Destiny
So this is Cirra. It's beautiful.
XENA
To me, it's the ugliest place on Earth.
GABRIELLE
I don't think you should keep punishing yourself
for what happened.
XENA
I didn't come here to punish myself. I wanna
understand why.
GABRIELLE
Why what?
XENA
Why it happened. Why I was who I was. And how
I can ever atone.
GABRIELLE
You've changed, Xena. Like this valley. Once it
was a place full of death and violence. But now
it's full of beauty and life. The same kind of change
has happened to you.
XENA
I wish that I could see it that way. I'm going down there.
GABRIELLE
I'll wait here.
Why?
Present. Xena rides off.
Get up! Yah! Gabrielle?! Gabrielle?!
Lord of the Moon, Mistress of the Stars, we, the
Children of the Sun ask you for an omen. Send
us a sign.
Hail, goddess! We are your servants. Tell us
our future.
XENA
I got nothing but bad news for you.
Gabrielle, catch!
Run! Come on, run!
Hurry!
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Gabrielle?
GABRIELLE
Wait, wait, stop! I think I hear Xena.
XENA
Hey! Glad to see ya.
Now, get outta here.
GABRIELLE
Quick! Run!
Come on! Don't stop! Let's go!
EXTRA
Get her!
Get out of the way!
ACT ONE
Xena? Ah! Open your eyes. Wake up! Ah! Wake up!
XENA
Gabrielle, the girl.
GABRIELLE
What girl? One of the captives?
XENA
Only she can save me.
GABRIELLE
They're gone. Xena.
XENA
Mount Nestus.
GABRIELLE
Oh, I'm sorry. Mount Nestus?
XENA
Take me there.
GABRIELLE
I--I can't take you there. I--I don't know. It's too far
away. I, uh, Xena, I don't know if you can, if I-
XENA
Please.
GABRIELLE
Okay.
Amphipolis.
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Come on! Get moving!
EXTRA
Have mercy! Please!
EXTRA
Come on! Get on over to Xena!
People of Neopolitis, friends, you're free to go.
But spread the word. My army will punish any
village that allies itself with the enemies of Amphipolis.
And I will do anything to ensure the safety of
my homeland. Those who don't heed my warning,
will pay a terrible price.
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Get going! You hungry?
Ah, what's the matter? You not hungry?
I generally don't eat food touched by a pig.
You have a woman's touch.
So, you not afraid of a beating, huh? You afraid
to die?
CAESAR
A brave man dies only once. A man like you,
dies a thousand times.
All right, brave man, you're one time is now!
Telos, look at him. The robes, the bearing, the
poise. Why, we have a Roman nobleman, a
valuable commodity.
TELOS
What are you talking about?
CAESAR
Ransom. She's talking about ransom, pig.
XENA
That's right, we can get twenty thousand dinars
for him.
CAESAR
Twenty thousand isn't enough.
XENA
Oh, really?
CAESAR
They'll never believe you have me, if that's all
you're asking. I'm worth five times that.
XENA
Very well.
But if you're wrong, it's your neck. Vicerius, send
out a ransom demand to the nearest Roman
settlement. Tell them to send a hundred thousands
dinars if they ever want to see - what's your name?
CAESAR
Caesar, Julius Caesar.
XENA
Caesar, Julius Caesar, again.
You really weren't afraid to die, were you?
CAESAR
I knew someone would stop him.
XENA
And, how could you know that?
CAESAR
I know what I'm fated to do with my life.
XENA
And what's that?
CAESAR
Rule the world.
Let's go, Roman.
Xena, can you hear me? Xena. Xena, can you hear
me? Mount Nestus. Is it north of the Strymon River?
XENA
North. Strymon.
GABRIELLE
(to Argo) I think that's a yes.
Do you hear me? Don't make a move.
VICERIUS
What is it?
XENA
We have a stowaway.
Come down!
We got her.
EXTRA
Hold onto her.
EXTRA
Don't let her get away.
A woman.
What did you do to my leg? Fix it. My leg, fix it!
Bring over Telos. She can fix whatever she did
to him.
