Season 6 Episode 07 - The Rheingold

This episode starts 35 years in the past and Xena has just finished creating some kind of ring, later she is sat down at a campfire and puts the ring on and then is attacked by some type of large monster. Xena tells the monster that it can't beat her when she has the ring on. Xena traps the monster in a forest and looked the gates with a chain decorated by ravens. But the monster puts it's hand through the bars of the gates and gets Xena' ring but is still trap. Then the time goes back to the present and Xena and Gabrielle are in a bar, then a man called Beowulf comes in and gives Xena the lock she used to trap the monster years ago. Xena leaves Gabrielle and goes to talk to him then comes back to Gabrielle and doesn't tell her what they were talking about.

The next morning when Gabrielle wakes up Xena has gone and she finds a letter Xena wrote to her explaining that she has some unfinished business to take care of and she will probably die resolving it and couldn't risk taking Gabrielle. Gabrielle decides to follow Xena and the journey takes weeks, she follows her far north and when she gets to a village she sees some pictures of Xena so asks about her. A girl named Brunnhilda tells Gabrielle that Xena visited the village many years ago, she came straight from Chin and on the way through their forests she met Odin, the King of the Norse Gods. She gave Odin a new found lust for life by telling him about the fun of war. Odin made her a Valkyrie, which is a special servant to Odin, they escort all the people who died with honor in a war to the everlasting banquet of Odin. But one of the Valkyries, Grinhilda, who was also Odin's lover didn't like Xena because she thought Xena was too violent had a abnormal lust of war and blood. Odin took a great liking to Xena though and when Xena told him to live without love Odin seemed to think it was a good idea. Gabrielle asked Brunnhilda to met her again that night and try and tell her anything she might know that would help Gabrielle find her. Brunnhilda did meet her and continued her story of Xena. She told her that Odin taught Xena how to set things on fire with just her mind, but Xena wanted more and asked Odin of The Rheingold. Odin wouldn't let her have it because anyone who had forsaken love, like Xena, would have God like strength and would be dangerous to him. Xena tricked Odin though and she told him she loved him, to someone who has a loving heart The Rheingold will give them strength but only for a short while then it would take away the thing they like most about themselves. So Odin told her where the Rheingold was, much to Grinhilda's disapproval. Xena went to find it and Grinhilda and the other Valkyrie tried to kill her to stop her from getting it but where unsuccessful. When Xena got to the place where the Rheingold was Xena had to persuade the Rhien Maidens, who were a group of very innocent and trusty girls, to give it to her, which they did. When Xena gets the Rheingold she melts it down and forges it into a ring. Gabrielle starts talking to Brunnhilda about Xena leaving just a few hours after talking to Beowulf, Brunnhilda know Beowulf and knows the lock he found and tell Gabrielle that Xena is on a suicide mission. Meanwhile Beowulf and Xena have reached the place they were traveling to, they have got to the forest where Xena trapped the monster Beowulf reveals that its name is Grindl. Gabrielle and Brunnhilda are now on their tracks and aren't going to stop until they find Xena. Xena and Beowulf have now just found the monster and are trying to kill it but the monster beats them both. Beowulf ends up getting knocked unconscious and Xena has to fight Grindl on her own. But not even Xena can beat it because it is wearing the ring created from the Rheingold. Gabrielle and Brunnhilda run over to wear the fight took place and find Beowulf unconscious all they find of Xena is a badly torn breastplate, which has blood all over it.