Xena: Warrior Princess (season 5)

The fifth season of the television series Xena: Warrior Princess commenced airing in the United States and Canada on September 27, 1999, and concluded on May 15, 2000, and contained 22 episodes.

Xena: Warrior Princess
Season 5
Season 5 DVD cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	22
Release
Original network	USA Network
Original release	September 27, 1999 – May 15, 2000
Season chronology

The fifth season aired in the United States on the USA Network. The season was released on DVD as a ten disc boxed set under the title of Xena: Warrior Princess: Season 5 on October 19, 2004 by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

The episode "Antony and Cleopatra" has been discussed as a reworking of Shakespeare's play of the same name.[1]

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
91	1	"Fallen Angel"	John Fawcett	R. J. Stewart, Robert Tapert	September 27, 1999
Joxer, Eli and Amarice take Xena and Gabrielle's bodies and prepare to take them back to Greece to be buried. Meanwhile in Heaven, Xena and Gabrielle are greeted by some angels when they are attacked by a gang of demons led by Callisto.
92	2	"Chakram"	Doug Lefler	Chris Manheim	October 4, 1999
Having been resurrected, Xena has no memory of her life as a warrior. Ares and another war god pursue her in order to get her to find the Chakram of Light. Meanwhile, Joxer plucks up the courage to tell Gabrielle that he loves her.
93	3	"Succession"	Rick Jacobson	Steven L. Sears	October 11, 1999
When Ares suggests he will someday need a successor, the warrior woman he is sleeping with, Mavican, suggests it should be her. This gives Ares the idea of sending her along with Xena and Gabrielle through a vortex to an alternate dimension to battle. First Xena doesn't understand why she could see the battles between Gaby and Mavican while unable to participate herself. It turns out that she and Gabrielle share one body in this place, one in the day, the other in the night. Mavican captures Gabrielle and decides rather than kill her, she should keep her alive as live bait, so she knocks Gabrielle out. When Gaby awakens in a bamboo cage, the sun rises and Xena takes her turn in the cage. When Ares mentions that he had never realized she would make a good successor, Xena finally realizes it is Gabrielle and not Mavican that he is talking about. With Xena forbidden to kill Mavican, she simply causes Mavican to admit she needs Ares' help in defeating Xena, which in Ares' view disqualifies her as a successor. So Xena and Gabrielle are returned to the natural world while Mavican is sentenced to eternity in the odd dimension.
94	4	"Animal Attraction"	Rick Jacobson	Chris Manheim	October 18, 1999
Xena finally discovers she is pregnant and Gabrielle finally gets a horse of her own. The two women meet Talia, an old friend of Xena.
95	5	"Them Bones, Them Bones"	John Fawcett	Steven L. Sears	November 1, 1999
Xena realizes that Alti's spirit has been harming her baby's soul in the spirit world. She, Gabrielle and Amarice go to find Yakut, so she can help Xena fight Alti and save her baby's soul.
96	6	"Purity"	Mark Beesley	Jeff Vlaming	November 8, 1999
Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer head to Qin so that Xena can retrieve Lao Ma's Book of Wisdom to stop in falling into the wrong hands. When they arrive Xena is greeted by Pao Ssu and K'ao Hsin, the twin daughters of Lao Ma. Pao Ssu has the secret of the Black powder and wants to use it to rule Qin.
97	7	"Back in the Bottle"	Rick Jacobson	Steven L. Sears	November 15, 1999
After being defeated by Xena, Pao Ssu's spirit join with that of her brother Ming T'ien. They team up with Khan and his army so they can attack Qin. Xena uses the wisdom left by Lao Ma to stand up against the army alone.
98	8	"Little Problems"	Allison Liddi	Gregg Ostrin	November 22, 1999
Xena is accidentally trapped in the body of a young girl Daphne, by Aphrodite. Aphrodite and Gabrielle need to find a way to reverse it before sunset. Meanwhile, Xena helps Daphne's father through his grief.
99	9	"Seeds of Faith"	Garth Maxwell	George Strayton, Tom O'Neill	January 10, 2000
Ares feels threatened by Eli and decides to kill him. Xena and Gabrielle swear they will protect Eli from Ares, but he tells them they cannot use violence to save his life. The newly-angelic Callisto re-appears, bringing several shocking revelations with her.
100	10	"Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire"	Mark Beesley	Adam Armus, Nora Kay Foster	January 17, 2000
Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer head to Melodia, Greece's musical capital, to participate in a battle of the bands to retrieve the Golden Lyre. Meanwhile, Joxer is embarrassed by his brother, Jace.
