02x20 - The Price

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Xena: Warrior Princess". Aired: September 1995 to June 2001.*
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Xena helps people free themselves against injustices.
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02x20 - The Price

Post by bunniefuu »

He's moving to your right!

I see him! Let me take him!

Let me take it!

No, no, no! This one's mine, he's mine!

Well fought, friend fish. Know that
I don't do this for pleasure, only to live.

Don't talk to your breakfast.

You'll go to a far, far better place.

Isn't it beautiful?

You think we're the first people here?

The fish certainly seem to think so.
They're practically jumping on shore.

I have a theory about fish.

Oh, the one where they're cold, wet,
and slimy? Yeah, I heard that.

No, that's not it.

I think we all came from the ocean.

Fish are just people waiting for that
magic moment to reach out and touch... Ahh!

The garrison, surrounded.
Waiting for help.

The Horde!

Wha- what does, what does he mean by the Horde?

Go, get your things. Hurry!

What, what?

Now! Don't argue with me!

Xena,

can we help them?

No.

What is going on?

We're surrounded. That's
the way they work.

Those men were Athenian infantry.

They must have been ambushed.

Surrounded by what?

Your sword!

My sword can't help us now. Run!

What?!

Run!

This way Gabrielle! Follow me!

Quick!

Quick!

The canoe! Get to the river!

Pull harder. Dig in!

Pull, Gabrielle.

Xena.

The first time my army went west,
my army ran into the Horde.

I had a scouting party out looking
for a pass through the mountains.

They were below us in a ravine when they att*cked.

I could only watch helplessly as my men
tried to hold them back,

but they kept coming.

I can still remember that

howling of the Horde--

the screaming of my men.

It took most of the day to get the rest
of my army into that ravine,

but, by then, the Horde was gone.

My men--

they were nothing but bones

stripped of their flesh and--

and tortured as they were skinned.

What are they? They must want something.

Nobody knows. Fighting one or two would
be difficult enough but--

but, they hunt like a pack of dogs
surrounding their prey until they att*ck.

We gotta get out of here.

What if we follow the river?
It'll take us somewhere.

Yeah, somewhere, but we don't know
where they are.

Gabrielle.

What?

Things are gonna get worse especially
with what I have to do to get us out of here.

Xena.

Athena, have mercy on us!

We have to save them!

No! Be quiet!

Athena.

But they're crying for Athena!

They want someone to help them!

Well, it's not going to be us!

We have to try!

Those men are dead.

Xena! We have to save him! He's trying to escape!

Keep paddling.

All right! All right.

Here! Take my hand!

Grab hold of him, and hold on tight!

They're catching up!

I know!

They'll catch us all! Let me go!

No! No, we've got you now!
We're keeping you.

Now we really got trouble up ahead.

Gabrielle,

when we get close to shore I want you to jump.

I'm not leaving you!

I can't fight them if I'm worrying
about you! Now do what I say!

Let's go!

att*ck!

I've got him!

Get him!

He's hurt!

Hurry up! Get his arm!

Be careful with him! Wait!

Gabrielle, duck!

Keep together.
Watch for an ambush. Flag 'em.

We've got injured! Move the wagon quickly!
Get everyone in!

Man the battlements!

Watch for att*ck!

Mercer! Mercer!

They have to be stopped! They have to be!

Take him away.
Put his body in the pit with the others.

Give him a hand!

I said, man the walls!
They could att*ck at any moment!

Who cares?! We're dead, anyway!

You get to your post!

Yeah, what's the difference?!

We're gonna die, Mercer.

Those things out there,
they're gonna k*ll us all.

You get to your feet and get to the wall.
Now!

What is going on?

Are these men just so scared,
they won't listen to reason?

You can't reason with dead men, Gabrielle.

And these are as dead as those men on the river bank.

Kaltaka! Kaltaka! Kaltaka!

How can we k*ll them if we can't see them?

Who's Kaltaka?

Probably their god of w*r.
Even when they die,

they call for him: "Kaltaka."

Kaltaka! It drives you crazy!

Xena you were right.
These men have given up.

They don't care whether they live or die.
Is that what's gonna happen?

Not without taking some of the Horde with us.

If I'm gonna die,

I'm gonna die as I am, a warrior
with a sword in my hand.

You taking a break, soldier?

Yeah-- from reality.

You think you can grab your sword
and get placed before

they come over the wall?

Lady,

it just doesn't matter anymore.

We're running out of food,

we're running out of men,
and we're running out of time.

Those things out there have us.

Today, tomorrow,
what's the difference?

Now, take this sword, get back on that
wall, and do your job.

'Cause what they might do to you is
nothing compared to what I'll do.

Who are you?

My name is Xena.

Xena, Xena of Corinth?

The Warrior Princess of Kalmae?

The one who defeated Callisto?

You've heard of me.

What do you think we should do?

Well, first, keep your weapons where you can get at them.

