From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   1-20 Ties That Bind   
      
   First air date – April 29, 1996   
      
   The episode starts with Kirilus and his army imprisoning girls taken from   
   Lotia to be sold as slaves. Ares shows up in Kirilus' tent and tells him   
   that Xena is going to replace him. Kirilus swears it won't happen.   
      
       Xena and Gabrielle are watching from a distance. Xena intends to free   
   them when they see an armored warrior attacking two of Kirilus' men. Xena   
   runs down to help him. She knocks them out and helps the old man get away.   
   While she is bandaging his arm Gabrielle runs up, says Xena's name, and the   
   guy says he is Atrius,  Xena's father. She doesn't believe him.   
      
       Xena goes into the camp and distracts the men while Gabrielle frees the   
   women. One runs in a different direction and Gabrielle runs after her.   
   Atrius is there to save them.     Atrius says he knows where a second horse   
   is, to make the trip easier. Xena blows him off again.   
      
       One of the women, Rhea, doesn't want to go back because she volunteered   
   to go with Kirilus to save her sister.   
      
       Ares tells "General" Kirilus that Xena is going to take over his army.   
      
       Atrius rides by, being chased by two men. Xena brings them down, and   
   Atrius tells her they owed him the horse. She asks the two men and Atrius is   
   telling the truth. Slowly, Xena is beginning to accept Atrius.   
      
       Kirilus gets one of his men with a blowgun to kill Xena. He tries but   
   Xena catches the dart and sends him back to Kirilus, but Atrius kills him in   
   apparent cold blood, and Gabrielle witnesses it. But Atrius says the man had   
   a hidden dagger, which Xena finds.   
      
       Gabrielle takes the women on ahead and tells Xena she and Atrius should   
   stay behind to protect their rear. Xena uses the Pinch on one of Kirilus'   
   men and he says the army is advancing on Lotia.   
      
       Gabrielle gets the women to Lotia safely. When Xena and Atrius arrive   
   with a warning, Atrius is captured for pulling the same trick earlier.   
      
       Xena goes to Kirilus' camp to confront him. They fight. He loses and   
   Xena takes his army to Lotia.   
      
       Ares tells Kirilus he was only using him to get Xena to go bad again.   
      
       Xena sees Atrius beaten and strung up for the vultures. Xena and her   
   army attack the village and everyone is captured. When it appears Atrius is   
   dead, Xena threatens to kill them all, but Gabrielle stands up to her with a   
   pitchfork. Xena throws her aside. Gabrielle then hits Xena from behind,   
   knocking her down.   
      
       Xena gets up, then Atrius is awake and tells Xena to use her army to   
   fight for him. Xena slowly realizes it's Ares posing as Atrius.  Xena tells   
   Ares she will never be his, and she'd rather he killed her. He comes close   
   but doesn't. And he tells her until the next time.   
      
       As Gabrielle and Xena are leaving, Xena tells Gabrielle she swings a   
   pretty mean pitch fork, and Gabrielle says she learned from the best.  And   
   Xena says she owes her one.   
      
      
       Not a bad episode.   
      
   At first I thought the old man was Meleager until I got a better look at   
   him.   
      
   That was SO stupid – Rhea not wanting to go back because she sacrificed   
   herself for her sister. If she had conspired with Kirilus, THAT  I could   
   understand. (But she sure looked good!)   
      
   I liked seeing Ares again, he's always so smarmy.   
      
   Xena is ready to kill everyone, even Gabrielle, for her father's death. But   
   later tells her that their friendship binds them closer than blood ever   
   could.  Sorry, Xena, you can't have it BOTH ways!   
      
   I REALLY liked seeing Gabrielle stand up to Xena with only a crude   
   pitchfork. And I liked seeing her clobber Xena with it.  It was just a good   
   thing Atrius/Ares spoke up when he did, otherwise Gabrielle might have been   
   in some deep shit!   
      
   Like I said, not bad, about a 6.5. But seeing Gabrielle stand up to Xena   
   like she did bumped it up to a 7.5 out of 10.   
      
      
   David   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)