Well! Basically I feel pretty positively about this ep... although given the circumstances it's hard to feel unequivocally happy. Still, I felt that Gabrielle's character was handled better in this ep, for the most part, than it has been for quite sometime. And Xena was on fine form, and given scope to show herself at her best. And (the bottom line, really) the ep met the criteria I discussed before for a really successful X:WP episode - it made me cry, it made me laugh, and it kept me gripped throughout. I thought it did sag just a little bit, after the set-up of the teaser, and before the wind up to the finale really got started, when some aspects of the exposition either lacked credibility or evoked confusion (in me, anyhow)... but still I think it will end up rating as one of the strongest eps of the season.
The rest of what I have to say is all so woven into the characters and happenings of the ep, that we might as well launch straight into our wander through it...
***
Well I knew they were going to kill Ephiny - the gods know I try to avoid spoilers, but that must have been about the most unavoidable one yet. It was *everywhere*! I almost wonder if TPTB weren't *trying* to make sure that everyone knew in advance, so that the shock of Ephiny's death wouldn't overshadow the rest of the ep too much. And it probably worked that way for me - if I hadn't been spoiled about that, it would probably have knocked me out so much, at least on first viewing, that I would have had trouble settling down to watch the rest of the ep in real time.
*
So I knew about Ephiny. But then Solari dies too! And without our even seeing her death - although at least they gave her the honour of a confirmed death in battle, rather than just replacing her, as they did to Eponin. (Perhaps they're taking a little account of the fan reaction to the Amazons...) OTOH, whilst I found Solari a fitting and adequate successor to Eponin, I'm none too convinced about Chilapa as a successor to Eponin and Solari. I don't like to be negative, and I'm prepared to be won over in future, but based solely on this ep, I just didn't feel that the actress playing Chilapa managed to convey at all the kind of gravity and warrior spirit required for a senior Amazon, let alone a candidate for Queen! She wasn't given a lot to work with in the writing, it's true - she wasn't hindered, but she wasn't given any big scenes in which to really establish herself well... of course, it's hard to cram everything into 44 minutes - but maybe they could have trimmed down some of the dancing in order to give Chilapa a bit more chance to establish her character. Still, even without better scenes (after all, Eponin and Solari never got much in that line either), the actress could have given the character more weight, just in her bearing and the way she delivered her few lines. As it was, I'm afraid she came across to me more as a school girl than as a fierce and proud warrior (sort of "Chilapa of the upper fifth"... "let's get out there and show those girls how to really play hockey!") So the idea of choosing her as the new Queen underwhelmed me, to say the least. Anyhow... two minutes silence for the passing of Solari, please...
*
Amarice got real irritating real fast with that "In my tribe..." thing, and I must admit for a while there I was afraid the character was going to be a real liability. I expect some people still feel that way about her. Myself, however, I was won over by the end of the ep... not necessarily that I became enormously *fond* of the character - but I did feel that the way she was handled was ultimately well done and interesting. I *like* ambiguity and personality problems in featured characters, and I like a sense that a character is dynamic and likely to develop. And especially I like it when I truly don't know whether a character will make the right decision or not in a given situation, and when I can't always read their motivations and immediately peg where they're coming from in every scene. So... I thought Amarice was worthwhile in this ep, and that she has potential. I thought the actress who played her was good too - catching the mixture of stubbornness and immaturity with real courage and spirit without playing down to the character. I've got to ask though - doesn't she remind you of Tara the terrible? (But then I looked more kindly on Tara than most people apparently did...)
*
BTW I was kind of puzzled by this character's name - I'd never heard it, and I didn't know how to spell it... so I did a bit of digging. "Amarice" or "Amarise" is apparently a Hebrew name (like "Gabrielle"), and it means "given by god".
*
So I ultimately liked Amarice as a character... but OTOH there seemed to be little doubt that she was a complete menace to have on your side in a combat situation the way she was at the start of this ep... undisciplined, arrogant and inattentive. And why did she just lie there flat on her back on the ground all through Ephiny's fight with Brutus? - She only gets up right at the end, when Ephiny had already been stabbed. Hello? She was saving your life, not inviting you to take a nap!