And stand at the wall, not under it or near it!

Every fourth man, take a rest!

The man either side of him will cover for him!

And if anything moves between
here and the trees k*ll it.

But wait. What if it's a friend?

We don't have any friends, right now.

Get used to it.

We're not gonna let these bastards

defeat the elite of the Athenian army are we?!

No!

Tell us what to do, Xena!

Do?

We're gonna k*ll them all!

What in the world?

Where are the doctors?

Back in the burial pit.

We lost them in the first att*ck.

You mean, there's no one?

No one but the goddess of mercy.

There is no goddess of mercy.

You got it.

Here we go again.

OK, you, you, become a nurse.

You, you're a nurse.

Now we have to separate the walking wounded

from the people who can't move.

Now I want this area cleaned of

all the dirty bandages.
We'll boil them later.

We need some wood.
Come on, let's get moving!

Set sharpened spikes along the walls.

We'll hang 'em from the battlements.

Amazing.

What the Hades do you think you're doing!

Taking command! Someone has to.

Isn't it great, Commander?

Xena's fighting with us. We'll teach
those barbarians a lesson, now!

Xena.

Yeah, let's not make a big deal about it.

I wanna talk to you two inside.

Mercer, she's giving orders to us.

Yeah, she is.

I didn't wanna talk out there

but the situation is next to hopeless.

You know that.

We figure we got three days of supplies,
two days of arrows.

If we're lucky,
we can stretch the water to six days.

The Horde will stay there until we
come out looking for food.

We've got to wear them down.

If we can force their hand,

they'll waste men trying to get in.

Out of the question!

You have maybe one more day
before there are mass desertions.

The men are demoralized and beaten.

They need to do something, anything,
to make them feel as though they
have a chance!

And until reinforcements arrive,
we need that.

There are no reinforcements.

General Gallipan sent out a force to
try and break through.

The soldiers we found along the riverbank.

Yeah.

Where is Gallipan?

I almost fought against him in Corinth.

I'd like to see him.

You already did.
You brought him in.

He's dead.
That means you're in command.

I'm not stupid.
I saw the men out there.

Xena's the only chance we've got.

Make sure the... We need more men!

Make sure to keep down!

Make sure half those bodies go to the south wall.

If we're gonna fool them,

we'll have to make them think
we have reinforcements.

Xena! Over here.
Now, it took awhile,

but I think I have it all sorted.

Which ones are going to die?

Hopefully, none of them.

Now, I have the serious cases over here.

The walking wounded have all become nurses.

Ah, if they can do that, they can
carry a w*apon.

Those of you who can walk, report to Mercer outside.

Wait a minute.
Xena, I need these people.

Someone has to feed them.
I need them to get water for the men that...

Yeah, get a waterbag for yourself, Gabrielle.

But no food and water for the seriously wounded,

only for the men who can fight.

But, these men will die without water.

It won't matter if we can't defend
the compound.

You expect me to decide who lives and...

I want men outside, Gabrielle.
You figure it out.

And let Menticles know when they die.

We need them out on the wall.

I can't. I can't.

att*ck!

Retreat!

It worked!

Everybody, down!

Now!

No!

Kaltaka.

There's nothing, absolutely nothing.

It's as if they just left.

No, no. They're out there.
We just gave them a bloody nose.

They won't be stupid enough to enter
the camp again.

We can't stay like this forever.

No, we can't. We need reinforcements.

Make your rounds,
and meet me back at the command hut.

Grab his legs.

Wait a minute.

Orders from Xena.

I don't care. As long as this man still
breathes, he's in my care.

You - can you walk?

Yes. It's just my arm.

Good, then you can hold a sword
in the other. Get to the wall.

I told you to ration the food to the men outside.

What is going on with you?

I'm trying to save our skins.

Those things outside will k*ll us all.

This is insane! You are letting
these men die!

You axed that man in the back!

He was inside our battlements.

He saw our defenses! I couldn't risk it.

I can't believe this, Xena.
You're scaring me.


This is w*r! What did you expect, glamor?!

There are no good choices, only lesser degrees of evil.

There is a choice. To stop fighting!

They aren't like us.

There is nothing about them
that we can or should understand.

But, have you even tried?

I know them, there's nothing!

You make sure that those rations
get to the men on the wall.

We made these the way you said.

I don't know what good they're gonna do.

If they can't see, we can't see.

Trying to get out of this valley
without reinforcements would be su1c1de.

We're gonna do something about that.

You plan to swim down the river and
climb the cliffs?

Hold on. You can't leave.
The men'd lose hope if you disappeared.

He's right. As much as I hate to
admit it, I have to stay here.

Mercer will go. Get ready.

Every man take one. Here, take this.

Are you ready?

Yeah, I'll be in the water in seconds.

No, go north through the forest.
Don't head for the river till you're
out of the trees.

It'll take too long.

It won't matter if you get yourself
k*lled. Go north.

