - Zeus, Ares,   
   Hades, and minor gods - Strife, Discord.  But maybe I'm confusing them with   
   a truly omnipotent god. *   
      
   Despite the myriad of plot holes, I really liked this episode.  I liked   
   seeing Hades, and wouldn't mind seeing more of him. And I actually felt   
   sorry for Gabrielle when she found out Talus had to die, her crying really   
   got to me.   
      
   I give this one a 7 out of 10.   
      
   ```````````````````````````````````   
   And one more thing. I use Whoosh to double check the names, the spellings,   
   etc. And while I was reading over the deleted scenes, I found a short, fun   
   scene with Xena and Gabrielle talking about their encounter with Hades –   
        Gabrielle: "I can't believe it. Eternal life. We're gonna live   
   forever!"   
         Xena: "Not so fast. Nobody's living forever."   
         Gabrielle: "So, you're gonna help Hades?"   
         Xena: "He's not evil, Gabrielle, just misunderstood. And what he wants   
   is for the good of mankind."   
         Gabrielle: "I don't trust him. He has beady eyes. And since when do   
   the gods ask you for favors?"   
         Xena: "When the favor is to defeat King Sisyphus."   
         Gabrielle: "Sisyphus. Right. I've heard he's the shrewdest man alive.   
   He has this amazing castle, very creepy. Sisyphus and his allies wiped the   
   floor with the one army stupid enough to invade."   
         Xena (interrupted): " *We* fought them to a draw."   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)