Legendary Journeys
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To avoid a war over who gets possession of Terpsichore's Lyre, Xena organizes a battle of the bands in this musical installment that reunites Xena with her mother Cyrene, Joxer with his triplet brother Jace, and Gabrielle with a lovesick Draco.

Summary[]

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"War"

As the three of them are traveling towards an unspecified destination, Xena, Gabrielle, and Joxer all hear the sound of the Muse Terpsichore's lyre in the distance. The three rush to find Draco and his warriors about to do battle with Amoria and her Amazons over the Muse of Music's golden lyre. Draco, still under a love spell, shoots Gabrielle a lovesick smile as Xena yanks the instrument out of his hands. But when Amoria resumes taunting him, Draco lunges at her. As Xena separates the two, she begins singing "War," accompanied by Gabrielle and Joxer, to discourage further aggression. Then she announces that there will be a battle--one "of the bands," to be staged in the nearby village of Melodia, to decide who gets the lyre. As the villagers of Melodia are swept up in the excitement, they dance and sing original lyrics to "The Telephone Hour."

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"The Telephone Hour."

As bands begin arriving from everywhere, Xena's mother Cyrene also shows up and is surprised that rumors of Xena's pregnancy are obviously true. When she learns that her daughter intends to raise her baby alone, she decides to play matchmaker to find Xena a husband. Xena rejects all the men her mother throws her way and leads a group of townswomen in a lively chorus of "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves."

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"Dancing In The Moonlight."

News of the impending contest also brings Joxer's musically talented and flamboyant twin brother, Jace, to town. He introduces himself to the assembled crowd by breaking into an elaborate disco dance routine while singing "Dancing In The Moonlight." Amoria tries to seduce Joxer, which irritates Gabrielle, while Joxer snubs all of his brother's overtures because he is embarrassed to be seen with Jace.

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"Always Something There To Remind Me."

Meanwhile, despite Gabrielle's continuing rejection, Draco still pursues her and even fantasizes about her while singing "Always Something There To Remind Me." He decides that if he can't have her, no one will. Just as the concert is about to begin, Gabrielle rushes over to Draco to ask him to perform first. He offers one last proposal of marriage and when Gabrielle turns him down again, he decides to incorporate her into his act by forcing her into a go-go-dancer cage that he hoists high above the stage.

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Xena and her mother discuss her pregnancy.

As Draco and his henchmen perform "Kick Out The Jams," a fire erupts on stage just underneath Gabrielle as part of a spectacular pyrotechnics display. But before Draco can cut the rope which would plunge Gabrielle to her death, Xena jumps on stage, lyre in hand, and breaks into a hard-core version of "The Xena Theme." Draco's men drop their instruments, grab their weapons and charge the warrior princess. Gabrielle manages to escape the cage, swan dives into the crowd and is passed hand-to-hand away from the stage.

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"People Got To Be Free."

In the ensuing battle, Joxer saves Jace from being struck down and Gabrielle is saved by Xena just as Draco is about to run her through with his sword. Xena and Draco rap as they fight, battling each other while balancing on the heads and shoulders of the concert goers. Xena finally defeats Draco to the cheers of the crowd and, though never officially a contestant, wins the golden lyre. Xena announces that she's going to leave the instrument in Melodia for everyone to enjoy and as an encore, leads her friends and the crowd in a rousing rendition of "People Got To Be Free."

Disclaimer[]

No Lyres were strung out during the production of this motion picture.

Background Information[]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • This installment was one of seventeen that fans selected to be featured on the Xena: Warrior Princess: 10th Anniversary Collection.
  • According to Jennifer Sky, the actress who played Amarice, she was originally intended to be in this installment, as Amarice, before she was written out to film Cleopatra 2525.
  • Originally, Jett was set to appear in this installment, but he was written out in early production.

Credits

  • At the end of the credits, Lucy Lawless makes a gag appearance in Gabrielle's fringe costume.

Key Events[]

  • This episode marks the only on-screen appearance of Jace, Joxer's and Jett's triplet brother. He was, however, mentioned previously in "The King of Assassins."
  • This is the second musical installment, the first being "The Bitter Suite." All the songs performed in that installment, however, were original songs, whose music was composed and whose lyrics were jointly written by Joseph LoDuca, the show's musical director. The songs featured in this installment are cover versions of popular songs.
  • This installment marks the final appearance of Draco.

Goofs[]

  • If you look closely, you can see Xena's Chakram embedded in the Lyre. This is never explained, and the prop does not appear to be a reuse.

Trivia[]

Links and References[]

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