It was the birth of the Amazon nation
and of their legendary warrior, Samsara,
whose lust for blood perverted their history for eons.
Then Xena brought her daughter, Eve,
to receive the Amazon right of caste.
This is the story of Eve's initiation...
and of the Amazon rebirth.
You know, Gabrielle, you don't have to do this.
I wanna do it, Xena.
You gave Eve life.
The least I can do is make her an Amazon princess.
Don't you want me to give her my right of caste?
I don't know.
I used to think that I had to go through life alone...
that anything else was a sign of weakness.
So I traded my home and family for...
violence, blood, so much blood.
I never want Eve to know that life.
Maybe if she becomes an Amazon, she'll always feel a part of something.
She will.
But you're right. A caste, that's a pretty precious gift.
Xena, we're all family.
I love her like my own daughter.
Well, if that's the way you feel...
This deed cannot go unpunished.
Once we've mourned our loss, we will have our revenge.
We'll kill every last one of them.
Xena! Gabrielle! We've been expecting you.
Yakut...
What's happened?
Samite nomads from the northern steppes raided the village.
Yakut led our defense.
We drove them back...
but at great cost.
Xena...
Are you ok?
In a time of ancient gods...
...warlords...
...and kings...
A land in turmoil cried out for a hero...
She was Xena...
a mighty princess, forged in the heat of battle...
...The power...
...The passion...
...The danger...
Her courage will change the world...
Lifeblood
I can't believe this happened.
It shouldn't have.
Gabrielle, I saw Yakut's spirit.
She was trying to tell me something...
trying to warn me.
- About what? - I don't know.
But she wouldn't be back if there wasn't something wrong.
Xena... Gabrielle... We've prepared a yurt for you.
- Thank you... - Cyane.
Cyane...
You've taken the traditional name of the tribal leader.
I accepted command out of necessity, not desire.
I haven't seen Amarice.
Many lives were lost during the battle.
Lost...
She... wanted you to have this.
She added a bead for Eve.
How did she know?
Yakut foresaw your arrival.
She said you would come to make Eve a part of our tribe
and that we should welcome her.
We're ready to begin the ceremony.
- I don't know that this is any time... - Xena, there's death all around us.
Maybe bringing a new life into the tribe would be good for us.
- All right. - I'm sorry, Xena.
Only Amazons may be present at our right 'a caste ceremonies.
It's ok.
Very well...
Don't be afraid, Eve.
We're going to make you an Amazon princess.
If you wish to give Eve your right of caste...
you must first take your rightful place as our queen.
The queen?
You know I'm not staying.
It's only for the ceremony.
After that, you can choose someone to take your place.
Xena...
I need your help.
Clothe yourself in the robes of a sharmaness, then come to me.
Xena...
Yakut...
What are you doing here?
Why haven't you crossed over into the land of the dead?
When I left my mortal body, many things were revealed to me.
Each of us has a mission in life...
a role to fulfill.
I didn't get the chance to complete mine.
And you can't cross over until you do.
Xena, the Amazons are in danger.
From what?
The key to the future lies in the past.
I failed my people.
I have to fix it before it's too late.
What do you need me to do?
A queen is a chalice.
Let us fill you with visions of our history.
Fragments of a time before we were Amazons...
when cannibals slaughtered our men
and warriors like the great Samsara
called on the shaman for a savior from the future.
An Atma. The first Cyane.
Behold the legendary Samsara.
Run! Run! Go!
Do it.
Force of life...
Send us from the land beyond time and death...
the Atma, our savior.
Our greatest warrior.
I am dreaming.
No, I'm the Twilight Zone!
I am dreaming!
This is our savior?
Her strange ways and clothes confused the tribe...
but her courage was real.
Easy!
That's it!
Good!
Take it easy, boy.
I'm not gonna hurt you.
Good boy. Good boy. Attaboy.
What?
You truly are the Atma.
- What did I do? - You mounted the swift one.
Nobody has ever dared to do that.
What... Just 'cause I rode a horse for a few seconds, you think I'm...?
Wait.
If you guys don't ride the swift ones when you catch 'em...
what do you do with them?
We prepare them for the ceremonial dinner.
You eat horses?
You're not supposed to eat horses!
Horses aren't food! I can't believe this!
With your courage...
you have shown us that you are worthy of our tribe.
Whether you think you're the Atma or not...
tonight...
you become a Tretolmec!
Tonight...
your coronation continues a ritual passed down to us through the ages.
A ritual of music and movement.
A celebration of community and joy.
For we are a family, united in sisterhood.
We are the creators and our own creations.
The words and the music.
Both singer and song.
Our traditions stretch back to the great Gaea herself...
mother of us all.
A tradition of dance...
of music...
of sacrifice...
of blood.
Witness our legacy, Gabrielle.
Embrace the Amazon way.
As our foresisters honored the first Cyane,
give your spirit kiss to our new queen, Gabrielle.
She will lead us in our quest for vengeance.
Vengeance.
Vengeance...
No.
No, don't you see? This battle is over.
You've won.
Our enemy dared to kill the greatest amongst us.
For that, they must be punished.
Hasn't there been enough blood here already?
We have an obligation to Yakut, the tribe.
We have an obligation here.
Without new life, our tribe dies.
Begin the right of caste ceremony.
I don't think we're gonna find what we're looking for here.
Even as a spirit, I...
don't have the ability to break the laws of time...
to see into the past.
Then we'll have to bring the past to us.
The Atma dagger.
But it was banished to the netherworld long ago
so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands.
But you can reach it through the spirit world.
