Prod. #VO201

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS
"Remember Nothing"

Story by
Steven L. Sears and Chris Manheim

Teleplay by
Chris Manheim

Directed by
Anson Williams

Revised Pages: Cast, 7, 11-12A, 17, 20, 21, 27, 34, 35, 40, 40A

Executive Producers
Sam Raimi & Robert Tapert

Renaissance Pictures SHOOTING DRAFT
100 Universal City Plaza Apr. 25, 1996
Universal City, CA 91608 Rev. May 03, 1996 - Pink
(818) 777-0.088 Rev. May 06, 1996 - Blue

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS
"Remember Nothing"

CAST LIST

XENA
GABRIELLE

LYCEUS (lie-SEE-us)
MEZENTIUS
KRYKUS
MAPHIAS (ma-FYE-us)
CLOTHO (KLO-tho)
LACHESIS (LACK-a-sis)
ATROPOS (A-tro-poss)
SLAVE BOSS
STOREKEEPER
MINION
HEAD GUARD
GUARD #1
GUARD #2
CAPUTIUS (*) (ka-PEW-shus)
BOY

Referred to in Dialog:
CORTESE (kor-TEEZ)

(*) Non-speaking

SET LIST

INTERIORS:
TEMPLE OF THE FATES
WARLORDS' CASTLE - THE GREAT HALL
- KITCHEN
- MEAD STORAGE ROOM
- DUNGEON
XENAIS HOME - MAIN ROOM
- XENAIS ROOM
MAUSOLEUM (*)
GENERAL STORE
SMALL STORAGE ROOM

EXTERIORS:

TEMPLE OF THE FATES
WARLORDS' CASTLE GATE
PATH TO AMPHIPOLIS
SPARRING AREA IN AMPHIPOLIS

(*) Same mausoleum as in "Sins of The Past" #76901, if possible.

CHRONOLOGY

DAY 1 SCENES # 1 - 11
NIGHT I SCENES #l2 - 13

DAY 2 SCENES #14 - 19
NIGHT 2 SCENES #20 - 21

DAY 3 SCENES #22 - 26

TEASER

FADE IN:

INT. TEMPLE OF THE FATES - DAY

CLOSE ON A CANDLE FLAME flickering against the surrounding darkness, as we hear:

XENA (O.S.)
By this flame, I call on the three
Fates: the Maiden ...

The CANDLE MOVES to light the wick of another candle.

XENA (O.S.)
... the Mother ...

A second candle is ignited beside the first.

XENA (O.S.)
... and the Crone.

A third candle is brought to blazing life, creating a flickering triumvirate as we PULL BACK to reveal ...

...XENA, softly illuminated by the candle she holds.

XENA
... Comfort my brother, Lyceus, whose life you cut short this day eleven years ago. In his memory, I ask it.

She places her candle in the middle of the other three and steps back, as we WIDEN to include GABRIELLE, watching solemnly.

GABRIELLE
I wish I'd known your younger brother.

XENA
(clouding guiltily)
If I hadn't insisted we rally against
Cortese, you might've had the chance.

GABRIELLE
It's not your fault. He chose to fight
for something he believed in.

XENA
Yeah ... me.
(forestalling her protest)
You don't know what it's like to take a
life, Gabrielle -- let alone cause the
death of someone you love. The gods
grant you never will.

Before Gabrielle can comment, a SCREAM sounds out front. OFF the women's reactions:

CUT TO:

2 EXT. TEMPLE OF THE FATES - DAY

ON the terrified face of an ACOLYTE as he runs up the temple steps, fleeing --

-- a grotesquely HOODED MARAUDER who, seeing he can't catch the Acolyte, hurls his spear which we TRACK as it hurtles toward the Acolyte's defenseless back when, suddenly --

Xena grabs the spear mid-flight, deftly turns it around, and sends it sailing back in the other direction where

-- it impales the hooded Marauder.

