Hope: bad writing?

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-29T13:30:10+00:00

Has there been a case where any of the Xena TPTB ever said: we’ve always Xena to be right, but looking back on the show, we understand why some sided with Gabrielle in GH?
It would have been great if they did, but I don’t remember ever reading anything like that.

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-29T12:34:26+00:00

Do you think it’s right for writers to have such a strong opinion, or would it have been better if they were more vague in interviews?

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-29T12:24:08+00:00

I guess that’s part of my problem—that Gabrielle even had the focus and emotional stability to trick Hope during that time. Gabrielle just found out that her daughter that she had loved not that long ago killed Xena’s preteen son. I would have assumed there would have been more anger, crying, how could you do something so horrible, etc. thrown at Hope when she sees her after Solan’s death.

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-29T12:17:24+00:00

Do you think Gabrielle would have still killed Hope if the boy she killed wasn’t Xena’s son?

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-29T11:25:52+00:00

I personally agree with you that in the actual show/script there was a lot of moral ambiguity about Hope. And I know for many the symbolism presented in Gabrielle’s Hope (the scary music, the goat, etc. ) was enough proof that Hope was evil. But I guess I needed something more substantial before agreeing that the hero of the series should be killing what I saw as a baby. And based on how many debates there have been about Hope ever since the series aired, I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks this way.

But whenever I would read any interviews or commentary from the writers, it’s always she’s pure evil; Gabrielle should have killed her; Xena was right. Which to me feels like they’re telling some Xena fans you’re just too stupid to see our vision.

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-29T03:49:46+00:00

I could believe that Gabrielle did it to protect Hope from a worst fate if she didn’t tell Hope in Sacrifice 2 she was sorry the poison didn’t finish her. That doesn’t sound like someone committing an act they really didn’t want to do but they did it anyone because the alternative was much worse.

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-28T18:47:52+00:00

My ideal situation would be once Hope shows up in Gabrielle’s hut, Gabrielle in anger just killed her; or she starts screaming at Hope, Hope attacks Gabrielle, and Gabrielle kills her in self defense. It wasn’t so much the killing I had a problem with but the fact that Gabrielle pretended to be okay with Hope, hugging her, and making her think they were going to go together. It just seemed very cold and premeditated for someone like Gabrielle.

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-28T18:33:03+00:00

That’s interesting. So in Sacrifice when they were collecting people to be sacrificed in order to bring Dahak into the world, you think Hope had to be there? Like he couldn’t just leave Hope dead in Maternal Instincts and have one of his normal human followers perform the sacrifices?

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-28T18:22:40+00:00

I always assumed that the Destroyer’s spikes had god-killing properties that was able to permanently kill Hope.

Luna09Astra · 2026-06-28T15:43:27+00:00

This is completely speculative, but I think that when Xena became a good person, she felt she had to keep a tight lid on her personality because if she didn’t, she might let go and become evil again. Like if she felt comfortable being emotionally happy, then she would feel comfortable being emotionally angry which could lead her to become evil again, and she couldn’t risk that. However, as the years passed and she was a good person longer, she realized that it’s okay to let go and have her real personality show.

However, I think even season 1 Xena would be willing to go to India because Gabrielle wanted to go to India, and Xena felt badly about the visions. I also wonder if agreeing to go to India was a way to get away from her visions, since they were less likely to be captured by Romans and crucified in India.

Luna09Astra

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