Soul Possession

In modern-day, a scroll is found in the Ionian Sea which depicts the events that happened between Xena's return from Siberia and reuniting with Gabrielle in Potedia. It also contains a contract connecting Xena's soul to Ares possession, which prompts the modern day incarnations of Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer (Harry O'Casey, Mattie Merrill and Annie Day, respectively) to attend the unravelling of the scroll at the C.H.A.K.R.A.M. facility.

Summary
Approaching the edge of a cliff, Joxer takes a scroll from Xena and shreds it to pieces, but to his surprise, magically mends itself. Xena reminds Joxer that the scroll is a binding contract in every sense of the word and suggests that they hide it from Ares, Disguising the scroll, Joxer turns it over to Xena, who leaps off the cliff holding it.

Jumping to the present, a scuba diver surfaces with the scroll. Days later, a press conference titled "Chakram: Center for the Historical Accuracy of Key Research in Ancient Mythology," headed by Roxanne Fields and Dr. Frederick Delaney begins. The media goes crazy as Dr. Delaney holds up the scroll discovered by the diver, which chronicles the life of Xena.

In the midst of the excitement, two Xena fans burst into the auditorium, convinced that the scroll means there will be new Xena episodes. Guards drag the two fans out and Dr. Delaney resumes explaining that this scroll includes a contract between Xena and Ares which proves that the two were married sometime after Gabrielle's daughter, Hope, perished in a lava pit in Sacrifice II.

Positive that this scroll accounts for the events that occured after Xena saw a vision that Gabrielle was still alive in Adventures in the Sin Trade II, Dr. Delaney begins reading from the ancient document.

In the past, Xena finds Joxer drunk in a local tavern and proclaims that she had a vision that Gabrielle is alive. She becomes annoyed, however, when he points out the impossibility of Gabrielle surviving her fall. Back at the press conference, Annie from Deja Vu All Over Again interrupts Dr. Delaney, informing him that his analysis is wrong.

The two fans, who have snuck back in, recognize Annie as the woman who played Joxer in a past life and ask what happened to her boyfriend, Harry, after discovering that he was Xena in a past life. She tells them that he married her past counselor, Mattie, who was Gabrielle in a past life.

Annie's version of the past as Joxer now springs to life. He and Xena are headed to the temple where Gabrielle disappeared when Joxer suddenly reveals that he's keeping a record of their lives as a tribute to Gabrielle. Confident that Gabrielle is alive, Xena strays from Joxer for a moment when Ares suddenly pops in and offers his powers to help Xena find her friend.

Xena is shocked when he gets on one knee and proposes that they marry in front of the Fates which would make their bond eternal and unbreakable. Worried that Ares wants to bring Gabrielle back only to kill her again, Xena attacks him and an all-out battle ensues.

That night, Xena is awakened by Gabrielle's voice, but quickly realizes that it's Joxer impersonating her. Ares then appears and Xena accepts his proposal requesting that the ceremony take place at the site of Gabrielle's death.

In the present once again, Mattie and Harry from Deja Vu All Over Again drive along reminiscing about their past lives as Xena and Gabrielle. When the two catch the press conference on the radio, Harry pulls a u-turn and heads to the auditorium. Upon their arrival, they nervously confront Annie, telling her that there's a good chance Ares will show up. At the same time, an ominous figure on a motorcycle zooms by a church just as a wedding is about to begin.

Back in the past, Joxer enters Xena's chamber and helps her prepare for her wedding. The Fates assemble themselves and the ceremony begins, but when it comes time for Xena to say "I do," she bolts towards the lava pit and jumps. Ares follows her off the cliff and appears beneath her, catching her. In the woods, Xena explains to Ares that she suddenly realized that he had to have saved Gabrielle's life when she and Hope fell into the pit in order to use it later as a bargaining chip.Angry that Xena has figured out his scheme, Ares offers a new deal in which he will spare Gabrielle's life in exchange for Xena's afterlife. Agreeing, a scroll appears in Ares hand which Xena signs. Placing the scroll in his pocket, he tells her that he has released Gabrielle. Xena kisses him, secretly lifting the scroll in the process, and takes off in search of her friend.