Going WIDE, we see SEVERAL HOODED MARAUDERS are mounting an attack on the Temple whose Acolytes flee before them.

As Gabrielle uses her staff to trip and brain a Marauder ---

Xena sees a group of them charging up the Temple steps to surround her. Springing to grip one of the narrow entrance columns, Xena propels herself around it by kicking off the chests of the Marauders who tumble down the steps as --

-- Xena swings to the next column, reversing herself like a gymnast on the parallel bars as she kicks some more Marauders down the steps, then does a somersault dismount, landing face-to-face with --

CAPUTIUS, the leader of the Marauders, a man whose lethal martial arts are all the more dangerous for their distracting dance-like movements that mask their sinister intentions with sinuous style.

As he and Xena face-off in a deadly pas de deux, it's touch and go until --

-- a sudden, graceful move by Caputius surprises Xena, disarming her! But as Caputius glides in for the kill --

Xena springs into the air, kicks Caputius' sword from his hand, seizes it, and skewers him with it as she lands. Withdrawing the sword, Xena hears:

GABRIELLE (O.S.)
(shouting)
Xena -- behind you!

Whirling, Xena instinctively lifts the sword as a hooded Marauder wielding an axe rushes straight at her, skewering himself on her sword by his own momentum!

Staggering, the Marauder backs off her blade, then tumbles onto the steps, dislodging his hood to reveal ...

... the face of a 15-year-old BOY.

GABRIELLE (O.S.)
(deploring)
He's just a kid ... !

PULL BACK to see she's joined Xena who stares down at the dead boy, appalled. Then, turning in wordless turmoil, Xena strides blindly off into:

CUT TO:

3 INT. TEMPLE OF THE FATES - DAY

An otherworldly atmosphere permeates the building as Xena rounds a corner, then stops, slamming her fist against a wall in angry frustration.

THE THREE FATES (O.S.) (simultaneous)
Xena ...

Startled, Xena whirls to see...

the three FATES: CLOTHO, a young maiden who spins out the thread of life; LACHESIS, a well-endowed, maternal woman who measures and guides the thread; and ATROPOS, an ancient crone who snips the thread with a large pair of scissors.

Though each speaks individually, they flow as one.

CLOTHO
You ...

LACHESIS
... know ...

ATROPOS
... US?

XENA
Everyone knows the faces of fate.

CLOTHO
But few glimpse them.

LACHESIS
And fewer still incur our debt.

ATROPOS
You saved our temple. Name your reward. If it's ours to bestow, it's yours.

XENA
(angry)
Reward?! For what. Killing a boy barely
out of his childhood?! I don't want a reward.
I want that boy alive again.
(bitterly)
By the gods, I wish I'd never followed
the sword in the first place.

The Fates share an oblique look. Then:

ATROPOS
So be it. All is restored.

XENA
(surprised)
What--? You mean, you can bring
him back?

LACHESIS
All is restored ...
(as Xena reacts and starts out)
... until the first time you draw blood in anger.

Xena stops, turning to eye the Fates, bewildered.

XENA
What are you saying?

CLOTHO
Spill so much as a drop of blood in
rage, and everything changes back.

XENA
But I'm a warrior. How can I obey that?

ATROPOS
As a warrior ... you can't.

Xena frowns. But before she can question them further, the Fates fade into thin air. Alone, Xena quickly exits.

CUT TO:

4 EXT. TEMPLE OF THE FATES - DAY

Xena emerges from the Temple and moves down the steps, surprised as she looks around to see the place is deserted ... no Marauders ... no Caputius ... no 15-year-old Boy.

XENA
(calling)
Gabrielle -- Gabrielle?

No Gabrielle. Frowning, Xena looks around, then turns back to the Temple, staring to find ... no Temple.

Thrown, Xena notices her clothes -- not the breastplate, armbands, and boots of her warrior ensemble. Instead, she's dressed in a modest blouse and skirt, such as any village woman might wear. As she tries to make sense of all this, Xena hears:

LYCEUS (O.S.)
(calling)
Xena ... ? Hey, where are you? Xena--?

