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lucyxena2004

I really enjoyed the background on Eve. I never really could put together in my head how such a sweet kid like Octavius could raise Livia. I really buy it more that he sent her to live with a family. That sounds like something Octavius would have done to ensure she had a good childhood. Sadly, things didn't exactly turn out well! And I'm really frustrated about Michaela. His character has always confused me, so I'm looking forward to reading more. I have a feeling he's not to be counted out yet!


elsieaustin

Wonderful opening montage. You put so much time and work into this season, and it really shows.

I enjoyed the interaction between Xena and Eve. That’s another thing we didn’t get to see enough of in X:WP, I thought—regular conversations between Eve and Xena. I like that Xena just started talking about ordinary things to see if Eve wanted to talk about anything.

Oh, wow, so Eve knew she was about to be arrested. That’s different from LUATD; no wonder she was having bad dreams.

So Xena gets to be a champion, once again! I really like this scenario. There are just enough parallels between Eve and Xena (trial for past crimes), and Eve and Gabrielle (waiting for Xena to be champion), to make the story interesting. Xena’s still doing the “no one gets near my daughter” thing. I think Xena’s going to have some accepting to do for Eve’s crimes as well as her own; right now she doesn’t seem even to see them.

I loved Eve’s speech to the Romans. All the content was there, and it sounded just right.

So Eve feels guilty on several counts for Augustus. First for showing him the way to murder and kill dissenters, then for abandoning him as he changed into a harsher, more power-hungry ruler, and then for taking matters into her own hands instead of following Eli’s teachings completely. It reminds me of the reviews we were doing for “The Way”—the fact that sometimes one needs to follow a path wholeheartedly. Eve just hadn’t been the Messenger of Eli long enough for that.

“Even if you did say it was okay, I wouldn’t be able to agree with you.” Sounds like both mother and daughter; very nicely put.

To be continued??? I was going to post this after the first five eps…so I guess I still will…but that was a great cliffhanger. I loved this episode, and I’m hooked from here on.


Ryan

Wow, what an excellent episode! If only they could have been actual episodes. I always thought we needed an episode about Eve's childhood.

I love how actual history was kind of shaped into this episode, how Eve poisoned Augustus. For those that don't know, the Livia of actual history poisoned her husband, Emperor Augustus, to stop his reign of power.

The courtroom drama was wonderful too. The episode ended perfectly with Ares materializing in the end. Overall I give this episode a solid 10/10. Wonderful story!


Aurora

In this episode, we get a little glimpse of the past and what happened to Eve while Xena and Gabrielle were in the Norse lands.

When the episode starts, we see Eve distraught over a dream of the past that she'd had about her times as Livia. Xena tries to comfort her and get her to tell her what's wrong but Eve feels that she can't tell her mother or anyone else--at least not yet. It is too painful and she feels regret for something she did.

The next day, the three of them travel to the nearest town for a festival and there they find Virgil. It is a war reunion until a Roman warrior, Didus, proclaims that Eve must go to Rome for a trial against her murdering Augustus.

Everyone one is shocked, especially Xena, but Eve goes with them willingly and the travel to Rome where Eve will be put on trial.

While in Rome, Eve is thrown in a jail cell until her trial. Gabrielle and Virgil are forced to leave her cell while Eve and her mother are left to talk. It is reveled by Eve that when Gabrielle and Xena were in the Norse lands, Eve went back to Rome to apologize to Augustus. Of course, Augustus was very hostile toward her but eventually she was able to present her apologies to the Roman public.

But Xena comes to find out that Augustus had changed and the only way he sought at protecting his empire was to act somewhat like Livia--to get rid of the troublemakers. That is the reason Eve felt she had to kill Augustus--because he had changed and not for the better.

So Eve prepared to kill Augustus, all the while, wondering if she was really doing the right thing. Michael comes to her saying that it is the right thing to do and Eve is convinced.

After Eve finishes telling Xena the story, the guard tells Xena that visiting time is over. Once Xena is gone, later that night, Virgil visits Eve. He tries to comfort her knowing that everything will be all right but Eve knows what she did and knows she'll be found guilty. She doesn't have much hope.

The next day, the trial begins before the emperor Claudius. A woman comes to the stand and explains the case that if Eve was so egger to kill the followers of Eli, then there is no doubt that she'd kill the emperor now. Just as the trial seems to be going in the direction to find Eve guilty, Ares appears to everyone's surprise, especially Xena's and that leaves the episode on an open note, ready for the rest to be explained in part II.

Rating: 8/10