Purity
What is it?
Hey!
Take it easy. Take it easy.
What happened to him?
XENA
Someone cut out his tongue. He's a monk from
the Xiao monastery in Chin.
I hope that message was important enough to die for.
XENA
Someone thought it was important enough to kill
for. (reading) "The hawk and the dove must be
made one with the wisdom."
GABRIELLE
Who wrote that?
XENA
Lao Ma.
GABRIELLE
Lao Ma? Your old teacher? Xena she's been
dead for years.
XENA
That's right.
GABRIELLE
What does that mean?
XENA
"The hawk and the dove," I don't know but the wisdom
must mean her book and whatever it means,
somebody didn't want us to find out.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why can't we just get this at a bookstore?
XENA (voice-over)
I left it in Chin in the safest place I knew. The Xiao
monastery. Lao Ma's power is in its pages.
GABRIELLE (voice-over)
You had the power once didn't you?
XENA (voice-over)
Yes, but I let it slip through my fingers like sand.
This time I'm going to keep it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's not a very warm reception.
XENA
The villagers must have retreated to the monastery.
JOXER
Wow. Look at the size of that pothole.
GABRIELLE
What weapon could have caused this?
XENA
I don't know.
GABRIELLE
Whatever it is, it sure packs a mean punch.
JOXER
What did anybody do to deserve it?
XENA
Nothing. Whoever did this wasn't after the village.
They were after Lao Ma's book.
The Xiao monastery.
XENA
That's right. Come on. We don't have much time.
(whispering) Let's go.
Let's get outta here!
You all right?
GABRIELLE
Yeah.
Thanks for your help. My name is-
PAO SSU
Xena. You're my mother's friend.
XENA
Your mother?
PAO SSU
I'm the daughter of Lao Ma.
ACT ONE
Hey! You guys! Look at the size of this hole! Can
you believe it? Hey-
EXTRA
We gotta hurry!
JOXER
-we really got those guys on the run back there.
mean, that must have been some powerful Greek
fire to put a hole in the wall like that.
XENA
That wasn't Greek fire.
EXTRA
I need a hand over here!
No, whatever this is, it's more powerful than that.
This is something different. You can smell it.
Kung Pao chicken?
PAO SSU
It's black powder, an ancient Chin formula.
XENA
So it exists. I've heard it spoken of in legend.
PAO SSU
The kings of Chin have forbidden its production
for many centuries, but now an evil warlord named
Go Kun has rediscovered it and broken the taboo.
A man who does not honour his ancestors is a
man without morals and that makes him most
dangerous indeed.
XENA
Not half as dangerous as he's going to be if he
gets his hands on Lao Ma's book.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(whispering) Here.
The book. Somebody's taken it, though not more
than an hour ago.
GABRIELLE
The soldiers never made it in here.
PAO SSU
Maybe one of the monks escaped with it. We must
find it.
XENA
They couldn't have gone far. Come on.
Hey Joxer. Come here.
I want you to take this book. Put it in one of Argo's
saddlebags. Don't let anyone see you do it.
JOXER
Okay. Right.
XENA
I'll explain later.
Haah?
Twenty, maybe thirty horses rode south for the attack.
PAO SSU
The same number retreated to the north.
XENA
But only one horse rode up towards the mountains
and it doesn't look like it was weighed down by
weapons or armour.
PAO SSU
Just a book.
XENA
Gabrielle, I want you to take this.
Find out what's in the black powder. Legend says
a Chinese cook discovered it by accident.
PAO SSU
That's just a silly tale.
JOXER
Hey, never underestimate cooks.
XENA
What you smell there is sulfur. There's charcoal in
it but there's something else, something that
makes it explosive.
GABRIELLE
Something from the cook's kitchen.
XENA
I want you to go to a market. Get every spice, every
seasoning you can find.
JOXER
Wait a minute. No offense but, uh, Gabby don't
know shallot from shellfish. You know?
XENA
That's why you're goin' with her smart guy. Meet
me at Ming's palace. All right Pao Ssu, let's do
some tracking.
