The Spirit of The Bitter Suite
Review by: Lord Nelson
lrdnlson@capital.net

It must be said that Xena of Amphipolis is a killer.  She is a killer by
instinct and training.  For most of her life she was a killer by desire.
Indeed her desire to kill is so strong that you could say that she loves
it.  It is her struggle to gain control over her love of killing that is
her quest and the reason she is such a great hero.  Her intense love of
combat and desire to kill was caused by the terrible traumas she's suffered
and these traumas have left awful wounds.  The wounds are so awful that
when someone or something finds the scabs to them and picks them, Xena
loses her veil of civilization completely and essentially goes mad. She
demands vengeance for the hurt thereby created.   Xena knows this, and is
deeply ashamed of herself for these terrible weaknesses and other things.
Indeed, her entire personality is BASED upon that shame.  Those terrible
wounds were forced on a very sensitive and deeply compassionate woman who
became the ultimate cynic.  War totally destroyed her ideals.  It also left
her with a need to control so strong that she tried to conquer the known
world because she couldn't trust anyone else to run it.

Gabrielle of Potidaea isn't a killer.  However she's still a wet behind
the ears kid who has made a conscious choice to live a very dangerous life
with a woman who can snap in an instant into a beast.  

Prior to The Bitter Suite the both of them were subjected to physical and
emotional torture by the gods and circumstance that were so terrible that
anybody else but them would have died. But these people are not average
people.  They are both heroes of the very first water.  These events are
their preparation for what fate has in store for them in the future.  It is
a purification by fire. The fire is the intense pain leveed upon them by
Hope through the death of Solon, the purported death of Hope herself, and
the bitterness of rage and betrayal that Xena and Gabrielle share
mistakenly against each other.  This terrible state of their feelings for
each other is exacerbated by secrets that each hold from each other.  These
secrets were born out of the fear of driving each other away and the
mistaken desire to protect each other's feelings.  This is the most
important symptom of the codependent nature of the relationship between
Xena and Gabrielle prior to The Bitter Suite.

It is this state that makes Xena's insane dragging of Gabrielle
understandible and tragic.  Gabrielle is also in a suicidal rage from her
shame over the two kills she's made.  Everything Gabrielle knew to be true
in her heart has turned to ashes in her mouth.  Her dragging Xena over the
cliff with her is also totally understandible.

In the parlance of Alcoholics Anonymous, both Xena and Gabrielle have hit
what is known as a hard bottom.  Both of them had to decide whether or not
they WANTED to live or to give in to the terrible pain that they are both
experiencing.  It's here that fate, in the form of Solon intervenes.  He
gives them a chance to break the denial that they both share.  The only
people that can help Xena and Gabrielle are themselves.  The tool is for
them both to admit to themselves, each other, and to a higher power, Solon
and what he represents, that they need help.  The higher power that Xena
and Gabrielle have chosen is LOVE itself.  

Lao Ma has given Xena and Gabrielle the tool by which they can reach their
greatness.  The tool is real awareness.  Real awareness leads to
compassion.  They now realize that Xena and Gabrielle MUST have compassion
for each other for them to survive.  Compassion needs total honesty.
Honesty demands openness.  They must share what they feel moment to moment
and forget about the past and future, because it is in the now that LIFE
really is.  This leads from them making choices based on conscious self
interest (desire) to conscious devotion to the cause of Love.  It is that
love that will bring them both inner peace and purity. For Xena, gaining
that purity will lead to ultimate, godlike power.

Solon pointed out the road to Xena and Gabrielle.  It will take WORK for
them to stay there.  Desire is the worst addiction anybody has to conquer.
Yet the Buddha said that one's salvation is assured once one finds the way.
 Xena and Gabrielle have found that way.  Their salvation is assured.  We
have to wait to see what that means.

LordNelson  

Return to the Main Reviews Page