Reacting, Xena stands thunderstruck.

XENA
(softly; incredulous)
Lyceus ... ?

Turning, she stares as her handsome, younger brother, LYCEUS, alive and well, approaches through the trees. Then, with a joyful cry, Xena runs to him, flinging her arms around him as the two collide. Jolted, Lyceus eyes her, nonplussed.

LYCEUS
Sisters ... can't live with 'em; can't
live without 'em.

And ON Xena's dazed, but happy face:

FADE OUT.

END OF TEASER

FADE IN:

5 EXT. PATH TO AMPHIPOLIS - DAY

Xena walks with Lyceus, doing her best to hide her confusion as she feasts her eyes on him while trying to figure out what's going on.

Aware of her stare, Lyceus finally stops and turns to Xena.

LYCEUS
Okay, what is it? What's wrong?

XENA
Wrong?

LYCEUS
Well, you keep staring at me. Is my
face dirty or something?

He presents his face and Xena gazes into it, reacting to see her baby brother has grown from a boy to a man.

XENA
(heartfelt)
No ... It's perfect.

Lyceus gives her a look.

LYCEUS
Uh-huh. You sure you're all right?

XENA
(still dazed)
I'm not sure about anything.

LYCEUS
You seem sorta ... I don't
know... funny.

Reluctant to call attention to her confusion, Xena shifts the subject.

XENA
Oh, yeah? Look who's talking. (re:
amulet around his neck) A guy who still
wears his virilis token.

LYCEUS
(protests)
Hey, c'mon, lots of guys still wear their
tokens. Besides, it's good luck. it saved
my life, remember?

XENA
(clueless but covering)
How could I forget?

LYCEUS
(with a look)
I never will. If that arrow had
hit me instead of this token, you'd
be running the inn alone, and I'd be a
memory.

XENA
(still taking it in)
Instead ... you're a grown man.

Lyceus' look says she's being odd, even for a sister. Then:

LYCEUS
Come on ...
(taking her hand)
I know what'll put you right.

XENA
(as he draws her away)
Where are we going?

LYCEUS
(grins)
As if you don't know.

And they are gone.

CUT TO:

6 INT. WARLORDS' CASTLE - THE GREAT HALL - DAY

ON the face of a MALE SLAVE grimacing in pain, as we hear the WHISTLING WHIP lashing his back.

SLAVE BOSS (O.S.)
(counting aloud)
... eight...

PULL BACK to include a group of cowed Slaves, forced to watch as the corpulent SLAVE BOSS finishes lashing the Slave who's bound to a post in the center of the room.

SLAVE BOSS
(lashing Slave)
...nine ...
(another lash)
... ten.

He coils the whip, then shoots a questioning look to...

THE DAIS where MEZENTIUS and KRYKUS, two warlords Xena foiled in the past, sit watching the beating.

The two exchange looks, then Mezentius dismisses the Slave Boss with a wave of his hand, telling Krykus:

MEZENTIUS
Any more, and the slave would pass
out...
(cruel smile)
and they make much better examples to the rest when they're writhing in pain, don't you agree?

KRYKUS
Absolutely. Though I admit my Amazons
rarely provide me the pleasure of hearing
them scream. Still, given time, I'll
break them.

Mezentius grins and pours himself some wine.

MEZENTIUS
Soon the entire world will feel our
boots on their necks.

KRYKUS
Or our whips on their backs,
if they resist us.

MEZENTIUS
Resist?
(scoffing)
By the gods, I'd like to see the
fool who tries.

CUT TO:

6A EXT. SPARRING AREA IN AMPHIPOLIS - DAY

ON Lyceus who lunges with a wooden sword, then pivots it in his hand, and swings around to thrust the sword from behind his back. The move is awkward. As he tries again...

WIDEN to see he's lunging at a dummy as Xena watches from beside a tree. Lyceus' metal sword is nearby.