*
And even though I knew it was going to happen, I was *very* sad to see Ephiny die. She will be missed. She was actually my favourite character on the whole show after Xena and Gab themselves, so I'll probably miss her more than most. Still, I understand Danielle's career is going well, and she probably didn't really want to play the role any more. I wish her well in all she does. I know death is rather a revolving door in the Xenaverse, but somehow I don't think we'll be seeing Ephiny again... unless we actually make it to the Amazon land of the dead in a future ep! Ah well... safe passage to eternity, proud Queen!
*
And what about poor Xenan? Now he's lost both his father and his mother to the dogs of war... Where is he, and how mature is he now? (He seemed to be growing very quickly - is that a Centaur thing?) It seemed kind of odd that no one even mentioned him in this ep.
*
I quite liked the scene with Xena and Gabrielle and the net on the riverbank (although I'm none too sure about the net itself)... "C'mon, fishy, fishy, fishy..."
*
I also *loved* Amarice's line "Xena? Wow! I... I thought you'd be... taller."
*
I thought this was without a doubt the best ep yet in terms of treating Gab's attempt to follow the path of non-violence. I actually got some sense of respect for Gab's character in this ep... a real feeling, for the first time, that she actually is the person we used to know, and that she's seriously trying to reconcile her feelings about non-violence with the responsibilities of her life... and realising that it isn't going to be easy. Of course a call back to the Amazons was an obvious challenge that she could expect to face (and which several folks discussed when she first adopted "the way"). Mostly I felt it was well done, although I have to say, I was rather disappointed with the half-hearted handing over to Chilapa at the end - this seemed to me an irresponsible shirking of her own ties to the tribe on Gab's part... I would at least have like to see her wrestle with the decision a bit more explicitly. And I guess I was particularly bothered because, as I discussed, Chilapa, as played, seemed so unsuitable a candidate to me!
*
I was disappointed that we never saw Xena meeting Ephiny again, and now we never will. I wonder if they *did* meet (off camera, between eps) since the last, unfortunate, encounter we saw in Bitter Suite...?
*
This is the *third* different actor they've had playing Brutus! Doesn't it occur to them that this sort of thing is a wee bit confusing for the audience? Oh well, I suppose if previous actors aren't available, what can they do? Quite a few characters have been played by two actors, but Brutus joins quite a select group in being played by three... indeed about the only other candidates I can think of are Xenan and Hope (who was played by five actors, if you count the babies - but that's a bit different).
*
"Young, black hair, wore silver armour..." - and from *this* description Xena knows that it was Brutus? We exsqueeze me, but that strikes me as ludicrous! Plus, honestly, I wouldn't say that Brutus looked particularly young - he looked old enough to be Chilapa's father to me (and she was the one who gave the description...)
*
OK, there was one thing in the plot that got me thoroughly confused... if it was *Pompey* who was attacking the Amazons because he wanted to sell them as slaves, how come Ephiny got killed fighting *Brutus*, who was supposed to be of *Caesar's* party, not Pompey's? I mean ok, assuming we accept this thing of Pompey attacking the Amazons to make cash selling them as slaves - although it sounds pretty dubious to me... surely almost *anyone* else you picked would be an easier target for such a scheme than the Amazons?? But still, let's accept that. But then why was the group of Romans lead by Brutus fighting the Amazons? On the whole, I thought this ep flowed well... but I thought this part was poorly explained and developed, and considering how central it was to the functioning of the ep, it left me confused and niggling through much of my first viewing, and it still strikes me as a major structural problem in the ep now. I can make up explanations, but the ep didn't really seem to give me one. How about this: Pompey initially attacked and was repulsed, maybe taking some captives; a patrol of Amazons went out to try and determine Pompey's location and dispositions and ran into Brutus' group, and the Amazon patrol attacked, because they assumed, being Romans, these were part of the same army that had previously attacked them... then Ephiny and her group came upon this fight in full swing and just joined in. OK, now that makes sense to me - but if that was what was intended, then the ep as aired fell a good way short of effectively communicating it.