Ready?

We're ready!

Hold it still.

Light it, quickly!

Go!

Open the gate!

You, help me with this!

Xena! Here they come!

Cease fire! Cease fire! Save your arrows!

Wait! Where's Xena?

Open the gate! It's Xena!

Give me a hand! Take him to the hut.

It'll be dark, soon.

Post double guards, and make sure
the torches stay lit.

Are you all right? You know, you go out
of your way to tell me this is w*r,

and then you rescue one of them.
He's not even hurt badly.

Gabrielle, I didn't rescue him.
We need information.

He's gonna give it to us,
one way or another.

Let's make this simple.
I know you don't understand me,

but I wanna make some things clear.

We are here.

Xena.

We are here. You, where?

Look, the animal understands.
But, he's not gonna help us.

Let me try!

Gabrielle, go outside.

No.

By the gods, Xena!

What have you done?

I've shut off the flow of blood
to his brain.

He'll be dead in moments, and he knows it.

He can feel his life draining away.

Don't do this. It's m*rder!

I've told you, Gabrielle,
this is w*r! Go back to the hospital!

So I can pick and choose who lives and who dies?!

So I can be a m*rder*r, too?

Take him to the supply room, chain him up.

You mean, k*ll him.

I mean, chain him up.

Thank you.

Don't you ever question my authority
or methods in front of my troops.

I told you, I'd do whatever it takes
and if that means k*lling him later,

I'll do it.

Your troops? I don't understand.

We didn't ask for this.

If they want a fight to the death,
they're gonna get it.

What part of that didn't you understand?

You! Who are you, Xena?

What happened to the Xena that I know?

That Xena cant help us now.

If losing her is the price for saving us all I'll pay it.

It's just a part of me
I didn't think I'd need anymore.

Get back to work.

Kaltaka. Kaltaka. Kaltaka.

Kaltaka is water.

Kaltaka.

It's not a god.
The dying men just want water.

It's such a mess. It's you,
it's them, it's... it's Xena.

What's become of her? It's just not... it's not human.

It's, quite a surprise, isn't it?
Losing your humanity.

Yeah, well, you were right, Xena.

If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die my way.

Kaltaka.

You let her out!

Well, she said it was your order.
She sounded pretty convincing!

Get the smoke bombs.

And tell all soldiers on the wall
to prepare for battle. Go!

Kaltaka. Kal--

They've got her.

Prepare to fire!

Yes, sir.

No, wait.

Wait, they're retrieving their wounded.

That's impossible.
They must be trying to k*ll our wounded.

No, no, they saw Gabrielle,
and they must've thought it was a truce.

I want some unarmed volunteers
to come out with me and get them.

That's su1c1de!

Do it.

Come here. Keep an eye on Gabrielle.

If I give you the word, k*ll anything
near her.

Gabrielle! Get down!

What do you think you're playing with?!
Come on!

No! Mercer! Mercer!

Gabrielle.

Xena, you were right.

I, I should've gone north.

We've gotta get him inside.

There's no telling how long the truce
will hold.

Looks like you've got your battle
to the death.

Xena told me to report to you.

Aren't you needed on the wall?

She ordered me to help with the wounded.

And she wanted this food to get in here.

Put it over there. Start feeding these men.

And, uh, grab some rags
and start boiling some water.

Menticles, cut him loose.

Are you out of your mind?

Do it!

Give me his w*apon.

Stand back.

What are you trying to prove?

That we have something in common.
He doesn't want to fight me.

He wants to fight you, or anyone else.

Is it any wonder? I've seen you fight.

No, he's not afraid to die.
It's because he thinks that I'm in charge,

and he's not worthy of my sword.
Watch.

Amazing.

Yes, I understand. Take him to the gates,
and then release him.

It might not make sense to us,
Menticles - but he has a code.

And understanding that,
we might just have a chance.

Kaltaka turned out to be the key.
When you went out there,

they thought it was a truce to
retrieve the wounded.

I let my fear and hatred blind me
to everything.

Sometimes the past can do that. Xena,
if I had been through

what you've been through--

No. No. You understand hatred,
but you have never given into it.

You don't know how much I love... that.

Here.

Xena! Here he comes!

Maybe we can talk to them.

He's not gonna understand;
that won't happen overnight.

Gabrielle.
This is the only communication

we both understand - a warrior's
code of honor.

If I defeat their leader,
I defeat their army.

Gabrielle, if this doesn't work,
I want you to go to the river.

No. You do what you have to do
but, we'll walk down that road together.

Xena! Watch out!

You knew.

I knew one of us had to die. You can send
out a patrol; you won't find them.

I don't want to find them.
We move, now. Thank you.

They'll be back.
Maybe not this year, but some day.

Can anyone stop them?

Yeah. It won't be warriors.
It'll be someone like you.

I just hope that wherever the Horde
is from, they have a Gabrielle.
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