XENA
Not bad. But if you step forward as you pivot your sword, it'll be a cleaner move.

LYCEUS
(dubious)
Since when are you an expert
on fighting?

As Xena fumbles for an answer, Lyceus tries her suggestion, surprised to find:

LYCEUS
You're right. Thanks.
(tries move again)
You know, if the rest of the village
practiced as much as we do, we'd never
have lost to Cortese. Now, grab a sword.
Let's go.

Reluctant to even pick up a sword, Xena shakes her head.

XENA
I don't think so, Lyceus.
(re: his sword)
This is real. What if I cut you?

LYCEUS
In your dreams.
(playfully teasing her with sword)
C'mon... I'll tie one hand behind my back,
give you a sporting chance. How 'bout it?

XENA
(sharply)
I said no!
(off his surprised reaction)
I'm sorry. I just don't feel like it.

LYCEUS
(crossing to her)
You sure you're okay?

XENA
(nods)
Fine. But it looks like you've
got something...
(points to a place on his shirt)
...right here.

As Lyceus looks down, Xena runs her finger up his chest to tip his nose, a trick she's played on him since childhood.

XENA
Gotcha!

LYCEUS
(suckered again)
When are you gonna stop doing that?

XENA
When you stop falling for it.

The two share a grin. Then:

LYCEUS
Look, I can handle things at the inn
this afternoon. You look tired. Why
don't you go home? Maybe lie down a
while. Relax.
(firmly forestalling her)
No arguments. I mean it. Go home.

With a final insistent look, he exits.

XENA
(softly; gazing after him)
I have.

CUT TO:

7 INT. XENA'S HOME - MAIN ROOM - DAY 7

ON Xena as she enters the modest, pleasant house. Looking around, she takes in this rebuilt version of her family home with curious interest while...

AN ANONYMOUS, SUBJECTIVE POV OF XENA reveals someone else is in the house watching her as ...

Spotting something, Xena smiles to herself and crosses to pick up a miniature family portrait, eyeing it while...

... THE MYSTERIOUS STALKER moves closer, silently coming up behind her just as --

-- Xena drops the portrait and whirls, seizing the Stalker -- a glib, handsome charmer named MAPHIAS -- and twisting his arm in a hold that leaves him helpless.

XENA
One move, and I break it.

MAPIIIAS
(totally thrown)
Okay -- I'm a statue.
(twisting to look at her)
Bad day at the inn?

Reacting, Xena stares to find herself face-to-face with ...

XENA
... Maphias?!

MAPHIAS
Who else? Unless you've got another
suitor on the side ... ?

XENA
(releasing him fast)
Suitor?! No!
(off his bemused look)
I mean -- no, of course, I don't...
(under her breath)
I hope.

MAPHIAS
(grins; oblivious)
Good. Then I'll show you some moves
of my own.

And before Xena can blink, Maphias kisses her. She's too surprised to respond and, feeling this, Maphias pulls back.

MAPHIAS
(slight frown)
Something wrong?

XENA
(equivocating)
What could be wrong?

MAPHIAS
You're going to try and postpone the
wedding again, aren't you?

XENA
Why would I want to do that?

KAPHIAS
You tell me. First it was Cortese's
attack, then the town's reconstruction...
I'm warning you, Xena.
You keep putting me off like this, I'm
liable to give up ... in ten or fifteen years.

XENA
(smiles despite herself)
I'll keep that in mind.

MAPHIAS
(only half-kidding)
Do.
(picks up family portrait; eyeing it)
After all, it was the last thing we
promised her. We ought to make
good on it.

XENA
(apprehensive)
Promised who?

off Maphias' reaction:

CUT TO:

8 INT. MAUSOLEUM DAY
(Same mausoleum as in "Sins Of The Past" if possible).

ON a sarcophagus from which we PULL BACK to reveal ...

... Xena, looking stunned as she gently traces the coffin's chiseled inscription.

LYCEUS (O.S.)
(gently)
Xena ... ?

