Review: Return of the Valkyrie

The Ring Arc is brought to a conclusion, but is it a satisfactory one? I would have to say that it is, but this chapter is the weakest of the three. The reason for this feeling is not any inherent flaw in the episode itself, but rather it feels like there is another chapter missing from this saga.

The problems that were set up in "The Rheingold" and complicated further in "The Ring" are very neatly resolved. It's almost as if once Xena starts on the path of "setting things right" there are greater powers helping her along, removing all obstacles in her path.

Emily Skopov's script picks up a year after Xena loses her memory at the conclusion of "The Ring". Gabrielle still sleeps in Brunhilda's protective ring of fire, and we learn that young warriors enchanted by her beauty have tried to rescue her (with predictable results). Even Beowulf tried, and was badly scarred for his trouble.

The monstrous Grinhilda continues to patrol the swamp, and Beowulf decides to recruit help from his friend King Hrothgar. He arrives to witness the marriage of Hrothgar and Xena.

This whole sequence is, in my opinion, the weakest part of the story. We learn that Hrothgar rescued Xena from an icy death - but we never knew she was in that danger to begin with. Not only that, in order to pry Xena loose from the good she can do as a Viking Queen there is a very lightly developed conflict with Hrothgar's sister, who envies Xena's role as Queen.

This sequence has no setup, and the resolution is decidedly rapid. Once Hrothgar's sister has a way of removing her rival (by creating the appearance of a tryst between Xena and Beowulf), she does so. She and Beowulf break free and are off like a shot for Gabrielle's fiery prison.

At this point, I wonder why the yearlong time skip was necessary. The only purpose it serves is allowing everybody involved to believe that Xena is dead, and the Ring lost forever. When Xena returns, the race is on again, and the end of the story is a foregone conclusion. After the wonderful setup of the first two parts, the pacing of the conclusion is a little fast.

Aside from the Hrothgar sequence, everything that happened in this episode could have taken place shortly after the events in "The Ring". And if they wanted to have the time skip, they could have at least shown Xena getting tossed into the ocean by the Valkyries. That plot point is extremely relevant in the setup for this episode, and referring to it in exposition is a bad storytelling move.

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