Xena: Warrior Princess (TV Series) Mortal Beloved (1996) User Reviews

Cheesefest. Gabrielle may as well have been an inanimate prop. Charon, Atyminius were probably the best things about the episode.

[reb-warrior · 7/10 · 3 June 2021]

Xena's old flame, Marcus shows up as a ghost asking for her help. It turns out there's been a coup on the "other side." All the good guys are in Tartarus and all the bad guys are in the Elysian Fields. This was caused by Atyminius who has stolen Hades' helmet of invisibility and imprisoned Hades. Xena and Marcus go to Hades and he grants Marcus mortality for 48 hours in order to kill Atyminius and get the helmet back.

Let's just get the cheese part over with. The dialogue between Xena and Marcus was corny. It was so lovey-dovey that it felt like it was a bad romance novel written by a teenager. All of a sudden Xena is in love with Marcus? Kind of reminds me of the Perdicus thing with Gabrielle. When exactly did all this "love" happen? Notice Marcus is never mentioned again in the entire series except for season two's "The Xena Scrolls." A clip show. They never did a flashback to showcase this great love. I found their interactions with that dialogue a bit cringeworthy, especially on Xena's part, where she is acting like a lovesick teenager. Just didn't feel like Xena and her persona. I mean yes, I love that Xena had a romance with a black male character. That was groundbreaking in those days for television with the lead title character of a show. I just never felt that the romance and the character of Marcus were written very well.

Gabrielle didn't have much to do here. She was kind of like an inanimate prop. Kinda just there, but not really involved much with anything. I did enjoy it when she fought back against Atyminius though. I wish she had won that fight, enough so that he would have run off.

Charon, played by Michael Hurst was funny and entertaining. Atyminius was actually an awesome villain. He was creepy, and maybe even a little scary. The only other villain like that on the show was Alti. Too bad they never had the character back. But then again a lot of things from season one were forgotten about later in the series, Petracles, Marcus, Xena's older bro... what's his name?

I'm glad Xena struck a deal with Hades to get Marcus into the Elysian Fields. He never seemed that bad of a guy even in the previous episode he was in. He never had any darkness within him.

The CGI was considered good back in the 90s. Remember that if you're a new viewer. We are indeed spoiled now by amazing effects nowadays. But back then, effects in Xena were considered really good.

Why didn't Xena just throw some dirt or flour on Atyminius? I mean when she and Marcus were fighting him after he knocked out Gabs, she could have quickly grabbed a handful of dirt and throw it on him.

It was funny seeing Toxeus from 'Death in Chains' again. Where are his men I wonder that he killed? They probably used to beat him up in Tartarus for his not-so-great idea of "killing" them. Lol.

I thought the story was good of Atyminius stealing the helmet and going to the other side as Xena and Marcus pursued him. I didn't like the lovey-dovey teenager romance stuff between Xena and Marcus . Shame they didn't give Gabs much to do. 7/10.

Entertaining

[Joxerlives · 8/10 · 6 February 2022]

Well, getting the underworld is a lot simpler than you might imagine, you just dive down to the bottom of the lake?

Best line-Gabby; "But what if you drown?"

Xena; "Well then I guess I'll make it to the underworld one way or the other?"

Michael Hurst as Charron and Toxeus is back. Boy this is dark! We have Xena's equivalent of Hannibal Lecter who is creepy as hell and cuts Toxeus' head clean off! Fire-breathing again and we see that returning people to life is actually no big deal for gods as we'll see time and again over the series. The CGI isn't bad for the time and Xena kills 2 Harpies and 2 humans.

Not a favourite of the subtexters as Marcus is obviously a real catch and Xena tells him that she loves him, something I don't think we ever see with any of her other boyfriends? She says that she will see him again one day but actually we later see that when she dies she goes to the Christian heaven although it's perfectly possibly the 2 could have been merged with the death of Hades? Which begs the question where did HE go upon his demise?

8/10.

Salute to Xena - A 25th Anniversary Review

[skullface2020 · 7/10 · 27 March 2020]

Hades screws up and loses control of the Underworld to psycho Atyminius. Xena is reunited with her former love Marcus (Season 1 Episode 5) in a quest to bring order to the land of the dead so that the righteous can safely reach the Elysian Fields.

