When do we think Xena and Gabrielle ‘consummated’ their relationship?

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FirebirdWriter@reddit

My brain votes between the end of season 1 and start of two. Gabrielle almost died and this would change everything for most people

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Yeah when Xena almost died in Greater Good I think Gabi is obviously horrified and in grief but it's more expected given their lives, with Xena also being kind of a death-seeker all along given her arc of atonement. I truly think a switch was flipped for Xena when Gabi dies in Doctor. Xena isn't prepared for that or how hard she takes it.

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FirebirdWriter@reddit

I am glad you remembered the names of episodes I couldn't brain it and it is when I actually liked Gab and admitted it back in the day. Can't imagine being Xena vs just an observer

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Ok-Change2292@reddit

Joxar “is that a hickey?” Been there, done that. Season 2

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summer_james2@reddit

That ep is Season 3

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Ok-Change2292@reddit

My bad

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summer_james2@reddit

Haha all good just helping out ☺️

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ObnoxiousConsistent@reddit

maybe a bit on the early side, but i always think that they are already together at the time that A Day in the Life happens.

that said, chronologically, ADITL could happen at any point in late s2- it's not really tied to any events, other than it has to be after Giant Killer and before A Comedy of Eros. so it doesn't have to be quite so early. maybe if we put it post Ulysses, it totally makes sense

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magical_lasso@reddit

Oooh! OOh! Rewatching now, and when Hower asks Gabrielle about Xena ever settling down and getting married, Gabrielle starts, "No, she likes what I do-" WHICH makes me wonder if they're already fooling around!

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Sufficient_Carry_154@reddit

If you notice at the beginning of ADITL- separate bedrolls. End of ADITL - sharing bedroll...

Soooo consumated.. ?

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magical_lasso@reddit

This has been my thought too, they act like a married couple LOL. But the video someone posted above introduced the idea that ADITL was a pinnacle of unresolved sexual tension between them, and not gonna lie, I kinda see it. With the whip and the frying pan incidents haha.

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ObnoxiousConsistent@reddit

hhaha the main question is do they start acting like a married couple before or after doing the deed 🤣

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galactic_collision@reddit

Right after The Quest

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

I do think there's a very plausible case to be made that the kiss in "The Quest" is their first kiss. Still I'm surprised most people are picking episodes much later than I would have guessed! The Quest is basically the latest start I could see haha. But I don't think they're mostly-monogamous and basically married until much later than their first time.

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thewholebottle@reddit

They kiss in Return of Callisto, 2.5, but that kind of fits in with the timeline if we're focusing on Comedy of Eros.

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Evilbuffy14@reddit

At the end of Season 2, episode 9 A Solstice Carol. Specifically. I've never changed my mind. I know there's arguments as to why this is too early. But I feel that it's right.

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

it does seem like something about their relationship changes there. I guess you could argue they start recognizing their feelings but don't act on them yet (or even just Xena does) ... but with the way Xena lives her life I don't see her as someone to pine on and on platonically for long. She knows life is short.

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Evilbuffy14@reddit

It's a really tough question to answer definitively. Removing season 6 from the equation for obvious reasons. The rest is as far from linear as you can get. One minute they're affectionate with each other; cuddles, hickeys, etc. The next one of them has a love interest they're fawning all over. This continues right up to the crucifixion. I mean, you can't deny something significant has happened by season 2 episode 21 The Lost Mariner. That scene, you know the one, was pivotal to say the least.

I agree with your view on Xena. Though, I think Gabrielle gains increasing power over Xena as time goes on, to the point of 'what Gabrielle wants, Gabrielle gets'. Xena is impatient with everything but fishing and Gabrielle. I think early on, when Gabrielle was in her hero-worship stage, Xena would have been careful. Gabrielle was too fickle and flaky, taking off after anyone. The whole Perdicus debacle. We see a resurgence of this behaviour in season 4 with Najara and Eli.

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magical_lasso@reddit

You pointed this out so well. I just want to add that the conclusion I've come to on this is that it was just too far ahead of its time show-wise, and they had to have male love interests looped in from time to time. My head canon now is that they were absolutely lovers, and it does make sense sometime right after A Solstice Carol, but that they are polyamorous/somewhat open to each other exploring things with others, knowing they'll always be together and come back to each other.

I think what made Najara and even Eli so dangerous was that their very way of living threatened to take Gabrielle from her path with Xena.

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Evilbuffy14@reddit

It was definitely ahead of its time. Polyamory makes sense, though makes me a little sad to think about. I get it's a valid form of relationship, not saying anything about that. Just don't want to think about them sharing themselves with anyone but each other.

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Legitimate-Quiet-554@reddit

Any this explains why Xena ends with "You Are There" with the "technically"....

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

I think they had a rule like "boys don't count, they're just for fun."