What brought about your devotion to my mother Xena?
XENA
Your mother helped me find a kind of peace that
I'd never known before and when she died, it
died with her.
PAO SSU
Hmm. And you wish to reclaim what you lost.
XENA
I'm not sure I ever can.
PAO SSU
Strange. Why would she abandon her own true
daughter simply to become a surrogate mother
to a stranger?
XENA
Well I'm sure if your mother sent you away it was
because she felt she needed to protect you.
I would risk death to know my mother as you did,
rather than live as I have all this time without a
place to call home. But she did not give me much
choice now did she?
XENA
I guess not.
PAO SSU
And you Xena? You'd never give up this child
would you?
XENA
No not this child.
PAO SSU
There, you see? You and my mother are destined
to walk down separate roads after all. We're being
followed aren't we?
XENA
Since the head of the trail.
PAO SSU
Suggestions?
XENA
We lose 'em.
Gabby there you are. Hey look, I found some
excellent huang mint.
GABRIELLE
You do know your spices Joxer. I'll give you that.
JOXER
Hm-m-m-m.
All right. So for all of this we'll pay-
JOXER
No, no, no, what are you doing? What's this? No,
no. No, no, no, no, no. Look, we're only gonna pay
three. Three hwan. Understand? Three. Three? He
don't speak Greek too good, do he? Three. Three.
Three, that's it.
Come on. Listen, ya gotta know how to haggle with
these people.
GABRIELLE
Especially since I agreed to pay two. Come on,
if we dress like locals we might learn more.
Pao Ssu-
PAO SSU
Wha?
XENA
I want you to give me the reins. Here. We're gonna
send the horses off. That way, anyone who's
following us will think that we rode west. There
you go Argo.
That's pretty clever but I need that horse.
XENA
Argo will bring her back. Come on.
Mm-hmm, that's good.
Ps-st. Ps-st. Hey, come here. Listen, my friend.
I have here in my possession, an assortment of
exotic, local spices, which I will give to
you for free. Savvy? Free? If you can tell me exactly
what's in this powder.
Are you crazy?!
JOXER
What? How 'bout I throw in a kiss from the pretty blonde?
VENDOR
He has the forbidden powder!
JOXER
No powder.
GABRIELLE
Joxer?! What are you doing?! Put that away!
Hey, wait a minute. I can explain! I can explain!
The hoof prints head back into the forest.
XENA
Yeah, but the rider, the rider went on, on foot.
Up to there.
Hello sister.
ACT TWO
You wear the face of innocence Pao Ssu, but it
cannot hide your true nature.
PAO SSU
Ironic that a creature like you would accuse me
of having two faces.
K'AO HSIN
You will never have the book.
PAO SSU
I will take the wisdom from its pages, even if I
have to pry them from your dead fingers.
K'AO HSIN
I believe you have the fortitude to do exactly that
my sister but we share the same blood, thus the
same will.
PAO SSU
No, you're weak, K'ao Hsin. You will never have
the strength to defeat me.
XENA
All right. This ends here. (to K'ao Hsin) If you
wanna protect the book, hand it over to me, now.
She can't be trusted Xena. If you believe in what
my mother stood for, you'll kill her.
XENA
I can tell you what your mother didn't stand for. Murder.
PAO SSU
You don't actually believe her?
XENA
You know what I don't believe? It's that the black
powder army would retreat so quickly. Someone
ordered them out. Someone like you.
K'AO HSIN
So it's you who has forged an alliance with Go Kun.
XENA
You were right about one thing. A person without
morals is the most dangerous kind of enemy.
PAO SSU
A lesson I intend on proving to you again and again.
Now give me the book.
XENA
Can't do that.
Aren't you going after her?
XENA
No, I'm not.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is this? Prayers. Remedies. There's nothing.
Fake. I was tricked by Xena.
GO KUN
Pao Ssu if we ride south at sunset we could reach
Huangdu, sweep up the coast and-
PAO SSU
No!
