I couldn't help but think of SINS when I saw the lone rider who would obviously mean a lot to what was about to happen. Didn't know if she was good or bad, just that she had to take care of some "warrior" who was creating havoc. Then I see who the warrior is - not some Draco, but Xena. So the lone rider must be bad, right? Bad enough to match the WP move for move, penetrate her defenses and recall Callisto's taunt, "I'm as good as you." Indeed, Xena's eyes seem to say, "What in the...? Not again?" Sure enough, the stranger is about to kill the very bard everyone in the world seems after. But wait. The stranger is reconsidering. Xena looks in amazement at the woman's rapt expression, not believing what she sees, but not disbelieving, either. The woman apologizes and asks X&G's forgiveness. Ah, she must be good then, right?

"These two are on a journey, a quest, and they are our allies in the fight against darkness," she tells her men. X, standing at attention in unsmiling, reserved silence, glances at G, who looks at the charismatic stranger with open curiosity, then returns X's glance. The woman and Gabby exchange names. "You've suffered much, Gabrielle, but you've retained your good heart." "And you," she says to Xena, "Have chosen to fight the darkness within you. What courage that takes." She's not Callisto, but she sure has Psycho Barbie's uncanny ability to zoom in on exactly where our heroes hurt. "I hope you find what you're looking for. Again, please forgive us. It was an honest mistake." Yes, we're all well acquainted with honest mistakes, aren't we?

Najara hears voices which guide her and encourage her to ask X&G to join her in her "mission." G is intrigued. She wonders where these voices come from. "The light," answers Najara. "They're sent to me so that I can find the darkness…. It's quite a responsibility." She and G exchange knowing looks. Not one for abstractions, X wants a few more specifics. Even after Najara explains about her overall plan to stop the slavers, X asks, "About tomorrow?" Najara cuts to the chase in Xena-like fashion and, as both warriors rise reaching for their swords, defuses the WP's mistrust by offering X command of the troops. When X agrees, Najara smiles genuinely. "Wonderful. I can't tell you how much I'd love the challenge of winning your confidence." Then she turns to G. "And you should listen to Xena. Don't trust me too soon. Xena's wiser in that way."

We see that N is like an amalgam of X&G. On the outside, she's armorless soft colors and clothing, but in battle she's a mirror image of the WP's growling, focussed ferociousness and prowess. But neither is so caught up in slicing that she fails to notice a slaver aiming his arrow at G. Both manage to position themselves in time to save the bard. But it is Najara who catches the arrow, stunning both X&G with the realization that she is as capable of physically protecting G as X is. And more. Najara shares G's desire not just to save lives, but souls. To forgive. She has visions and dreams of improving the quality of people's lives. She meditates, takes pleasure in serenity, the simple things and community. As G listens to N's plans for a hospice and watches grateful villages embrace her, the bard's expression seems to say, "Now * this * I could go for."

In contrast, the very next scene is of Xena recalling the vision of her companion's crucifixion. But Xena doesn't see this as a potential consequence of goodness. It merely reinforces her fear of what will happen if G stays with her. This time when N invites them to continue their journey with her, X looks to G to decide. It is as if X is already considering N as a worthy replacement. Someone who not only catches arrows, but isn't apt to be herself an unwitting weapon endangering the bard. Someone who will help encourage the bard's natural inclination to the light, rather than pull her away from it in a constant tug of war with darkness.

X's thoughts are confirmed the next day, as she gets to compare images of her and G with images of N and G. God, how X must have felt when N extended her arm to G to ride with her - not as a gruff order because of danger or efficiency, but as an invitation to enjoy the beauty around them -- and the bard without hesitation mounts the strange horse and puts her arm around the stranger's waist as though that is what she was born to do. I didn't see jealousy on X's face, so much as a profound sense of sadness and loss that she must let G go with this strange woman who may offer a joy and security that X cannot.

Xena isn't into bird watching, but she does watch people - G in particular. She needs to see of N can be trusted with this precious friend. She observes N&G comfortably laughing, sharing interests and discussing issyews in a way that's rare with the often taciturn WP. She hears Gabby say all the things X fears: that she has doubts about being on "the right path," that running a hospice would mean she and X would "have to go our separate ways," that she doesn't think she can get used to the killing - regardless of how justified or inevitable. N says, "Yes, I see. (Xena's) on a different path." She suggests that "commitment to the light" will give G faith that what she's doing is right. "Yes," G responds, "I need something."