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

I don't think Gabi was being flaky with Najara, Xena was actively pushing her away at that point

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Evilbuffy14@reddit

This is true. Though, she didn't put up much of a fight to stay with Xena. She happily wandered off.

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SakuraTacos@reddit

Yeah, especially because Xena used “love” and sex for power, she would’ve wanted to be sure of where Gabrielle’s feelings were coming from to not take advantage of that as she once would have. It was a slippery slope for Xena and uncharted territory for Gabrielle so, in my mind, it took them a while to work out the kinks (no pun intended…. Okay, a little pun intended 😌) but Xena was willing to take her time until she just couldn’t deny it any longer

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Evilbuffy14@reddit

I think Xena definitely would have warred with herself over whether or not she should 'taint' Gabrielle by becoming involved with her. Not sure about the time frame on it, though.

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Beautifala_Jones@reddit

Personally I feel like they consummated it after almost every episode and then it went back to unconsummated just before the next episode.

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

I actually love this with the idea that someone (Ares? Alti? Aphrodite for some reason??) is constantly resetting them after every episode 😭😂

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Beautifala_Jones@reddit

I was thinking more of the writers were doing it but it would make sense for it to be Ares.

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

Now I have a crack headcanon they started hooking up by the end of episode 1, or maybe immediately after Gabs shows up in Amphipolis halfway through the episode ...

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JaggedLittlePill2022@reddit (OP)

Would explain the intense heat between them!

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stardust102@reddit

it still gets to me when Xena refers to Gabby like a sister in season1 think it was the prodigal lol look how that changed

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Owl_Queen101@reddit

Why do yall care

gif

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SakuraTacos@reddit

By Season 3, Ep 2, Xena was waking up with ~mysterious hickies~ on her neck that Gabrielle wasn’t surprised by.

In S5E17 Kindred Spirits, Gabrielle is asleep in the Amazon throne room and she sleep talks “Not tonight” when they’re trying to wake her up

There’s also one ep, I forget which, where Xena reaches over in her sleep for Gabrielle and she’s not there. I think it’s S3, maybe The Debt?

I don’t know when they became physical. I just know my official starting point for their relationship is after A Family Affair.

I think someone asked a question similar to this to Renee and she said she didn’t know and they never discussed it either. So if it’s unclear, it’s for a reason. It was more about the love than the physical intimacy.

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stellababyforever@reddit

I stumbled across this detailed theory video once on YouTube that suggests after “Comedy of Eros.” She makes a very methodical argument, which I appreciated.

100% Shipper

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SakuraTacos@reddit

Great vid, I love their Xena content!

To expand on my theory: I think Xena and Gabrielle were fooling around as early as S2 post Quest and they were on the verge of getting together in S3 when The Rift hit and cooled things down considerably. But when Gabrielle jumped into the pit and Xena learned she was alive, Xena couldn’t bear to live one more day hiding how in love with Gabrielle she was.

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stellababyforever@reddit

I love this. I had too many conflicting ideas in my mind to hold a cogent theory, but I love hearing what everybody else has to say about it.

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Evilbuffy14@reddit

Yes! Fantastic channel.

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Blue_Racoon7@reddit

oooh I love her channel! She's got a bunch of Gabby x Xena content.

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

I think Xena's world is shaken by "Is There A Doctor In the House?" and it happens for the first time after Gabrielle recovers for that, but they're not necessarily in a monogamous committed relationship until later (and even then it seems to be flexibly open to dalliances with men if one of them takes a fancy, which one girl takes more advantage of than the other ... :P). I also think Xena had past female lovers, particularly Lao Ma, while Gabrielle didn't even know it was possible so they had some obstacles to overcome there.

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summer_james2@reddit

Right after the quest.. they start getting more touchy. You can tell

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Jahon_Dony@reddit

OK mods... posts like this are very inappropriate and need to stop.

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Latte-Catte@reddit

What's inappropriate, explain. These are fictional characters we're all speculating, every fandoms enjoys romantic implications of leads the same, what's the issues here?

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Jahon_Dony@reddit

This is a family show, and OP seems to be asking about intercourse (that didnt occur onscreen or off!) between the two female leads (one of whom was taken in by the other as a child)...

This was a show for kids and families, and hopefully the mods will help patrol content better that is of an overtly inappropriate nature!

And this isn't speculating about a relationship or discussing subtext... op is explicitly discussing Sapphic fornication!

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Latte-Catte@reddit

Hercules married twice, consummated twice with two women and had children, this series has never been shy about romantic fornication. A family show acknowledge gays and lesbians romance too. There's nothing inappropriate about two adult women potentially mingling, and people are smart enough to understand that. You don't need to shield people from harmless conversations.

Gay relationship aren't just inappropriate "porn" materials, whoever it was that reported this post for something so backward. We supports all fanon/canon speculation here.

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