GO KUN
Your obsession with that book has made our
enemies stronger and put us at a disadvantage.
As long as you continue to hunt for it you keep us
from taking full advantage of the black powder!
PAO SSU
The concerns of my enemies are irrelevant. If
Xena masters the powers of the book she will
end our campaign with little more than a breath
and all of Chin will bow to her. We will continue
our search.
You replaced the book with a fake. That's why
you let Pao Ssu escape.
XENA
It's all in the wrist.
K'AO HSIN
You move with the agility of a panther. It's an
impressive feat, given your condition.
XENA
As long as your sister doesn't have the book her
army's mission will be simple: to find it. In the
meantime, they won't be conquering any more
towns or villages.
K'AO HSIN
A word of caution. Before you cut off the dragon's
head, you must be sure it cannot grow another
more deadly.
XENA
The trick'll be not to kill Pao Ssu, but to make sure
she can't do any more harm.
K'AO HSIN
I fear these two things are mutually exclusive.
The ancient warriors of Chin believed that in order
to achieve ultimate victory, you must annihilate your
enemies completely.
XENA
And you agree?
K'AO HSIN
I cannot in good conscience call for the death of
my sister but I fear her vengeance. I know she
will not stop until the world is hers.
XENA
People who want the world end up their own worst
enemy. I learned that myself. The truth is, we
won't have to destroy Pao Ssu. She'll destroy herself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello?!
GABRIELLE
Joxer.
JOXER
What?
GABRIELLE
I wanna thank you for today. You were a great help.
JOXER
You know Gabrielle? I've been around long
enough to recognize sarcasm when I hear it.
GABRIELLE
But at least we're together?
JOXER
See? There it is again. Hey! Would somebody
please fix the gutter up there?! The leak is driving
me crazy!
GABRIELLE
It's not a leak! That's the whole point. What did you
do with that pouch of black powder?
JOXER
Down my pant leg.
GABRIELLE
All right. Joxer, hold still.
All right. Hm-m? Gabrielle, we're in public.
Ooh, what is that?
JOXER
Oh. Say, it's (clears throat) it's, um...
Oh. Remind me to cut off my foot when we get out
of here.
Hmm. Gabrielle, where did you learn to do that?
GABRIELLE
Would you be quiet? I'm trying to concentrate.
JOXER
Oh.
GABRIELLE
Got it! Okay.
Hey that's not gonna work! You're gonna need
a spark for that!
Oh, yeah. Here we go.
Good Gabrielle! You know, uh, that's the first time
I ever had three feet in my pants.
GABRIELLE
You tell anyone and you're dead.
What is it?
XENA
I've been here before.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is where I first met Lao Ma.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You're very like her, you know?
K'AO HSIN
I have walked in her shadow all my life. Now it
seems is no exception. But I wonder Xena, why
do you look so troubled?
XENA
There are people you meet who move in and out
of your life like ghosts-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-and after they're gone you find that they've left a
part of themselves with you. It's as if, in some small
way that their spirit helps define who you are-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-or what you wanna bring to the world.
K'AO HSIN
Then it seems that my mother is still alive in us both.
XENA
Your mother taught me compassion. It's a lesson
that I wanna pass on to this child. But you...how
did you learn that without the benefit of her love?
K'AO HSIN
Every day that passes in Chin without bloodshed
passes because my mother played a part in the
destiny of our own homeland. Just look around
Xena. Her lesson is her legacy. She speaks to
me even now through the whispering wind. You
wish to know where I learned compassion? All
you have to do is listen.
XENA
You are your mother's daughter.
It must have been beautiful.
XENA
Yes. I was cornered here and your mother hid
me in her bath, under water. She gave me her
breath to keep me alive.
K'AO HSIN
She died in this palace didn't she?
XENA
That's right.
K'AO HSIN
Then this is the perfect place to study. In the
presence of her spirit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great. Now we're lost. I told you we should have
followed that big, brick wall back there.
