- "If you can love your way out of this one, be my guest."
- — Amarice to Eli, "The Ides of March"
Amarice was a recurring character on Xena: Warrior Princess. She presented herself first as a member of the Telaquire Amazon tribe and later the Northern Amazon Tribe. She was a faithful friend of Gabrielle, Xena, and Joxer. Arrogant and stubborn to begin with, Amarice did eventually mature into a warrior before she died. Xena and Gabrielle were a big influence on her and when they were crucified and killed, she promised to try and reach the skill level of the Warrior Princess.
But in reality, Amarice was not a true Amazon; she had lied and said that she was an Amazon to get into a tribe and feel as if she belonged somewhere. After Ephiny died, she found Gabrielle and Xena, and requested that they return to the tribe and help fight against Pompey and Caesar. After this, Amarice traveled with Gabrielle and Xena till their crucifixions. Amarice, Eli, and Joxer cut them down from the crosses and protected their bodies from the Romans. Eli resurrected them and they continued their travels, which eventually led to Amarice's secret, that of not being a true Amazon, being revealed to Gabrielle and Xena. She stayed with the Northern Amazon in hopes of learning and governing new skills. But tragically, Amarice died in battle against the Semite Nomads not long after leaving Xena and Gabrielle.
Biography[]
Early life[]
It is not known whether the Telaquire Amazon tribe was her first tribe, despite always referring to her "old tribe," which she might have lied about to make her identity as an Amazon seem more believable. Or, by the way she was clothed, that old tribe could have been the Celtic Amazon tribe. She lied about being an Amazon so that she could get into a tribe and feel like she belonged somewhere. The length of time she was in the tribe before Ephiny died is not clear. It was implied that it might have been some time, as the tribe trusted Amarice to retrieve Gabrielle for the next in line.
Meeting Xena and Gabrielle[]
Amarice was first portrayed as a young, naive, "kick ass now, take names later" warrior. She always spoke about her "Old Tribe" and how unorthodox the ways the Telaquire Amazons did things were, compared to her tribe. She often questioned Ephiny's motives towards battle and did not understand its true meaning. After Brutus, Julius Caesar's right-hand man, killed Ephiny, Amarice was told by Chilapa to find the true queen of the Telaquire Tribe, Gabrielle.
Amarice found Gabrielle and Xena fishing in a lake. There, she informed them of Ephiny's death and bade both of them go back to the tribe with her. Amarice followed Xena during the course of "Endgame," learning valuable things about life, which led to her later maturing. But Amarice's attitude towards Gabrielle was very arrogant, and she was defiant to accept her as a Queen, as she was following the Way of Love at the time. Xena told Amarice to listen to Gabrielle; she could learn a few things by doing so.
Xena's and Gabrielle's deaths and Amarice's maturity[]
After the events in "Endgame," Amarice traveled with Xena and Gabrielle, in hope of finding some answers and learning a few things. When Xena learned that Caesar had put a bounty of six million dinars on her head, she went to Rome to kill him and asked Amarice to protect Gabrielle whilst she did so. Gabrielle took Amarice to see Eli, but she struggled to find any philosophy in his preachings. Amarice, Eli, and Gabrielle were ambushed by Romans and taken to Rome, under Caesar's orders. Amarice nearly lost her life when she attacks a Roman soldier, in an attempt to try an escape. Gabrielle intervened, and Brutus stopped the attack. Once they were chained and in prison, Eli and Gabrielle practiced perfecting the ability to have a clear mind. Amarice sarcastically said that they could both love the guards who crucified them. Xena rescued them and all of those, let alone Gabrielle, escaped. The events played out, and Xena and Gabrielle were both crucified.
Joxer and Amarice look on at Xena and Gabrielle on the crosses in "Fallen Angel."
It was their deaths, as it proved, that was the catalyst that made Amarice mature, take note of philosophy, gain morals, and learn of the true meaning of battle. She then teamed up with Joxer and Eli to help take them down off of the crosses, so that Joxer could take them to Amphipolis to be buried next to Lyceus. But Amarice then witnessed Eli resurrect both of them. She reunited Xena with her broken Chakram and helped Gabrielle, Joxer, and Eli make Xena's memory whole again. Her respect for Gabrielle was raised highly, once she gained the ability of using the Sai. She realized what a great warrior Gabrielle was, and this made her blame Eli for Xena's and Gabrielle's deaths. She then became romantically involved with Armand, the son of the warlord whom Joxer had killed. They had a love-hate relationship, but finally got together.
Gabrielle gives Amarice a necklace with beads for each of her Amazon sisters - including Amarice, in "Them Bones, Them Bones."
True identity, Northern Amazons and death[]
When Amarice learned of Xena having severe problems in her pregnancy, she rushed to be by Xena's side. Xena decided that she should seek help from Yakut of the Northern Amazons, with Amarice and Gabrielle in tow. Once they arrived, they were greeted by Yakut. She told Xena that Alti was trying to steal her baby's soul and use it as her own. Yakut went on to admit that she was not in a fit enough state to face Alti in the spiritual realm, so Gabrielle had to go in Yakut's stead.