What's she saying?
CAESAR
She said it's too late for him.
EXTRA
He's dead!
VICERIUS
She's killed him!
Wait. (to Caesar) You speak her language. Tell
her I'll spare her life if she'll teach me how she
did that.
Take her down below.
Let's go.
CAESAR
Be careful. Runaway slaves are very dangerous people.
XENA
How do you know she's a runaway?
CAESAR
She speaks Gaelic, but she's clearly from the
land of the Pharaoh. Probably abducted as a
child by raiders from Western Gaul.
XENA
Western Gaul, huh? Why do you say that?
CAESAR
Gaul is divided into three parts. Each area speaks
its own different dialect. One day I'll conquer all
three provinces.
XENA
How can you be so sure of yourself.
CAESAR
I told you. I'm-
XENA
Oh, that's right. You're fated to rule the world. Do
you really believe that?
CAESAR
Of course. Each event in our life is part of a great
plan. There are no accidents. Only destiny.
XENA
And who shapes this destiny? The gods?
CAESAR
Perhaps. Or it's the blood in our veins, our souls,
our desires, our will. They're all in it together,
weaving a tapestry we call destiny.
XENA
Well, I can tell you one thing about your destiny.
You're fated to have dinner in my cabin tonight.
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Grab his legs! Throw him overboard!
Show me that thing you do. No. No, not on my
leg. Show me on my neck. Yeah, come on.
That was too fast. Now, take it off and do it again.
Slower. Take it off. Come on!
ACT TWO
You got some sense of humour. Now, teach me
how you did that. No, not on me. Teach me on yourself.
Here? There, oh.
You see, I can play, too. Come on.
Where did you steal that dress?
XENA
Stagira.
CAESAR
Maybe someday, you can go back for the rest of it.
XENA
Are you complaining?
CAESAR
No, not at all. It's lovely. Why Stagira?
XENA
It's the ancient enemy of my home village, Amphipolis.
CAESAR
Amphipolis. So all your raiding and looting is
about protecting your homeland?
XENA
That's right. It was once brutally attacked by a
warlord. But I've made sure that'll never happen
again. And what about you?
CAESAR
What about me?
XENA
What drives you?
CAESAR
The desire to be great.
XENA
You mean powerful.
CAESAR
No. Greatness isn't just about possessing power.
If it was, any thug with an army would be entitled
to that label. Greatness is about achieving what
seems impossible to other men.
XENA
Why don't you and I work together?
CAESAR
What do you mean?
XENA
This life I'm living is beginning to bore me. I'd love
to join forces with you.
CAESAR
So, you wanna help me conquer the world.
XENA
Why not? We'd make an unstoppable team.
CAESAR
Indeed. I bet you know a lot about conquest.
XENA
Yes, I love it. Pursuing the enemy, breaking down
his defenses, cutting off his only path of retreat,
and then closing for the kill.
CAESAR
Some enemies are harder that others.
XENA
Oh, I count on it.
What's the matter? Not all there?
XENA
No, I was just wondering if we'll ever see one
another again.
CAESAR
A moment won't pass when I'm not thinking
about you.
Now go. I'll find you, I promise.
Ship ahoy!
Bring her around! We're going to join them!
It's all right. He's my friend. (to men) Hurry up!
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Now!
What do you think you're doing?!
CAESAR
This is my destiny. You're a part of it. And I'm
a part of yours.
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
The ship is secured, Caesar.
CAESAR
Good. (to Xena) Where's that friend of yours, the
Gaelic slave girl?
XENA
I had to kill her, because she betrayed me.
CAESAR
Really? Well I don't blame you. Still, she would
have fetched a good price with the gladiator dealers.
XENA
Is that what you have planned for me? We were
going to conquer the world together. What happened
to those plans for us?
CAESAR
Us? There was never any us, Xena. Only Rome.
And I am Rome. Still, don't think that what we had
was meaningless. I'll always remember it and you'll
have a special place of honor among my conquered.
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She was an easier prey than I expected.
CAESAR
Divide and conquer, my friend. You divide a woman's
emotion from her sensibilities and you have her.