GABRIELLE
It's the Great Wall Joxer. It's a thousand miles long.
I know where I'm going.
JOXER
Mm-hmm.
Maybe I can help.
GABRIELLE
Pao Ssu.
JOXER
Thank the gods.
GABRIELLE
Where's Xena?
PAO SSU
She sent me to find you. Come. We must hurry.
"The entire world-"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Is driven by a will. Blind and ruthless. In order
to transcend the limitations of the physical world
one must cease desiring-"
K'AO HSIN and XENA
"And become what we desire."
XENA
"To conquer others is to wield power but to conquer
ourselves is to know the way." Lao Ma's power
came from her purity of thought.
K'AO HSIN
Then with purity on our side Pao Ssu will be
easily defeated.
XENA
No. Pao Ssu has her own kind of purity. The purity
of hatred.
Xena!
XENA
Stay here. I'll take care of this.
You have something that belongs to me Xena.
Give me the book.
No! No!
ACT THREE
You can't reach them both in time Xena.
JOXER
Save Gabrielle! Save Gabrielle!
PAO SSU
Hand over the book. It's the only way to save
your friends.
XENA
Why do I get the feeling that even if I do give you
the book, you'll drop the torch anyway?
PAO SSU
Only one way to find out.
Wait.
XENA
K'ao Hsin, no!
Our mother would not have wanted blood spilled
over her writings.
XENA
K'ao Hsin, don't.
K'AO HSIN
I'm sorry Xena but our mother determined our
destiny when she sent you the letter. "The hawk
and the dove-"
K'AO HSIN and PAO SSU
"Must become one with the wisdom."
K'AO HSIN
And so it shall be.
XENA
K'ao Hsin this is not what she meant!
Lao Ma's power's would have been wasted on
you. And you Xena were right. I would have dropped
the torch anyway.
Xena!
O-oh! Xena, like, you won't believe it. It was incredible
I was like a bird. I could see the trees, the ocean, the-
XENA
You weren't high enough to see the top of my
socks dummy.
K'AO HSIN
Xena, I'm sorry.
XENA
Pao Ssu now has the black powder army and
access to Lao Ma's wisdom. It makes her the
most dangerous person in Chin. Somehow we've
gotta level the playing field.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have tried every combination of spice and so
far, nothin'. Except for a fabulous moo shu sauce.
Hey Joxer, what's this?
Oh, that? That's just a meat curative they pull up
from the ground in India. Really crude. No good
cook would use it. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Whoever said black powder was invented by a
good cook? Let me see that.
GABRIELLE
Are you sure?
Yeah, yeah. Well...
Here goes nothin'.
Hmm.
GABRIELLE
It works.
Hey K'ao Hsin what do you think, hmm? What's wrong?
K'AO HSIN
I'm plagued with doubt and fear. I can't still my mind.
XENA
Fear of what?
K'AO HSIN
My sister's hate. I hear her words echoing through
my mind, telling me that I am weak and she's
right! I'll never have the strength to defeat her!
XENA
Wrong. It takes great strength to show compassion.
Lao Ma taught us both that. That's what we're
going to need to beat Pao Ssu.
K'AO HSIN
I don't understand.
XENA
Yes you do! You do. You said yourself, Lao Ma
lives on in her legacy and each of us holds a
part of that. Her blood is in your heart. Her lessons
are in mine. If we focus together we don't need
the book.
K'AO HSIN
"The hawk and the dove must be made one with
the wisdom." All this time I thought it was Pao
Ssu, but it's you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This may be the only thing you ever gave me
Mother, but believe me I'm going to put it to good use.
"Knowing the way is like being a child."
K'AO HSIN
"Laughing and crying all day without being hoarse."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Small people hate loneliness but the master
makes it her home, her source, her mother for
she knows it allows her to be one with the universe."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The master knows no expectation and therefore,
no disappointment."
XENA
"And thus she stays young, forever."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To conquer others is to have power. To conquer
yourself is to know the way.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've had-
XENA
A vision. Of Lao Ma. So did I.