*
Erm... Xena's instructions to Chilapa (after they first arrived at the Amazon village) seemed pretty basic - post a guard, fix the huts, do something about setting up a defence... duh! If Chilapa can't even figure out stuff like this for herself, what use is she going to be as Queen?
*
Xena says she is going to go after Brutus, because he'll lead her to Pompey and the Amazon prisoners - but how does this make sense, if Brutus is with Caesar's army, *against* Pompey? And she says that she's going after Brutus because "Pompey's trail has gone cold" - but Pompey attacked the village *after* Ephiny's fight with Brutus... so surely Brutus' trail is even colder than Pompey's?? Ok, ok, sorry to keep picking nits - but I do *so* like it when the scripts actually make sense!
*
Actually... I was talking about Chilapa in this vein before, but even Amarice is a bit "jolly hockey sticks" at times in this ep - notably, for example, when she's panting for Xena to choose her to go on the expedition in pursuit of Brutus. But then Amarice is *meant* to be immature, whereas Chilapa is supposed to be chief lieutenant and candidate for leader.
*
And 'cold trails' or not, apparently Xena had no trouble finding Brutus wandering around the woods with a small group of men...
*
And *what* was with that pixie hat Amarice was wearing all the time - is she trying to set a new Amazon fashion trend or something? It made her look like an escapee from the Red Fairy Book...
*
Oh gods! So now we have a "Brutus-drag" to add to the Gabdrag? They really don't like to let a good idea go under-utilised, so they? BTW, if you watch Brutus during the drag, it's very obvious his breast-plate is rubber or something similar - it's bending all over the place!
*
I don't know... it seemed to me that, although Xena initially said that Brutus was Caesar's right hand, subsequently the impression was given that Brutus was with Pompey in attacking the Amazons - I thought he must have switched sides. But then later it's made clear that no, he's still with Caesar against Pompey, and was supposed to hook up with a legion and lead them against Pompey's army. I found this whole thing about Brutus' status and why he was fighting the Amazons *very* confusing... and even after multiple viewings, I still don't think I can be blamed for my confusions.
*
There's one thing about Xena - she always seems to end up giving orders, and it's rare that anyone questions it...but then, can you wonder?
*
I had a great deal of trouble telling how Xena stopped Amarice from shooting Brutus - I had to watch it several times in slow motion, and I'm still not totally clear. She lashes out with her whip at what looks like some clothes and things hanging on sticks - and somehow this causes her chakram to fly into her hand. But why wasn't her chakram on her belt, as it usually is? And where was it - in a bag, hanging up? Once she's got the chakram, she throws it, and it cuts the branch Amarice is on (except in slow motion it's quite clear that the branch is already cut and breaking before the chakram even enters the frame...)
*
Somehow, throwing Amarice into prison to think about being in "her tribe" didn't quite seem Gab's style - but then perhaps she's already feeling the burdens of office (and it did conveniently set up Amarice ready for her little chat with Brutus).
*
OTOH, Gab certainly looked *very* uncomfortable with Xena's putting the pinch on Brutus...
*
During the pinch, Xena says to Brutus "Pompey's no friend of yours" - which is where I did a double take... so Brutus is still with Caesar and *against* Pompey, is he? So why was he fighting the Amazons...? BTW, if anyone cares, although Xena says when she pinches Brutus: "30 seconds, you die", which has always been the official line, in fact Brutus was under the pinch for almost exactly *60* seconds. Mind you, I think the record is still held by Gabby herself, who, IIRC, was under for 92 seconds in Devi. Although of course, there were also all the Ewokzons in AITST2, who appeared to be under for *ages* - but then in that case I suppose you could argue that time is distorted in the "spirit world".