Turning, she sees Lyceus who crosses to join her.

LYCEUS
Maphias said you were here.

XENA
(dazed)
I just had to see --
(stops; catching herself)
I mean -- I guess I'm still having
trouble ... you know ... accepting it.

LYCEUS
I know. It's been nearly ten
years now...
(eyeing casket)
... and I still feel responsible.

Following her own guilty thoughts, Xena stares, surprised.

XENA
You!?

LYCEUS
(nods)
It broke her heart, losing everything
to Cortese. But what else could I do?
You were there. we had to run.

XENA
Lyceus, it's not your fault, believe
me. If anything, it's mine.

LYCEUS
(wryly facetious)
Sure. And what could you have done?
Fought Cortese yourself?
(smiles despite himself)
On second thought, that might've been
something to see.
(then)
Look, I'm gonna go close up. You mind
stopping for some bread on the way home?

XENA
(shakes her head)
Be there in a bit.

Seeing she wants some time alone, Lyceus gives her another curious look. Then:

LYCEUS
Right.

And he exits. Turning, Xena eyes the sarcophagus warmly.

XENA
I'm sorry, Mother. I never meant this
to happen. I only wanted the boy's
life back.
(still bemused)
Instead, I've been given the chance for
a new life, too...
(hesitates; then, resolved)
...and I'm gonna take it.
(sighs; regretful)
The hardest part is losing you... and
Gabrielle. I wish you were both here,
sharing this new world with me. But it
helps, knowing that in this life, I never
shamed you, that Gabrielle never left her
family to follow me ... that I never led
Lyceus to die in
battle.
(resolved)
It's like Xena, Warrior Princess, never
existed. And I know the world's a
better place without her.

SMASH CUT TO:

9 INT. GENERAL STORE - DAY

on Mezentius' Slave Boss and two MINIONS moving through the store, sampling and trashing the stock, leaving a trail of wreckage in their wake.

Reacting, the elderly STOREKEEPER hurries to intercept them.

STOREKEEPER
Here, hold on! What do you
think you're do--

He's cut off when the Slave Boss grabs him by the throat just as Xena enters the store, reacting to see the Slave Boss pinning the old Storekeeper to the wall menacingly.

SLAVE BOSS
We're here to place an order. Two wagon
loads of food and hay, delivered by
midday tomorrow.
(tightening grip)
That a problem?

STOREKEEPER
(hoarsely)
No. But I'll need some dinars
in good faith.

Reacting, the Slave Boss pulls a knife and holds it to the Storekeeper's throat.

SLAVE BOSS
You wanna see some good faith? Start
praying. And if I spare you, that's
as good as it gets.

But as he starts to stick him, the Slave Boss suddenly DROPS OUT OF FRAME and we see ...

... Xena, holding the edge of the carpet she's just pulled out from under him.

All innocence, she hurries to the Slave Boss' aid.

XENA
(helping him up)
I'm sorry! I was just checking the price
of this rug. Are you alright? Guess I
don't know my own strength. can you forgive me?

Her dazzling smile and physical charms mollify the angry Slave Boss who grudgingly warns her:

SLAVE BOSS
Next time, watch what you're doing.
Someone could get hurt.
(turning to Minions)
Well? Don't just stand there! Bring in the slaves to fetch dinner.

As he and his Minions exit one way, and the Storekeeper another, Xena frowns after the Slave Boss.

CLOTHO (O.S.)
Quick thinking.

Turning, Xena reacts to see the first Fate, dressed as a peasant girl, standing nearby.

XENA
Thanks.

CLOTHO
Guess you'll be doing quite a lot of
that ...
(delicately)
... unless you've had enough of the
quiet life. If so, you know the
remedy.

XENA
I do. But I'm through with fighting. And nothing's gonna change that.

As if on cue, the Slave Boss and his men bring in their slaves. Xena turns to look -- then stares, appalled to see ...

Gabrielle.

Off Xena's stunned reaction:

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT ONE

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