Meleager the Mighty enlists Gabrielle & Xena's help to clear him of the charge of murder. Gabrielle gets a little deluded, but eventually snaps back into reality. Meleager acknowledges what we have know all along, Xena is very good. And, the writers pay homage to A Tale of Two Cities.
Xena: "The way you build him up (Meleager), his head must be in the clouds."
Gabrielle: "It's not as if I'm making it up. He is a hero in the truest sense of the word. It doesn't bother you, does it?"
Xena: "Oh, it doesn't bother me."
Gabrielle: "Well, you should hear me tell stories about you, then I really get going."
Gabrielle: "The point being that this is a good man and a hero. And I, for one, would swear by him."
Judge Arbus: "A very moving testament, young lady, but I can not allow justice to be swayed by the heart."Meleager: (to Gabrielle) "Apparently, your friend doesn't know me very well."
Xena: "No, but I know Gabrielle."
Gabrielle: "So, what have you been doing with yourself?"
Meleager: "Oh, this and that, saving villagers, defending the helpless, getting committed for murder."Old Woman: "Lovely day for an execution, don't ya think?"
Xena: "Some people have some pretty sick ideas of entertainment."
Judge Arbus: "If justice is to mean anything, the people must see it in action."
Judge Arbus: "I'd heard you'd changed your ways, looking to amend your past. All well and good, but I could still call you to judgement for past crimes."
Judge Arbus: "Sometimes the truth can be a heavy burden."
Xena: "Yes, it can."
Meleager: "I won't use a sword on you, Xena. But I won't let you stop me."
Xena: "Well, I can't let you get away."
Meleager: "You are so good, as good as I was once. But you can't stack youth and ambition against age and experience."
Xena: "Oh, I have experience too."Meleager: "I betrayed her and I turned her against you, her best friend. Hanging's too good for me."
Xena: "You put people on a pedestal, sooner or later they're going to fall and your expectations fall with them."
Meleager: "Excuse me if I have mixed feelings at the moment. You just saved me from an execution to take me to my execution."Gabrielle: "Xena, if you bring it back (the incrminating sword), it will be more evidence against Meleager."
Xena: "No, it won't, because now I know you're innocent. You didn't kill that man, I did."
Meleager: "Gabrielle, when the time comes, don't look outside."
Gabrielle: "I have to. I want you to look at me. I want the last face you see in this world to be a friend."Judge Arbus: "Cause of death ... Justice."
Judge Arbus: "I don't care how many innocent people die. If I pass judgement, that makes it right."
Xena: "Don't believe everything you see."
Gabrielle: "When I'm that age I hope I'm knitting socks."
Xena: "Ah, don't worry about it. People in our line of work never get to be that age."
Gabrielle: "That's a comforting thought."
DISCLAIMER: By popular demand ‘The Executioner' will bring back his comfortable lightweight cotton-flax blend robe in a variety of spring colors.