*
The scene between Amarice and Brutus in the prison was actually possibly my favourite in the entire ep... it kind of restored my faith in where things were going, making certain things clear about both characters (and also making it clear that the writer *meant* them to be that way, and was going somewhere with them). So after that scene, we know that Brutus is a mature and basically honourable warrior, and that Amarice is kind of mixed up and immature... and it was done quite believably, and in a way that respected both characters.
*
On first viewing I didn't see at all the point of Xena sifting the straw (?) and sand on the path with her sword whilst saying "This is the route that Pompey will take to the sea..." But of course it was a set up for how the weapons would be concealed on the path for the later trick ambush. BTW, I thought that Americans pronounced "route" like "rout", rather than like "root", as Lucy did here (which is also how I would pronounce it).
*
I *really* liked Amarice and Xena's chat about Gab. Amarice's scepticism about Gab's way made the perfect foil to provoke Xena into defending Gab... and I liked the way she did it... "You know Gabrielle is *not* the weakling that you think she is" ... "And you know what? Sometimes *I* don't like the way she goes about it, but I've come to understand her..." I also like Amarice's final speech: "Well... I still think she's wrong, but if you trust her.... Nah! Sorry, can't go there. You'll just have to trust her on your own!" You know, I could get to *like* Amarice! And it's nice when characters aren't always instantly won over by a pep-talk from Xena, even if it's a good one...
*
I see they're continuing to make quite convincing use of CGI to boost the size of armies etc, as in the opening shot of Pompey's camp here, and later when we see the legions marching in the distance.
*
The script went out of its way to portray Pompey nastier than he's ever been. He looked less boyish too. Clearly our sympathies were not meant to incline towards him at all here.
*
I liked the "double bluff" on the ambush... it had me fooled the first time, pretty much - and it's nice to be surprised sometimes.
*
"I'm gonna give you one chance, Carminus - you give up now, and I'll go easy on you." Good stuff! I was trying to place what it reminded me of - and then it came to me: Geena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight, tied to the millwheel, telling Daedalus she'll leave him the use of his legs if he let's her go right now.
*
This was as a pretty violent fight - I believe the entire Roman patrol was wiped out, other than Carminus himself... Usually (and realistically) the bad guys give up and run before casualties reach anything like this level.
*
I believe the music during this battle was an arrangement of Xena's fighting theme (which is certainly stirring music) that we haven't heard before. There seemed to be quite a bit of new music in this ep... most of the music for the Amazons, much apparently shaped by African influences, sounded new to me.
*
And after the battle Amarice promptly disobeys orders again - Xena tells her to round up the surviving Romans (so there *were* survivors) and take them to the village as prisoners ("Lucky for them we've got just the Queen for the job! ...Sorry!") But Amarice immediately heads off in the other direction to scout Pompey's camp on her own. She get's away with it too - indeed you could argue her decision was wiser than Xena's... spying on Pompey gave them a needed warning (although surely Xena would have figured that Pompey would probably attack?) Well anyhow, I guess Xena has to have a certain sympathy with people who don't take orders readily...
*
"We move back to Amazonland by morning!" Yikes! It sounds like a theme park! (Bring the kiddies to Amazonland this summer...)
*
I'm kind of confused again about the treaty thing... I can see Gab proposing a treaty of peace with Caesar, and maybe even thinking it would work (although even Gab has seen enough of Caesar to know that he's ruthless and slippery). *But* apparently this treaty thing wasn't Gab's idea, but a plan cooked up by Xena. So I don't understand... *what* was Xena's plan? What did she hope to achieve by sending Brutus to Caesar with a treaty? Did she figure that somehow this would make Brutus see that Caesar wasn't to be trusted? That seems a bit far-fetched, really! But otherwise I've *no* idea what Xena's plan was.
*
When the Amazons were dancing and rolling in the dirt before the battle - does anyone know what that singing was? It sounded African to me, but I don't know enough to really place it.
*
"We toss in a torch, and poof - Pompey-que!" LOL! These people are outrageous sometimes - and I wouldn't have it any other way.