SYNOPSIS

A ghost is spotted near a village where Xena and Gabrielle are enjoying some drinks at the local tavern. Xena investigates, and finds that it's the ghost of Marcus her former love. He says that the underworld is in trouble, and good souls need her help. Xena and Gabrielle travel the next morning to the shores of a very deep lake where Xena will dive to the bottom and enter the underworld. Gabrielle will stay behind and make camp near the lake. Xena dives and finds herself in the land of the dead. Charon, the boatman who can ferry you to your destination, says that everything is a messed up now that Hades has lost control. Everything is so upside down that he might as well ferry Xena, a living being tourist, onto the other side.

The land of the dead is divided into Tartars for the those who were malevolent during life, and the lovely Elysian Fields which is a paradise for the righteous. Xena finds that now it's the righteous and innocent who are stuck in Tartarus, and while down there she quickly finds Marcus. He knows a way up to the Elysian Fields since now it appears that the wicked can travel between the two. Even though he died as a righteous man, it appears that Marcus had a tough review upon death and was condemned to Tartarus. Once in the Elysian Fields, Xena and Marcus see that it's chaos and full of thugs. Of course Toxeus (Season 1 Episode 9) is there. Some nut job murderer named Atyminius stole Hades helmet of invisibility and is basically running the show. Xena confronts him, but he puts on the invisibility helmet and causes mass fighting as he disappears. Xena and Marcus escape the area and go to meet Hades.

Getting to Hades is difficult, and the two of them only reach him after fighting their way though some crazy flying demons. Hades is all depressed, but Xena and Marcus have a plan. This involves chasing Atyminius into the land of the living where he is sure to seek more murder victims. However, Xena requests that Hades give Marcus back his life since he's basically useless on earth as a ghost. Hades doesn't want to do this at first, but then grants Marcus 48 hours of life. Xena and Marcus emerge upon earth in time to see Gabrielle fighting off the murderous Atyminius. Fortunately, they fight him off, but he uses the invisibility helmet to get away. They pursue him and find some travelers that he attacked. Atyminius was known for wanting to kill brides right before their wedding, and the wounded travelers inform Xena that they were on the way to a wedding nearby. It's pretty clear where Atyminius is going next.

Upon arriving at the wedding grounds, Xena, Marcus, and Gabrielle see a chaotic situation. Troublemaker Atyminius has already stirred up a bunch of trouble here while using this invisibility helmet. Xena and crew find the father of the bride and inform him of the imminent danger posed. Xena convinces the man to let her pose as his daughter at tonight's bath ritual event, while his actual daughter stays behind in her room. Nightfall comes, and the ceremony is about to begin. However, Atyminius is not there, and instead he is about to murder the young woman in her bed. But it's really Xena, and she kicks him in the face! She knew that he probably was listening earlier when she spoke with the bride's father, and has caught Atyminius off guard. She kills him pretty easily even though he has an invisibility helmet.

Xena, Gabrielle, and Marcus travel back to the lake in order to return the helmet to Hades. This will also allow order to return to the land of the dead. But Xena can't get over that Marcus was damned to Tartarus. Even though he had a troubled life, he was a decent man and died doing the right thing. She asks Hades if he will rejudge Marcus upon his second death (remember he was made alive again for 48 hours). Hades really wants his helmet back, so he reluctantly agrees. Suddenly Marcus appears and Xena stabs him to death right in Hades' midst. She travels back to the land of the living alone, but it's ok since she knows that Marcus now is in the Elysian Fields and will be there when they are reunited once again.

NOTES

Some bad folks remain bad in death, but others can find a path of righteousness while still alive. Xena and Marcus love each other. Many of these gods are morons who really need help from heroes like Xena. The CGI in 1996 is just a little better than it was in 1995.

Enter: Atyminius, Charon

Mortal Beloved

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 21 February 2019]

Nothing much to do for Gabrielle in this episode. She just sits by the lake and waits for Xena to return. The least she could have had was a fishing rod.

A visit from the ghost of her beloved Marcus tells Xena that the underworld has been thrown into chaos. A madman called Atyminius has stolen Hades' Helmet of Invisibility and all the good souls have been put in danger.

Xena dives into the Alcyonian Lake to travel to the Underworld. Xena realises that Marcus has been placed among the wicked after he died.

Atyminius now wants to use his powers in the world of the living to bring destruction. Xena has a plan to stop him by inciting a free for all battle for the helmet. However Xena also wants to save Marcus's soul in the afterlife.

There are some dodgy CGI winged harpies. Despite that it is a fun, campy episode. Atyminius chews all the scenery in the afterlife, so do the background fighters.