Xena: Warrior Princess, the famous TV series that ran from 1995 to 2001. Part 1
This week's program will cover the first of six installments on Xena: Warrior Princess,
They also encounter the gods and goddesses of the Greek Pantheon, including Ares, the God of War; Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love; Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom; the Norse god Odin; the Furies; and the Three Fates (the Moirae). Xena and Gabrielle are Greek and come from small villages in the countryside.
Xena is the more complex character, burdened by a dark history as a barbaric warlord in Central Asia who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. The turning point in her evolution occurs when Lao Ma, the spiritual ruler in ancient China, comes to visit Xena’s partner, the warlord Borias. Lao Ma is there to form a treaty between the Kingdom of Lao and their territory. Xena interferes with those plans almost immediately. When she meets Lao Ma, the empress tells Xena that she is destined for greatness—recognizing that although Xena is ruthless, cunning, and dangerous, she is also a great warrior.
During the meeting with Borias, Xena attacks Lao Ma and runs away. She is pursued by Ming Tzu, tr who bought Lao Ma as a concubine and fathered her child, Ming T’ien. Lao Ma overpowers Xena with her martial arts skills and returns to her kingdom, where she keeps her tyrannical husband paralyzed, though alive, so that she can rule alone.
This deep history is not actually revealed until the third season because the series is not presented in chronological order. Instead, it moves in enchanting waves through the past, present, and future, featuring a multitude of characters. It is extremely captivating and difficult to resist. The more you learn about this mythical figure, Xena: Warrior Princess, the more you want to know. She reveals herself to be of such infinite complexity that it is difficult to understand how the series could have ended after only six seasons.
The show was immensely popular and still maintains a massive following of "Xenites" who meet regularly at conventions. While past conventions were held in Burbank, California, this year's convention will be held in New Jersey for the first time. Many Xenites have actually moved to New Zealand, where the series was created and filmed. Because of this, the show's backdrop does not resemble Greece or China; we are looking entirely at the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand.
The conventionsAre very popularWhere fans are arranged in different classes gold and silver and day passesUsually what happens is that there are long lines to get autographs of the actors who actually come toThe conferencesSuch as Lucy Lawless Renee O'ConnorAnd the actors who playAphrodite AthenaAmazon and Joxer. The actors recreate scenes from the seriesAnd there is a talent show and costume show where The Spectators dress up in their famous favorite characters. There is also A marathon Area of merchandise for the shows with photographs, and paraphernalia from the years.
The production team consisted of Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, who later married Lucy Lawless. Not only did Tapert create Xena: Warrior Princess, but he also created Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, where Xena was first introduced as a minor villain. However, her popularity was so immense that she overshadowed Hercules, leading to her own spin-off series. If the series were ever revived, it would undoubtedly feature Lucy Lawless and Renée O'Connor returning to the mythology.
One of the strongest attractions to the series is the story of these two women who form an unbreakable bond with one another. Over the course of the show, it becomes quite clear that they are same-sex partners, which added a groundbreaking layer to the production.
Rather than going through the plots of each season I will focus on the colorful groups of people spectators encounter in the series.
This particular installment will introduce our multi-week look at the series. Next week, we will look at the Amazon episodes, where Gabrielle inadvertently becomes an Amazon Queen after the reigning queen is killed and passes her right of caste to Gabrielle, who accepts.
© 2026 - Moira Sullivan - Air Date: 08/22/2026
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