The next day, X says she will go alone to find Marat. G says she's learned to listen to Xena when it comes to battle strategies. But it seems both have forgotten to heed X's instincts when it comes to trusting too soon. Once again, X seeks to protect and make G happy by putting her in the hands of someone G trusted from the first kind word. X doesn't seem to think G will try to follow her this time. "I see such joy in her eyes…. She's been looking for meaning. Maybe you can give it to her." This from the woman who believes one must find strength and answers on one's own, that it is dangerous to put too much faith in others - in her. N doesn't have such qualms. After liberating the townspeople, she says, "Tell all you meet that I am here."

Meanwhile, X continues to discover that who "I" is can be different to different people. To Marat, Najara isn't such a nice person. Only he thinks Xena is N, just as X was once confused with Callisto, not to mention all the times people believe X is still one of her own past iterations. On the other hand, G is finally finding solace with the Najara she believes to be a good person. I cringed when I saw Gabby with the crown of flowers on her head, encircled by yet another group of worshippers. Then it struck me how much her zeal to find spiritual meaning reminded me of Xena's voracious appetite for knowledge and skill in the physical realm. As naïve as G often seems to me, I realized that her openness to exploring different religions is no less understandable - or potentially misused -- than Xena's fascination with what she could learn from M'Lila, Caesar, Lao Ma, Alti, or Cyane.

I've seen several comments about G's "inconsistency" in jumping to negative conclusions about Tara. Yet here we have X once again underestimating the strength and evil of a religious zealot. Not only does she seem surprised when N basically says G is "hers" now and refuses to let her go, but X commits the cardinal warrior sin of turning her back on a formidable, determined adversary. But, then, that's one of the reasons these heroes are more "human" to me than black-and -white archetypes that never make an honest mistake. Still, when it comes to the real deal, I love how they get back "in character" with a vengeance. X taking a licking and still ticking. G making herself a human shield when the WP's battery runs low and N screams, "In the name of light, I smite the darkness!"

I particularly love how all these ambiguities are captured when G&X are both forced in the end to acknowledge their doubts about being with each other, while at the same time affirming their trust in one another and using those doubts to defeat a common adversary. G handles N beautifully, not batting an eye when the crusader warns, "That darkness inside her will destroy you one day." G recognizes that she must trust her instincts and sincerity when she responds, "Xena's dark side frightens me. I know I need to move on" - all the while willing to sacrifice her future to a madwomen if it means saving Xena. When a beaten X looks into the mirror, she sees another potential madwoman, with the same tendency to "eradicate evil" and to "like killing too much" as Najara. With the same "weakness" to prevent them from becoming all powerful, the same "millstone" that weighs on their conscience, that keeps them from focusing too much on their own desires - which also happens to be the same saving grace that gives what they do meaning and compassion: Gabrielle.

When it's all over, Najara is chained like another Callisto whom Gabrielle feels deserves justice and Xena may some day wish she'd let sink to her death. Xena's strength is that she cleans up messes she and others leave behind. Gabrielle's is that she makes it worth the effort. In a way, Najara is partially right, in that it is both their "jobs" to hurt each other when their tug of war between reality and ideals pulls one a little too far. Is the Crusader as good as the warrior princess? Both accept killing -- perhaps someone "innocent" or capable of being reformed -- in the name of the greater good. One sees only the light that fills her, finding absolution in her belief that "the eternal powers will correct any mistakes I make." The other is responsible for herself and her actions, using her darkness to remind her what she is capable of. And in the middle, bless her heart, is Gabrielle, holding both together.

Will self-centered Xena ever realize that Gabrielle is more likely to come to harm sacrificing herself for good than from the warrior's darkness? Will the almost perfect Najara help the warrior see that she herself is probably as good as anybody she thinks is better for the bard's well being? Will Najara help Gabrielle come to terms with the fact that, as "good" as any abstract belief or plan, the devil lies in the details of carrying it out? As long as each seeks the light in her own way, she risks hurting herself, her friend and others. Their journey isn't about being perfect, so much as making the best of honest mistakes.