*
When they're looking at the legions from the top of the hill, Brutus says "Caesar's taking advantage of the situation." But isn't Caesar back in Rome? (That was the impression the ending gave me.) In which case, how is he making tactical decisions in the field... carrier pigeon? Crystal ball?
*
I didn't particularly see how by "holding the line" (which basically seemed to involve standing around doing nothing) the Amazons would "give Xena more time", as Gab said...
*
Argo certainly has good brakes, eh? That's a neat trick, where she comes to a dead stop and Xena somersaults off over her head.
*
"It's not about balance any more." *Another* good line! They're certainly distorting the history a good bit here, though, having Caesar's struggles with Pompey continue on almost to the eve of the fateful Ides of March (if, indeed, it does turn out to be *that* Ides of March...)
*
"I was once a *very* good friend of his..." I liked the way Xena said that.
*
So isn't that CGI palace with the big fires beside it that we see at the end meant to be in Rome? That was how I took it...
*
"Pompey's changed his hairstyle - too bad!" Yeah, there seems to be a lot of it about, eh?
*
Well clearly Brutus is having his doubts about Caesar at the end... but I don't quite see how Xena could have planned that. I mean Caesar could have been quite happy to have and to honour a peace treaty with the Amazons, at least for a time... most power-hungry dictators would be (if you've got a treaty you can trust with A, it gives you a chance to attack B - and you can always turn on A later...) Blatantly rejecting and publicly burning the treaty would actually be a very unlikely response for a cunning and ambitious leader.
*
They have peacock feathers at Ephiny's funeral? Maybe Xena and Gab brought them back from the east...
*
As I said, I was disappointed in Gab's handing the Mask of Queenship to Chilapa at the end. Gab didn't really seemed to have worked through her attachments and obligations to the Amazons - not to my satisfaction, anyhow. And Chilapa really didn't seem like queen material..
*
They seem to have a lot of potted palms in this Amazon village - are the Amazons big on house plants, then?
*
*What* does Amarice say at the end? I thought it was "Kick butt and take notes later" (sort of a reference back to "you kick butt, and I'll take notes")... but on further viewings it seems more like "take *nibs* later", in which case, what does it mean? "Names" perhaps?
*
So Amarice is going to travel with our gals for a while? "Trouble", as Xena says. Actually I wouldn't feel too badly about the idea at all, based on how she was handled and played in this ep. But it's a bit of an odd thing to introduce just as we're heading into the season finale. Ah well, we shall see what we shall see...
*
The music at the end was new too. Joseph LoDuca has really outdone himself this season (although he's always been impressive, and a big asset to the show).
*
Well it was nice to see Xena and Gab hugging again, although I wish the circumstances could have been happier. This reminded me of one of their first hugs, when Talus was taken away by Death... we've sure come a long way since then, haven't we?
***
So who was who in Endgame?
* The feisty but immature young Amazon Americe was played by Jennifer Sky, who is new to the Xenaverse. If you recognised her, it was most likely from her stint on General Hospital, playing Sarah Webber, from 1997-98. She was also in the TV series Emerald Cove, and the TV feature Our Son, The Matchmaker. Or perhaps you recognised her from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode The Pack, in which she guested as Heidi. She also appeared in episodes of Sins Of The City and Out Of The Blue.
* Ephiny, of course, was played, probably for the last time, by the charming and forceful Danielle Cormack, who can also be seen in the HTLJ ep Les Contemptibles as Lady Marie de Valle. She has also appeared on the New Zealand soap Shortland Street, as have most Kiwi actors (but not, as was pointed out to me, Lucy Lawless...) Danielle also appeared in two episodes of the series High Tide, playing Jill McMillan in the episode Dead Heat, and Meghan Kelly in the episode Sitting Ducks. At the movies, Danielle can be seen in Channelling Baby (with Joel Tobeck, known to us as Strife and now Deimos, and Amber Sainsbury who we saw as Regina in the HTLJ ep Lost City), in Via Satellite, in Siam Sunset, in Topless Women Talk About Their Lives, in A Game With No Rules, and in The Last Tattoo... unfortunately all of these are essentially New Zealand "art" pictures, and they're pretty hard to find in Northern parts.