I could've sold you and all your friends into slavery,
Xena, but that's what any common warlord would
do. But with this, and especially with you, I defy
myself to all those who would dare oppose me.
All those who would dare prey on Rome.
Goodbye, Xena. (to Roman #1) Break her legs.
Sleep.
You're getting worse.
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Who goes there?! I asked you a question!
The Senate will never approve the funds for a
northern invasion. You move too fast, Caesar.
Time is on your side. Take advantage of it.
CAESAR
I shall. And my time is now. The plunder I have
taken from these pirates makes it so. I can finance
my invasion without the approval of the Senate.
And with victory, the army will pledge allegiance
and Rome will be mine. No, Brutus, from this
moment on, I am no longer subordinate to old
men in white robes. I'm their rival.
What is this?
ROMAN #1
Caesar, the barbarian woman, the one name
Xena, escaped.
CAESAR
Your life is forfeit, that you already know. But you
can redeem yourself. Take my centurion guard
and find her. I want her lifeless body brought
back to me by the end of the night. Go.
What is this?!
M'LILA
Nicklio!
Are you a healer?
NICKLIO
You could say that. I'm the healer.
Please, please help me.
Please help me. My friend, she needs help.
Xena? What happened to her? Her organs are
swelling from internal bleeding.
Nicklio, don't, please. Let me go.
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I've just reset your bones. You're lucky M'Lila
brought you here.
XENA
Yeah, lucky. M'Lila, huh? Ask her why she
saved me?
She says it's not your time to die.
XENA
Well, if not now, then when?
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(to Gabrielle) Let me see your wound.
GABRIELLE
Will you help my friend?
NICKLIO
Xena can wait. You, I can do something about.
GABRIELLE
What do you mean?
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
You have amazing recuperative powers. How
are you feeling?
XENA
Fine. Much stronger. Those needles are fascinating.
NICKLIO
Hmm.
XENA
M'Lila, up on that cross, I wasn't sure that I wanted
to live. You--you had no reason to save me, but
you did. Thank you. I know you can't understand.
She wants to know if you feel anger towards Caesar.
There she is! Get her!
Something's happening.
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Her pulse is failing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You'll be dead in thirty seconds. But know this,
you won't be the last.
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She's gone.
GABRIELLE
She can't be gone.
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Tell Hades to prepare himself. A new Xena is
born tonight, with a new purpose in life.
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No.
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Death.
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No!
NICKLIO
Let her pass over.
GABRIELLE
Please, please wake up. Wake up!
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Wake up!
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Oh please wake up. Oh, do something! Do something!
M'Lila.
M'LILA
Hello, Xena.
XENA
You should have left me to die back there on
that beach.
M'LILA
You have a destiny, Xena. But you have to choose it.
XENA
I did choose it! I chose evil!
M'LILA
Now that you know evil, were evil, you can fight
evil. When the living think of the dead, the dead
can hear their thoughts. Listen.
GABRIELLE (voice-over)
Xena, I know you can hear me, wherever you are.
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I know you always told me to be strong. I can't
be, not now. You can't leave me. I know it's not
your time. I can feel it in my heart. I just feel this
emptiness that I've never known before, and it
scares me. Xena, above all, just remember your
destiny. Remember it and fight. Just, fight to come
back. This world needs you. I need you.
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I have to go back.
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STARRING
Lucy Lawless as Xena
Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle
GUEST CAST
Ebonie Smith as M'Lila
Karl Urban as Caesar
Nathaniel Lees as Nicklio
Grant Triplow as Brutus
Mark Perry as Vicerius
Grant Boucher as Telos
Slade Leef as Sitacles
Dan Ryan as Roman #1
Rebecca McKinnon as Slave Girl
Rebecca Kopacka as Young Callisto
Teleplay by: R.J. Stewart and Steven L. Sears
Story by as Robert Tapert
Directed by as Robert Tapert
Disclaimer: Julius Caesar was not harmed during the production of this motion picture. However, the Producers deny responsibility for any unfortunate acts of betrayal occurring soon thereafter.
