From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
                                   6.8 The Ring   
      
   First airing was Nov. 20, 2000.   
      
   The story starts out with scenes from the previous episode, "The Rheingold."   
      
   Gabrielle, Brunhilda and Beowulf are walking through the woods looking for   
   Xena. They find blood on a tree. Beowulf keeps insisting Xena is dead.   
   Gabrielle says she isn't. Gabrielle finds one of Xena's forearm gauntlets   
   and says again she isn't dead, she's escaped. Then she suggests they split   
   up to cover more ground.   
      
   While Gabrielle is looking around, Xena comes up behind her and puts her   
   hand over her mouth, then shows her the monster off in the distance. After   
   it goes, Gabrielle turns around, grabs Xena, and tells her to never leave   
   her again. Brunhilda and Beowulf find them. Xena says she knows Gabrielle   
   won't go, but the other two should since it's her fight. Both Brunhilda and   
   Beowulf say they won't leave Gabrielle.   
      
   They find Grindl's cave and go inside with torches. Gabrielle wants to know   
   who Grindl is. Xena flashes back to making the ring. Grinhilda shoots an   
   arrow through the ring and recovers it. She puts the ring on to have the   
   power of a god to kill Xena. They fight some, then the ring turns her into a   
   monster. Xena cuts off the finger with the ring and puts it on. Grindl   
   flees. Xena traps it in the cave and puts the two-headed raven lock on as   
   Grindl gets the ring from her.   
      
   Back in the present Xena says that after 35 years, Grindl lost all love and   
   now has the power of the ring and escaped.   
      
   They hear Grindl coming and they set a trap. Xena leads Grindl almost to a   
   place where the other three are going to drop a large boulder on it, but it   
   runs away. They chase it. It knocks them all down and everyone tries to   
   fight it. Xena sees a timber holding up the ceiling is cracked. She tells   
   them to run away.   
      
   She throws her Chakram and breaks the beam, but she is tripped up before she   
   can escape and is trapped with Grindl. While Gabrielle tries to dig through   
   the pile of rocks, Xena is being beaten senseless.   
      
   Gabrielle gets through, picks up Xena's Chakram and runs toward the fighting   
   noises. She jumps on Grindl's back and beats it with the Chakram, with   
   little effect. She is thrown off and Xena gets the weapon. She jams it into   
   its belly, then slowly rips upward, killing it. She takes the ring off one   
   finger then sees it has all of its fingers.   
      
   They run away. Xena tells them the real Grindl is still alive. A raven is   
   watching them, then flies to Odin. Xena tells Brunhilda to scout on ahead.   
   After she's gone Xena tells Gabrielle she doesn't like or trust Brunhilda.   
      
   Odin appears in front of Brunhilda with four Valkyries. She was supposed to   
   get the ring from Xena but he accuses her of falling in love with Gabrielle.   
   She makes excuses but he isn't buying. He tells the Valkyries to get   
   Gabrielle because Xena will trade the ring for her.   
      
   The Valkyries confront the three of them and one yells to get the blond.   
   Xena and Beowulf fight as Gabrielle watches. Brunhilda rides up on a horse,   
   grabs Gabrielle and they gallop up into the sky.   
      
        Xena and Beowulf keep fighting until Odin appears and yells for   
   everyone to stop. Xena tells Beowulf to follow to see where they are going.   
   Odin says he'll trade Gabrielle for the ring. Xena refuses, saying Brunhilda   
   was acting without his knowledge. Odin tells her she killed Brunhilda's son.   
   Xena tells him she's taking the ring back to the Rhine maidens. He wants it   
   for himself to keep god-slayers like Xena from killing him.   
      
       Brunhilda and Gabrielle land. Gabrielle wants to go back after Xena.   
   Brunhilda is mad that all Gabrielle thinks about is Xena. Gabrielle explains   
   that she and Xena are soul mates.   
      
       Odin goes to Grindl and tells her Xena killed her son and he'll take her   
   to her.   
      
       Xena and Beowulf are going through a bog looking for Gabrielle. He says   
   he'll go through the fires of hell for Gabrielle. Odin and the Valkyries   
   appear again. He throws a fireball at her and she dives away and comes up in   
   front of Grindl who grabs her. Beowulf fights the Valkyries and is stabbed   
   and falls.   
      
   Xena gets loose and throws her Chakram, and Odin throws his axe. The Chakram   
   breaks the head off. Then he keeps having to duck away from the Chakram as   
   it ricochets back and forth. Xena fights Grindl. Xena is finally backed   
   against a rock or large tree stump and is surrounded by Valkyries, Grindl   
   and Odin. In desperation, Xena puts on the ring and everyone waits as she   
   gets godly powers. She deflects Odin's fire balls with her sword and   
   Chakram. Odin and Valkyries are hit. Then Xena back flips away and runs off.   
      
       Brunhilda finds Xena but she can't remember her name. Brunhilda talks   
   her into giving her the ring, then leaves to find Gabrielle. She tells her   
   Xena has lost what she values most – her memories of Gabrielle and all they   
   went through. She says she can't protect Gabrielle from Odin and the   
   Valkyries in this form. She gives Gabrielle the ring then turns into a   
   pillar of eternal flame. She expands to encompass Gabrielle and a large flat   
   rock. Gabrielle is now wearing a gold and white dress with lots of cleavage.   
   Gabrielle falls asleep on the rock.   
      
       Beowulf wakes up and finds Xena's sword and Chakram.   
      
       Xena is stumbling around the forest hearing voices. She falls to her   
   knees shouting out "Who am I?"   
      
   To Be Continued.   
      
   ……………………..   
      
   Part Two of the Trilogy. And lots to like in this episode. Good lines, and   
   pretty good fights.   
      
   -- But first the nit picks – Grinhilda didn't seem to have very much power   
   after she put on the ring.   
      
   Didn't notice it last week, but Odin's Norse accent sounded an awful like a   
   Kiwi accent.   
      
   When Xena remarks that Beowulf knows  his way around the bog, he says never   
   had a reason to go there (before Gabrielle). So how did he know his way   
   around?   
      
   Odin actually seems kind of like a wimp (I thought the Vikings were supposed   
   to be so tough. You'd think their gods would be too. I'd have liked to see   
   god-killer Xena and Thor have a go at it.)   
      
   When Xena put on the ring, why did Odin and company wait until she got her   
   powers?   
      
   -- Things I liked / thought were cool –   
      
   The look Xena gave Brunhilda and Beowulf when they ran up to her and   
   Gabrielle after she was found and they both wanted to know if Gabrielle was   
   all right.   
      
   Also, the look on Xena face (and Gabrielle's) when both Brunhilda and   
   Beowulf said they weren't going to leave Gabrielle.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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