* Caesar, Julius Caesar, was played as usual by Karl Urban, whose other Xenaverse roles are Cupid (in For Him The Bell Tolls and A Comedy Of Eros, and the HTLJ ep The Green-Eyed Monster), and Maell in Altared States.
At the movies, Karl (who is a Kiwi, born in Wellington in 1972) can be seen in the 1998 thriller Heaven, which also features Clint Sharplin (Opakas in Sky High, Kenickus in Regrets I've Had A Few, and a Celtic Villager in Resurrection), and in the NZ war movie Chunuk Bair, with Geoff Dolan (who headed the Fashion Police in Greece Is Burning and who was also the chief goon in And Fancy Free, and Orenth in The Lady and the Dragon) and Norman Forsey (King Lias in W.P and W.P.T1, Casca in BTDT, Megas the old prisoner in Key To The Kingdom, Tiresias in The Road to Calydon, The Festival of Dionysus and The Outcast, Old Merlin in Once Upon A Future King).
* This was presumably Jeremy Callaghan's last appearance as Pompey the Magnus. We first saw Jeremy as the ambitious (but subsequently mellowed) punk Palaemon in Blind Faith, and he has previously played Pompey in When In Rome and A Good Day.
Jeremy was a regular in the Australian TV series Police Rescue, and also appeared in the Police Rescue movie in 1994. He was also in the Australian movie The Hostages, and in The Munsters Scary Little Christmas (a 1996 TV movie not, of course, featuring the cast of the original series).
Jeremy has made guest appearances on several Australian TV series - SeaChange, GP, Blue Heelers, and Water Rats (which stars Jay Laga'aia, known to us all as Draco).
* "Caesar's right hand" (but he'd better watch out), Brutus, was played this time by David Franklin. Previously Brutus was played by Grant Triplow in Destiny and When In Rome, and Dusen Young in A Good Day, thereby, I would suggest, winning him the prize as the most confusing character in the Xenaverse.
David has never appeared before in the Xenaverse, but David Franklin is a fairly common name, so I'm a bit unclear about his previous credits. There is a David Franklin who appeared in The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? with Reneé O'Connor (which, alas, I haven't seen), and also in the Australian TV movie Fable with Monroe Reimers (the ill-fated priest Vikram in Devi). But then there is also a different David Franklin who has appeared in a bunch of Australian movies (The Missing, Violet's Visit, Rock n' Roll Cowboys (TV), Shame, Early Frost, My Brilliant Career). Since both these actors are apparently antipodean, presumably either could be our new Brutus... can anyone who's seen any of these other performance say whether either of these "David Franklin"s is actually the one who played Brutus?
* Pompey's lieutenant, Carminus, was played by Stephen Butterworth, who previously played this same role in A Good Day. Stephen also played the forbiddingly named Thanatos in the HTLJ ep Hero's Heart.
He was also in the Australia / NZ coproduced TV mini-series Mirror, Mirror.
* Xelafus, the Roman commander from whom Pompey took over the legion, was played by Tony Wood. Tony hasn't been seen on X:WP before, but on HTLJ he played Eluvius in the ep Highway to Hades, and Bluth in Monster Child in the Promised Land. He was also in the 1985 UK movie The Angelic Conversation.
* The new Amazon Queen Chilapa was played by Nicole Whippy, for whom I could discover no prior credits.
* The ep was written by Steven Sears, who still comes second, after R. J. Stewart, in number of X:WP writing credits - he is credited as "Writer" for Dreamworker, H&H, ACAOTPB, AFOD, TRCOT, TGG, OOW, IS, The Price, Lost Mariner, TDHD, The Deliverer, The Bitter Suite, WIR, Sac 1, A Good Day, Past Imperfect, and Between The Lines, and also credited as "Story Writer" on Remember Nothing and The Quest, and "Teleplay Writer" on Destiny and The Quest.
