The Way (Xena episode)

Xena: Warrior Princess episode
“The Way”
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 16
Guest star(s)	Timothy Omundson (Eli); Rajneel Singh (Indrajit/King of Demons); Rajiv Varma (Krishna); Lucy Lawless (Kali); Jake McKinnon (Hanuman); Slade Leef (Demon)
Writer(s)	R.J. Stewart; Robert Field (editor)
Director	John Fawcett
Production no.	#V0617
Original airdate	1999 Feb. 22
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List of Xena episodes

Pre-episode disclaimer

"The producers of the following episode took liberties with Hindu deities and historical timelines, but their sole intent was to illustrate the beauty and power of the Hindu religion."

Spirituality & X/G, again

The opening dialog sets up a familiar Xena/Gabrielle dichotomy with respect to religion and spirituality. Lots of shots of beautiful rivers, then:

G: I love rivers.

X: They're all right, if you don't have to get to the other side.

G: There's a certain ... inevitability to a river. Nothing stops it from finding its way.

X: You ever hear of a dam, beavers?

G: Why do you do that?

X: What?

G: You shoot me down while I'm doing my philosophical stuff.

X: What do you mean?

G: Xena, since I met you, I've been on this spiritual quest. I've been looking for the meaning to it all. Why don't you ever ask those questions?

Musical pause, then unaccompanied dialog begins followed shortly by fighting.

Afterwards, Xena reflects on a small wound she received. Gabrielle asks what's wrong.

X: "It's this wound. That demon should never have gotten a

blade on me.

G: Xena, you're only human. Everybody loses focus sometimes.

X: It's not just that I lost focus. It's why. A few days ago, I saw my future life. You saw it, too. I'm destined to be reborn as some kind of a saint.

G: But that's wonderful, isn't it?

X: Yes, but if I already earned that karma — can I still mess it up? Maybe I was shown my future life for a reason. Maybe I'm supposed to change the way that I'm living this life, here and now. But, either way, a warrior cannot ask these questions in the heat of battle. When the kill is there, you have to take it. If I can't do that — I can't be a warrior, anymore.

Opening sequence begins.