User Reviews

Xena takes the place of Princess Diana who just happens to look exactly like her. Someone is trying to kill the princess and Xena is out to figure who it is. Diana in turn takes Xena's place.

I get why Xena took Diana's place, but why did Diana take Xena's place? I mean pretending to be Xena isn't exactly the safest thing to do. Xena is always a walking target.

Lucy Lawless did a great job playing Diana. They really felt like two different people. Diana is genteel and sheltered with no violent qualities. I enjoyed Diana's interactions with Gabrielle. She was hilarious.

I like King Lias, whom Xena had lots of scenes with. He seemed jolly and savy.

Loved the fight where Philemon was fighting the assassins and Xena was behind him fighting them as well, although every time Philemon turned around Xena would revert back into pretending she was Diana and was just standing there doing nothing. Hilarious.

I enjoyed the wedding scene where Xena rips off the bottom length of her wedding dress and starts fighting the bad guys, and uses the harp as a bow. I had to laugh at Xena's facial expression when Philemon's brother said he wasn't marrying this woman. Lol, priceless.

This is a Xena-lite episode with lots of great action and funny moments. 8/10.

Esentially a mixture of Mark Twain and The Prisoner of Zenda. Our first Xena doppelganger and I think a great performance from LL, just by changing her body language and stance she becomes a completely different character (Layla was more of a proto-Xena). Fire-breathing for the first time in the show although you wonder what Xena is drinking mid morning in order to accomplish this?

It seems Xena has no scars to differentiate her from Diana despite her years of combat, another suggestion that leans towards her being a demi-goddess. Unfortunately slavery was ubiquitous in the ancient world, only ending when Europeans began its' abolition in the C18th. Liberium seems to be a rip from Liberia, the African state created for freed slaves by the US. Side saddle riding Lucy is HILARIOUS!

Best line-Xena; "Oh come we've got that evil spot somewhere" Xena can't play an instrument, that and cooking seem to be the only 2 things she can't do (but Joxer and Gabby can do both).

The pinch for what I calculate to be the 8th time. Gabby seems quite enamoured of the beautiful Diana in the final scene and they have an interesting conversation about finding that special someone.

So why are there so many Xena lookalikes running around? Maybe Ares got around more than we thought? But only Xena inherited his powers?

Xena accepts a brief job as the body guard of King Lias' daughter Diana. She is to be married within days, but assassination attempts on her life threaten everything. Oh, and she looks identical to Xena.

SYNOPSIS

King Lias heard from his cousin King Sisyphus (Season1 Episode 9) that he should hire Xena to protect his daughter Diana before her wedding date. Xena is not only awesome, but she is also a spitting image of Diana. King Lias is unsure why assassins keep trying to kill his daughter before her wedding date. She is betrothed to Mineus of Libya, but who would want to kill her? King Lias informs Xena that their marriage will result in the end of the slave trade in Libya; so they conclude that there's likely some big money backing these assassins with the hopes that the union of the two kingdoms fails. Xena agrees to pose as Diana until the wedding date, and the real Diana will chill with Gabrielle outside of the castle walls (Diana hasn't been outside of the castle in years).

Xena meets Philemon who is the younger brother of Mineus of Libya. He's a handsome young man who treats Diana well, and is now under the impression that Xena is Diana. Shortly after meeting Philemon, assassins attack and Xena and the junior prince from Libya has to fight them off. Philemon is clearly surprised at how well Diana (Xena) can beat up a bunch of ninja assassins. Meanwhile, Diana dressed as Xena catches up with Gabrielle in the woods outside of town. Gabrielle at first thinks it's Xena playing a trick on her, but a thug arrives and it quickly becomes apparent that Diana is no Xena Warrior Princess. Gabrielle has to fight the punk off. She and Diana will spend the night sleeping on the ground under the stars which comes as a huge shock to Diana. During their time out in the woods, Diana learns that some families in her father's kingdom are very poor, and this also comes as a shock to her. She knows that her father is charitable, but it becomes clear that many of his advisors are corrupt and stealing the wealth of the state. She knows that as queen she will have to take action to remedy these injustices.

Accompanying King Lias, Xena goes to a dinner party dressed as Diana. Here Diana's betrothed Mineus will first introduce himself. Xena has a difficult time pretending to be a princess, and she has to damage a harp in order to get out of trying to play music on the thing. The dinner party is attended by Kina Lias' top general and chief advisor. All is going well when suddenly there is an assassination attempt on Xena! Fortunately, Xena easily takes care of business, but Mineus and some of the other guests are certainly left in shock. Mineus doesn't really feel like marrying Diana (Xena) any longer, and good riddance. After the attack Philemon tells Xena he knows she's not Diana. He has become very acquainted with Diana as of late, and he has fallen in love with her. Meanwhile, the King and his staff believe that a top general who "commits suicide" was the traitor. With the threat believed to be gone, Xena is dismissed by the King as life appears to have returned to normal.

The King's chief advisor has secrets, and he's leading a group of minions on the quest to assassinate Diana. Suddenly Philemon and Diana realize that they're in danger, and Diana sends Philemon to ride off into the countryside to find Xena and bring her back. But things aren't as they appear. Diana starts beating the assassins pretty badly. It's really Xena. She knew that the threat may have remained, and so she sent Diana dressed as Xena out of town to hang out with Gabrielle. Philemon reaches Xena (who is really Diana) on the road, and convinces her to come back. However, she asks him if he ever told Diana about his feelings. He said no, but then realizes he's actually speaking to Diana. They return to a victorious Xena back at the castle. After the dust settles, Gabrielle and Xena are able to be guests at the wedding of Philemon and Diana.

NOTES

Xena has a pretty good understanding about the financial motivations behind assassination attempts. Furthermore, she knows that clever villains take their time in hatching their evil schemes. When considering the romance of Diana and Philemon, Xena tells Gabrielle it's best to speak up when you have feelings for someone, or else you might miss out.

Enter: King Lias, Diana, Philemon of Libya