After Gabrielle failed to defeat Alti, Yakut told them of a cavern, into which only true Amazons could enter. Inside, there was an Amber that, when placed on Alti's remains, would harden and entrap her soul. When they arrived, they were greeted by Chi'ah, an Amazon mystic, who could see the truth in people's hearts. She revealed that Amarice was not a true Amazon and that this was a false identity that she had assumed.
After receiving the Amber, Gabrielle confronted Amarice about her revelation. Amarice explained that she had just wanted to belong, and this had led her to create an identity for herself. Gabrielle gave her a beaded necklace and informed Amarice that there was a bead on it for each of her sisters. She then added that she (Gabrielle) had just added another one for her (Amarice). Xena and Gabrielle parted ways with Amarice, who said that that she would stay with the Northern Amazons to learn some things.
Approximately six months afterwards, the Amazons and the Semite Nomads waged a fierce war against each other. Several Amazons lost their lives during that war; Amarice was among those killed.
Relationships[]
Xena[]
When Xena and Amarice first met, Amarice seemed to be trying to impress the Warrior Princess. Xena tried to teach Amarice in the way she tried to teach others in her position, for example Gabrielle and Tara. She tried to show her that not every situation should be resolved with a sword and that she should try to use violence as a last result. She refused to listen to Xena at first, as she never took any notice of anything with a metaphorical message. When Xena died in “The Ides of March,” Amarice realized everything Xena had tried to teach her about fighting and vowed that she would try and attain a skill near to Xena’s own. After she was resurrected, Amarice showed great concern for Xena when Alti tried to steal Eve’s soul.
Gabrielle defends Amarice in "The Ides of March"
Gabrielle[]
Despite Gabrielle’s authority when the two met, Amarice chose not to listen to Gabrielle. She thought that she knew a lot better than her. This lack of respect was also due to her then-current non-violent path. Even before Gabrielle picked up a weapon again, she defended Amarice in “The Ides of March” by using a whip, non-violently, which surpassed her thoughts on Gabrielle. When Gabrielle strayed from this path and gained new weapons in “Chakram,” Amarice was in awe at her abilities in battle, presumably because she had never seen her fight and her opinion of Gabrielle probably did not cover being a good fighter. Amarice and Gabrielle eventually grew to be good friends, showing on several occasions that they cared for each other by defending each other in battle.
Joxer[]
Amarice's and Joxer's relationship is much more difficult to describe; the two did respect each other, although it is not clear whether this was because of their mutual respect for Xena and Gabrielle. They did display that they were good friends on several occasions; such as Amarice defending him in battle and Joxer helping to get both her and Arman together.
Eli[]
Amarice felt a lot of resentment for Eli; she was defiant to accept him and had a hard time trying to understand his message and path of Love. This resentment only grew stronger when she blamed him for the death of Gabrielle and Xena, as she claimed that he filled Gabrielle’s head with his "message of peace," claiming that if she had defended herself, then maybe Gabrielle and Xena would not have died. However, he did manage to gain a little respect from her when he resurrected them from the dead.
Personality[]
Amarice could be very stubborn at times; she would often ignore orders from Ephiny and Gabrielle, with no regard for their authority. Despite this, she seemed to care more about others than herself. For example, she would always try to defend her friends in battle. She always displayed a fierce side to herself, even stating in “Endgame” that she has a “kick butt now and take names later” attitude. Even after the death of Xena and Gabrielle, as well as spontaneous realization of the influence that they were, she still retained this attitude.
She was quite a skilled fighter, but ruthless at the same time. Despite her youth, she would kill without remorse in battle, yet seemed to display skill that implied that she had been fighting for years. She was able to hold her own in a battle against the Romans, as well as minions of Ares and Kal.
Not very romantic, Amarice seemed not to want a relationship. She did not like men, being an Amazon--or rather, merely “affiliated” with Amazons--till she met Arman, who saved her life in “Animal Attraction.”
Anarice showed a very short and furious temper in “Animal Attraction,” where Joxer and Arman laughed at her when she fell over, which embarrassed her and made her swear at them. Both she and Arman did seem to have fallen in love by the end of the installment.
Additional remarks[]
Amarice was added to the program by its producers, as they felt that Gabrielle was no longer the young naive individual as whom she had begun and had outgrown her previous image of being brash and headstrong. As they still wanted that idea to run throughout the show for a while, the character of Amarice was created.
Amarice's character was cut-short in the series, due to Jennifer Sky being cast as the lead in Cleopatra 2525. However, the writers had planned to feature her throughout far longer in the series. Amarice was written to be featured in another five more installments following "Them Bones, Them Bones;" among those were "Purity," "Back in the Bottle," "Punch Lines," and two more later season 5 episodes. Instead, "Them Bones, Them Bones" was rewritten to include an exit for Amarice, and the character, herself, was unceremoniously killed (off-screen) between that installment and "Lifeblood."
Appearances[]
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