The Debt II

Xena: Warrior Princess episode
“The Debt II”
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 7
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"The Debt"	"The King of Assassins"
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Summary, notes, spoilers, dialog

Continuing from The Debt, Xena is now under arrest; although Gabrielle pleads for her, Ming T'ien is a "man of law", and will keep her under arrest. Leading her to a pit, with her hands and neck in a horizontal stock, the guards say:

Guards: Hey Xena, I hear you were betrayed by a friend.

X: No, not by a friend.

They throw her into a pit filled with water -- and other prisoners, also in wooden stocks, some of whom may be dead.

Gabrielle continues to negotiate with Ming T'ien. He tells her frankly that she betrayed Xena, and Xena will want to kill her; he does not believe that Xena can have changed, and explains that Xena taught him how to rule. She understood how to send fear flooding into your very soul. And when that kind of terror lives deep inside people ... they're yours forever. My father didn't understand this. He was too soft. We now realize that Ming T'ien is yet another of the people who Xena influenced to evil. When he ransomed me that night, he held me to him like a foolish woman — tears in his eyes.

Xena, in the pit, hears more of Ming T'ien's atrocities — including the fate of Lao Ma, Ming T'ien's mother. Her fellow prisoner says, Like you, many of us had heard of her great powers, and thought she would use them to escape. Perhaps, they were all a lie. Xena protests: No--no. Her powers were real. And remembers Lao Ma teaching her control, and deadly powers, and demonstrating deep mental powers. Xena wants Lao Ma to teach her how to use her mind, but fails miserably. Lao Ma laughs:

M: I'm sorry, Xena — but you're trying to attack the bottle with your will.

X: What else is there?

M: Exactly.

X: What?

M: The entire world is driven by will, blind and ruthless. In order to transcend the limitations of that world, you need to stop willing. Stop desiring. Stop hating.

X: How do I do that?

M: Heaven endures, and the Earth lasts a long time, because they do not live for themselves. Therefore, she who would live a long time, should live for others; serve others.

X: I could serve you, if that's what you mean.

M: Of course you can. It's easy to serve someone you love. You feel it will make them love you more. It's like a good business investment.

Later:

M: To conquer others, is to have power. To conquer yourself, is to know the way.

Lao Ma shows Xena her husband, whom she keeps semi-conscious. She lets him awake sometimes, to allay suspicions that he might be dead. She rules in his name, the only way a woman could rule in the Kingdom of Chin. This is her gift to him, Lao Ma says; he was a vicious tyrant, but she is making him the most beloved of rulers.

X: Don't you get sick of him getting the credit for everything that you do?

M: Not at all, as long as good is done.

X: Hmm. You write down all that wisdom stuff, huh?

M: Yes, in his book.

X: You give him credit for that, too?

M: This wisdom comes from heaven. What differences does it make who gets credit for it, Lao Ma, or Lao Tzu?