* The ep's director was Garth Maxwell, who previously directed Mortal Beloved, The Execution, Lost Mariner, Forgiven, Past Imperfect, and Devi. He also directed the HTLJ eps Gladiator, All That Glitters, The Sword Of Veracity, and We'll Always Have Cyprus.
***
The disclaimer was:
Pompey's reign came to a head during the production of this motion picture.
***
And what about the Herc ep, Fade Out?
It was nice to see Ares again. But does his getting hit by the curse of the rock at the end mean that he's now faded away for ever? I hope not.
I'm not too sure about this idea of bringing Joel Tobeck back as Deimos - his character really seems very similar to Strife's. And he reminds me of a boy scout in those leather shorts.
Meighan Desmond was really quite tolerable as Discord again. She's been getting to be almost likeable in her last couple of outings on HTLJ...
OTOH, the prize for the most *annoying* character in the ep definitely went to that exceedingly irritating fat old man that Deimos kept turning into! I mean, I know he was *meant* to be irritating, but did they have to make quite such a good job of it - watching him was about as much fun as having your teeth drilled...
Still, pretty much a classic Herc ep - not a great one, but not a bad one either. I just hope that they're not serious about permanently fading out Ares (after all they did it to Hera at the end of last season, although they *still* keep going on about her in the credits sequence, which seems weird to me...)
***
And who was who in Fade Out?
* Deimos, the god of terror (!) was, of course, played by Joel Tobeck, who is familiar to us all, principally from his recurrent role a Strife in previous HTLJ eps and on Young Herc. Joel also played King Beraeus in the ep Promises, and David Scott Pollison (as well as Strife) in Yes Virginia There Is A Hercules.
Joel has a very busy career in the New Zealand movie scene, appearing in Channelling Baby (with Danielle Cormick [Ephiny]), Topless Women Talk About Their Lives (with Danielle again, and Willa O'Neill [Lila, Althea, Phoebe]), Memory & Desire, Peach (with Lucy Lawless), My Grandfather Is A Vampire (as a McDonald's cashier), The Grasscutter (with Stephen Hall [Hector, Thelonius, Therax] and Jon Brazier [Mercenary #2 in The Vanishing Dead, Jakar in The Outcast, Slave Trader in The Fire Down Below, Trinculos in A Star to Guide Them, Walsim in TDHD, Tarsis in VA]), The Shrimp On The Barbie, Just Me And Mario, and Queen City Rocker.
* Ares was played once more (and I hope not for the last time) by Kevin Smith. Interestingly Kevin was not the first actor to play Ares in the Xenaverse - Ares first appeared in the ep Ares, where he was a monstrous thing realised physically by Mark Newnham (HTLJ's resident monster actor, most recently seen as Dahak) and voiced by Al Chalk.
Apart from playing Ares on HTLJ, X:WP and Young Hercules, Kevin can be seen in Channelling Baby (together with Joel Tobeck and Danielle Cormick), in the TV movie Flatmates (also featuring various other Xenaverse faces), in the NZ movie Desperate Remedies (ditto), and in the TV feature "McLeod's Daughters". He's also, apparently, signed up to do a couple of new shows in NZ, in one of which I heard that he is featured as a detective of some sort... and the name of the show is apparently to be "Lawless"!
* Meighan Desmond has played the role of Discord previously in the HTLJ eps Two Men And A Baby, If I Had A Hammer, Porkules, One Fowl Day, and Love On The Rocks, and in the X:WP eps The Deliverer, and Takes One To Know One, and regularly on Young Hercules. Apart from this, her only other credit that I am aware of is as Lulu Chatfield on the New Zealand soap Shortland Street, which so *many* Xenaverse denizens have frequented.