Even if I can reach it, I can't bring it into the physical realm.
But I can.
Xena... You don't realize how dangerous this is.
If you fail, you could be pulled into the netherworld with it.
No one said it would be easy.
You should be able to travel through the spirit world to the dagger.
Try.
Samsara opposes me.
You can do it.
Spirit, be gone!
I can see it.
Come on, Yakut, will it.
I can see it.
You can do it.
Stay with it.
You did it.
Yakut...
You did it. The Atma dagger.
Lift it, Xena. Search our past for the answer.
Over that rise is the great river.
On the other side of the river is the tree
that carries the hard red fruit.
We race there.
The first one back, wins the challenge.
Cyane, I think you should accept this...
and show us how the Atma runs.
I suppose we could that, but...
It's just... see...
I don't think running is really a very heroic thing.
I think the race has begun.
No, put me down!
Hi.
You saved my life.
Thanks.
Goodbottie.
Thanks.
Cyane.
Kor.
You know, I think we're... moving way too fast here.
I appreciate your saving my life, but...
that doesn't mean I'm gonna...
fall for any handsome guy who happens to be a...
great kisser.
What are you doing?
It's a Varanas!
What happened, Samsara?
She sided with our enemy against me.
The penalty is death!
Yakut...
That moment of history was lost to us.
Samsara was blinded by hatred and blood lust.
I saw it in her eyes.
I've seen this before...
here.
Even when my people mourn, they think of nothing but revenge.
I can talk to them.
But, Xena...
it's ingrained in our culture.
Even when new sisters join the tribe...
they're bathed in blood.
Eve.
You must declare your intentions before the tribe.
Eve is my rightful heir.
I give her my right of caste.
Behold Eve.
She'll forever after be called our sister...
in life and in death.
Eve, we welcome you.
By this blood...
I initiate you into the sisterhood of our tribe
as a full Amazon princess.
No.
This is a sacred ceremony!
I'm so sorry.
That's not how I was initiated.
I know.
Listen...
What you're doing here is wrong.
This has been our way for generations.
Who are you to tell us any different?
- You're not even an Amazon. - It's wrong...
and you don't have to take my word for it.
The sacred dagger of the Atma...
If you won't listen to me, listen to your ancestors.
Let Yakut reveal the truth Samsara hid!
What did I say?
I think it was them!
Tretolmecs!
A prisoner... Cyane touched her enemy's heart.
Bleed her!
Please, don't.
Do it.
Please...
This is for my father!
Death to all Varanas!
Come on!
But Samsara's heart was too hard.
Thank you, Samsara.
I don't want your thanks.
Samsara, if you hate me so much, why did you save me?
I didn't want the Varanas to get the satisfaction
of eating another Tretolmec.
You must forgive Samsara for her bitterness.
Memories of her father's death cry still slice her soul.
- She was there? - Yes.
She didn't go with Teemor and the other women.
She liked being with the men...
and she begged her father to let her stay.
When the Varanas attacked at night...
she hid under the fallen roof of one of our yurts.
She saw who killed him.
It was Targa, the Varanas with the blood-red scar on his cheek.
She feels that she should have done something to help.
They outnumbered your tribe.
There was nothing she could do.
Then she feels she should have died with her father.
Cyane, quick. The Samites.
They're retreating back to their homeland.
Amazons, it's time to avenge our fallen sisters.
- Death to the Samites! - Death!
I won't let this tribe go to war.
Revenge is not justice!
Don't you have any respect for the dead?
We would never abandon our sisters.
Even in death.
Don't your traditions include listening to your queen?
This is an Amazon matter. Step aside.
Stop them, Xena, or the tribe and I are lost.
You're making a terrible mistake.
The only mistake would be to ignore the debt we owe Yakut and the others.
Nothing will stop us from fulfilling our duty.
I understand why you think you have to do this.
Yakut and Amarice were my friends too.
Killing won't bring them back.
You saw what the Atma dagger had to show us, Xena.
Even when we try to live in peace, our enemies seek to destroy us.
You say you're doing this for Yakut...
but if you spill blood in her name,
you doom her to spend eternity paying for your sins.
There's still time to save her.
Yakut walks among us still.
Isn't that right, Cyane?
Yakut?
Cyane?
I don't understand.
She took an arrow that was meant for me.
I was angry. Her life was worth more than mine.
Why would she do something so foolish?
Because she loves you.
She asks that you see the truth,
and be guided by it.
Retrieve the lost wisdom of your past.
Tretolmecs!
Amazons!
Amazons rule!
We've got them on the run. Let's keep going.
We can slaughter them like sheep now.
No.
We've beaten them.
It'll be a long time...
before they're able to threaten anyone.
- But they're...! - I said no!
It's over, Samsara.
Go.
Lead your people.
Show them a better way.
How could we have strayed so far?
It doesn't matter now.
Decide who you want to be...
right here... right now.
We're not supposed to fight?
Only to save lives.
It's time for a new tradition.
Tretolmec women!
I propose a new mission for us.
In honor... of our lost fathers, sons, brothers and husbands...
we take no more men into our tribe.
But dedicate our lives to helping others!
I say... we lay to rest with our beloved men the name Tretolmec...
and embrace the name given to us by the Atma.
From this moment on, we are the Amazons!
Amazons rule!
Eve...
I bestow upon you... my right of caste.
Cherish it.
Thank you, Xena.
You saved my people... and me.
Go, 'zons!
And so the Amazon legacy to temper might with mercy...
was restored...
thanks to the innocence of a child, and the wisdom of Xena.