As Dr. Delaney wraps up the story, the mystery motorcyclist, who is in fact Ares, enters the conference, but Mattie and Annie block his path. Harry calls to Ares just as the god of war snatches the scroll from Dr. Delaney and aligns his thumb with the print on the document, knocking Harry to the ground. This causes Xena's spirit to appear and as it lingers above Harry's limp body, Mattie grabs a staff from the stage and charges Ares.

Meanwhile, Ares has just used magic to pull Joxer's spirit out of Annie and replace it with Xena's. Unexpectedly, Annie morphs into Xena and lunges at Ares, grabbing the scroll from him and using it to deflect the energy bolts he's shooting at her. Ares fumes as he watches his scroll disintegrate and Xena is reunited with Gabrielle, now in the form of Mattie.

Disclaimer
Joxer's process of elimination was harmed during the making of this motion picture.

Background Information

 * This episode contradicts the explanation given in "A Family Affair" for how Gabrielle and Hope survived falling down the pit. In that episode, it was stated it was because of Dahak. In this episode, it is stated it was because of Ares.
 * This is the final appearance of Meg. She has appeared once per season since her introduction in season 2 ("Warrior... Princess... Tramp", "Warrior... Priestess... Tramp", "The Key to the Kingdom", "Livia", and this episode.)
 * Although Barb Binder is a made-up character, Whoosh! is a real Xena fansite (the line about how "Xena would never subscribe to the subjugating regime of marriage" probably made a lot of Whoosh! fans smile). The role was played by well-known NZ singer Carly Binding.
 * Josh Becker said on his website, "The atmosphere on the set was great; I believe that a good time was had by all. There were a few teary celebrations: Renee had her birthday, it was Kevin Smith's last ep, Ted Raimi's last ep, George Lyle, the 1st assistant director's, last ep, as well as Simon Riera, the D.P. and my last ep, too. Nevertheless, I think all concerned did very humorous work and it ought to be a rather funny episode."
 * Kevin Smith (Ares) died approximately nine months after this episode aired, a week after suffering injuries in a fall on a movie set.
 * Michael Saccente (Dr. Delaney) also appeared on three episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: "One Foul Day" (Barnabus); "Heedless Hearts" (Grovelus) and "The Sword of Veracity" (Talius).
 * Jennifer Rucker (Fan #2) also appeared in "Send In The Clones" as Police Officer #1 and "Here She Comes...Miss Amphipolis" as Miss Parnassus.
 * Technically, Gabrielle doesn't appear in this episode; except in the excerpts shown of previous episodes.
 * In this episode, we learn of Gabrielle's second secret deal with Ares in the episode, "Sacrifice, Part Two; which reveals how Gabrielle and Hope survived the fall into the fire pit, answering many fan questions. We also learn of Xena's secret deal to marry Ares in their next life; which she buried at the bottom of the sea and later tricked Ares into destroying with his fireball.
 * This is the fourth and final episode to take place in modern times. The first was Season Two's "The Xena Scrolls"; Season Four's "Deja Vu All Over Again"; and Season Six's "Send in the Clones", and lastly "Soul Possession."
 * This is the last appearance of Kevin Smith (Ares) on the series.
 * This is the last appearance of Ted Raimi (Joxer) on the series.
 * The ditty that Meg sings for Ares is a nonsense song that Lucy made up to sing for her son Julius

Memorable Quotations
"Did you schedule any celebrity appearances?"

"Well, we contacted Bruce Campbell, but he was too much money."
 * –MC and Frederick Delaney

Modern Day

 * Carly Binding as Barb Binder
 * Ted Raimi as Harry O'Casey
 * Kevin Smith as Ares
 * Lucy Lawless as Annie Day
 * Renee O'Connor as Mattie Merrill
 * Michael Saccente as Frederick Delaney
 * Lucy Briant as Roxanne Fields
 * Anne Nordhaus as Fan #1
 * Jennifer Rucker as Fan #2
 * Campbell Cooley as Random Reporter

Lost Scroll

 * Ted Raimi as Joxer
 * Kevin Smith as Ares
 * Lucy Lawless as Meg

People
Alti; Doug; Hope; Molly Polonius; Tapert, Rob

Gods
Ares

Places
Africa; Athens; Europe]]; Ionian Sea; Nile