K'AO HSIN
When Pao Ssu and I were infants, she saved
our lives.
XENA
At great risk to her own to protect you from your brother.
K'AO HSIN
The Green Dragon.
XENA
She knew that he would see any siblings as
rivals to his throne. She couldn't risk a battle with
him 'til she knew you were safe. That's it. That's
how we defeat Pao Ssu. We have to dilute her purity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The entire world is driven-
-by a will. Blind and ruthless."
GO KUN
Pao Ssu, in the time you've wasted pursuing the
powers of a dead woman, we could have every
enemy faction under our boot heel by now! I say
this idiotic experiment is finished.
Aa-a-a-ah-h-h!
There we go. Gentle, gentle, that's it. Da-ah-da-ah!
Sulfur, a little sulfur. Okay. Roll. Pinch and roll.
That's it, put it in there.
GABRIELLE
What do you think?
JOXER
Uh-h-h-h-h, fuse. We need a fuse.
Bam.
GABRIELLE
There it is.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT FOUR
It's working. The army's moving out to where the
explosions came from. Pao Ssu's not with them.
XENA
Is Joxer ready?
GABRIELLE
Yes.
XENA
You know what to do.
This way.
I have something wonderful to share with you both.
XENA
You've been studying your mother's book
PAO SSU
Yes! And I've made a wonderful discovery. I don't
need anyone. Not allies. Not my army or my family.
Yah-h-h-h-h-h-h!
Hah-h-h-h!
Hurry Joxer!
JOXER
What is this? An arms race?
GABRIELLE
I have a bead on that munitions tent. We're gonna
blow it sky-high.
GO KUN
I don't think so.
Kill the-e-e-e-em!
Line 'em up now!
Oh, okay! Oh-h-h!
(to soldier) I want you to launch a rocket attack
against Xena.
Whoa! Wait! Ha-ha-a-a-a-a-ah! You see? I too
have studied the art. Mine is Hoong Heng Huang.
Heh-heh-heh!
Joxer! Run!
We've seen into your past Pao Ssu.
PAO SSU
How perfectly symmetrical. In my meditation I
saw into my future. I am to follow in the footsteps
of one who is called the Green Dragon.
XENA
Then you'll be walking the path of a dead man.
The Green Dragon was our brother Pao Ssu.
He would'a killed us both, if Mother hadn't sent
us away.
XENA
Lao Ma risked her own safety so that you might
live a full life and what have you done with her gift?
PAO SSU
Shut up!
Her heart was breaking as she let you go and
when she died, she died without regret because
she knew that she had saved your life.
PAO SSU
Ha-h-h-h!
I saw the tears our mother shed when she handed
you off to the fisherman Pao Ssu.
PAO SSU
(sobbing) Stop it!
XENA
I heard the wails of anguish as she said good-bye.
Pao Ssu you're losing your purity of hate because
you're having a loving thought of your mother.
Don't fight it. If you do you will end up dead.
At least I'll have you two to keep me company.
"To conquer others is to have power. To conquer
yourself is to know the way."
Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I feel perfectly still but I do not feel the power
inside me anymore.
XENA
We were just its vessel. If you call it back, it will come.
Xena, Kun's army is moving to the northern mountains.
JOXER
As far as I can tell all the black powder has
been destroyed.
K'AO HSIN
Thank you Xena. You are the strongest woman
I have ever met.
XENA
You never knew your mother. But you're a worthy
successor to her.
K'AO HSIN
As you are, my sister.
STARRING
Lucy Lawless as Xena
Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle
GUEST CAST
Ted Raimi as Joxer
Marie Matiko as Pao Ssu
Marie Matiko as K'ao Hsin
Andy Choi as Go Kun
William Kwan as Vendor
Written by: Jeff Vlaming
Directed by: Mark Beesley
Disclaimer: To obtain a copy of Joxer's recipe for Moo Shu Sauce and other Chinese delicacies visit your local Bookstore or look for it on the Internet.