101	11	"Punch Lines"	Andrew Merrifield	Cris Manheim, Adam Armus, Nora Kay Foster	January 24, 2000
Gabrielle upsets the God of Despair, Lachrymose, and he shrinks her and Argo. Gabrielle tries to keep the situation from Xena, until she can make the god laugh and break the spell. (clip show)
102	12	"God Fearing Child"	Phil Sgriccia	Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman	January 31, 2000
Zeus is informed that Xena's baby will bring about the end of the gods so he decides she must die. Xena and Gabrielle steal Hades' Helmet of Invisibility to hide from the gods and Hercules vows to protect Xena and her baby from the gods.
103	13	"Eternal Bonds"	Mark Beesley	Chris Manheim	February 7, 2000
After the birth of Eve, the gods continue to pursue Xena so they can kill the baby. During the fighting, Joxer is wounded by a poisonous sword and he and Gabrielle race to find the cure.
104	14	"Amphipolis under Siege"	Mark Beesley	Chris Black	February 14, 2000
Xena takes Eve back to Amphipolis to meet her grandmother. While there, Athena says she will lay siege to the village until they give up the baby. Cyrene rallies the other villagers to support Xena and the baby as they stand in defiance against Athena.
105	15	"Married with Fishsticks"	Paul Grinder	Kevin Maynard	February 21, 2000
Gabrielle is knocked unconscious and awakes in a fantasy world, where she is a fishwife with no memory. Her husband is using Gabrielle as his wife to win an election. Meanwhile, her friends are all trying to steal him for themselves.
106	16	"Lifeblood"	Paul Grinder, Michael Hurst	R. J. Stewart, Robert Tapert, George Strayton, Tom O'Neill	March 13, 2000
Xena is shown a vision, which reveals that the Amazons have strayed from their roots. The Amazons summon the Utma, a woman from the future, who will lead their people. Incorporates footage with Selma Blair from a rejected spin-off pilot, Amazon High.
107	17	"Kindred Spirits"	Josh Becker	George Strayton, Tom O'Neill	March 20, 2000
While at the Amazon camp, Gabrielle ponders whether to stay and rule the Amazons as queen or continue on her journey with Xena. Meanwhile, Joxer has been caught peeking at the Amazon women and is sentenced to the penalty of mortal combat.
108	18	"Antony and Cleopatra"	Michael Hurst	R. J. Stewart, Carl Ellsworth	April 17, 2000
When Cleopatra is murdered, Xena takes her place in order to put a stop to a war between Antony, Brutus and Octavius that will devastate Egypt. Inspired by the Battle of Actium and the events leading to it.
109	19	"Looking Death in the Eye"	Garth Maxwell	R. J. Stewart, Carl Ellsworth	April 24, 2000
Still pursued by the gods, Xena comes up with a plan to fake their deaths so that the gods will cease their endless quest to kill Eve. Unfortunately Ares, believing them really dead, takes Xena and Gabrielle and entombs them on a cave on Mount Aetna.
110	20	"Livia"	Rick Jacobson	Chris Manheim	May 1, 2000
Twenty five years later, Eve has become Livia, a Roman warrior and protégée of Ares. Xena and Gabrielle wake from their slumber and find Joxer married to Meg. He tells them he thought they were dead. They meet Joxer's son, Virgil and Xena goes up against Livia in battle.
111	21	"Eve"	Mark Beesley	Chris Manheim, George Strayton, Tom O'Neill	May 8, 2000
After being beaten by Xena, Livia takes her troops and kills whole villages. Joxer stands up to her but she kills him. Xena decides that Livia is not Eve; Eve is dead. After being bested in a fight, Xena prays to Eli to save Eve.
112	22	"Motherhood"	Rick Jacobson	R. J. Stewart, Robert Tapert	May 15, 2000
Eve, now reformed, is tormented by her past misdeeds. The gods discover she is still alive and Eli's god gives Xena the power to kill gods as long as Eve, now a messenger of Eli, lives. Xena battles the gods and kills Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Discord. Athena sends the Furies to plague Gabrielle, who snaps and fatally stabs Eve while Xena is distracted by Ares. Xena, mistaking Gabrielle for an Olympian assassin, seriously wounds Gabrielle in turn by throwing her chakram at her, gashing her head and rendering her unconscious. While a friendly Aphrodite tends to Gabrielle, Xena storms the Greek Pantheon, killing Hades, Deimos, and Artemis in the process. While battling Athena, Xena realizes that Eve is dead, thus draining her of her power to slay gods. As Athena is about to kill Xena, Ares relinquishes his immortality to heal Gabrielle and resurrect Eve, allowing Xena to kill Athena.

References

1. Tigges, Wim (December 2010). "Xena Rules: A feminized version of Antony and Cleopatra". Feminist Media Studies. 10 (4): 441–455. doi:10.1080/14680777.2010.514117.