* OK, now I had some real problems with this one... Andrew Binns is credited as Marcus. Now Andrew Binns is the actor who played the young healer Hippocrates in the X:WP ep Is There A Doctor In The House, and I had *great* trouble recognising him in this ep. I can only conclude that he was under all that face-fungus as the beefy and belligerent leader of the village mob... but I have some trouble really convincing myself of this - admittedly the hair and beard changed the face a lot, but the voice seemed different too, and he must have bulked up a bit as well.
Andrew Binns can also be seen playing Xax in the NZ made TV series The Legend of William Tell, which also features Kieren Hutchison (Talus from the X:WP ep Death In Chains) in the title role, Beth Allen (Vanessa / Pilee from Daughter Of Pomira) as Princess Vara, Nathaniel Lees (Cheiron, the Blue Priest, Manus in Dreamworker, Niklio the healer) as Leon, and Katrina Browne (Mendala in When in Rome, Thelassa in Locked Up And Tied Down) as Aruna.
Andrew is also in Topless Women Talk About Their Lives (see above under Joel Tobeck). Andrew also appears in the NZ film The End Of The Golden Weather, which also features Andrea Kelland (Factory Worker in Greece Is Burning), Paul Gittins (Kaleipus), Alison Bruce (Melosa), Alistair Browning (the Irish chieftain Bronagh, and more recently King Melos in If The Shoe Fits), and someone called Lucy Lawless...
He's also in Jane Campion's An Angel At My Table, with Willa O'Neill (Lila, Althea, Phoebe), Paul Norell (Falafel), and Alison Bruce (Melosa).
Andrew has also appeared on the NZ TV shows High Tide, and Shortland Street.
* The *extremely* annoying old man that Deimos kept turning into was played by Gabriel Prendergast, who previously appeared as Spagos in the ep Gladiator.
* The blond Leche (she pronounced it Lichee, so far as I could hear), who Discord took as a form of disguise, was played by Charmaine Guest, who we saw before as Ariadne in the ep Top God.
* Ria, the woman cured of fading, was played by Michelle Leuthart. Michelle hasn't appeared in the Xenaverse before, but she was in the NZ TV movies House of Sticks (with Kate Elliott [Yakut] and Jim McLarty [the eye popping Fish Merchant in Love On The Rocks, Myles in Eye of the Beholder, Pankos in Armageddon Now part 2, and the Teacher in Reunions]), and The Haunting Of Barney Palmer (with Yvonne Lawley [Gryphia in Key To The Kingdom, Woman in Hercules And The Circle of Fire, Old Woman in Market in Hercules In The Underworld, Alyssa in Beanstalks and Bad Eggs, the Norn in Norse by Norsevest and Somewhere Over Rainbow Bridge]).
* Ben Brown was credited as a "Villager". If the belligerent, bearded villager was played by Andrew Binns, then this must have been the scrawny, blond villager who only had one line. Ben hasn't been credited in the Xenaverse before, but there is a "Ben Brown" with a lot of credits (amongst them the movies I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and Liar Liar, and episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, ER, and JAG) - but I rather doubt this is the same actor.
* The "Teenager" who recovered from fading was played by Lionel Wickcliffe, for whom I could find no prior credits.
* The ep was written by Gerry Conway, who previously wrote the eps Stranger and Stranger (with Paul Robert Coyle), Norse by Norsevest (with Paul Robert Coyle), and Somewhere Over Rainbow Bridge.
* The director was Charles Siebert, who previously directed Prince Hercules, Medea Culpa, Top God, Reunions, and Just Passing Through. He also directed the X:WP eps The Reckoning, Death in Chains, Ties That Bind, Orphan Of War, Ten Little Warlords, A Comedy Of Eros, and Gabrielle's Hope (with Andrew Merrifield). He can also be seen in person playing the role of Sisyphus in Ten Little Warlords, and he did the voice of Poseidon in Ulysses and Lost Mariner (the god of the seas was, of course, visually presented as a CGI effect).
***
The disclaimer was:
No Gods or other deities were killed during the production of this motion picture. They just faded away.
