Xena: Warrior Princess "Daughter of Pomira" #4.11 (1999) (TV)

What happened to The Hoard?, 20 July 2007

"Daughter of Pomira" is one of those Xena episodes that I don't really enjoy. Episodes that center on a sentiment, family, or lesson type plot tend to be among my least favorite. Basically, the more an episode is based in reality, the less I tend to go for it. Give me the far out mythical stuff or give the comedy and songs or give me the more horrific and outrageous episodes – just don't give me an episode with a life lesson. It's not that "Daughter of Pomira" is awful (I've yet to see an episode of Xena that I thought was awful), it's just never going to make it onto my list of favorites anytime soon.

But I've got a bigger problem with "Daughter of Pomira" than the attempt at a touching plot. My problem is with the handling of The Hoard. When The Hoard first appeared in Season 3's "The Price", I loved it. An unstoppable, barbaric killing machine! How awesome was that? The whole episode was played as if Xena was truly terrified of what might become of her and Gabrielle if The Hoard were to get hold of them. Until last night, I had never seen "Daughter of Pomira", so I was very excited to see the return of The Hoard. But this wasn't the same Hoard depicted a season earlier. This Hoard was ready to make peace – not cut the throats out of their enemies. This Hoard looked on as Xena fought one of her own men – not take them both and skin them alive. Essentially, this is an emasculated version of the Season 3 Hoard. While I can certainly understand The Hoard leader's desire to get his daughter, he would have ripped apart anything standing in his way. I'm not familiar enough with Season 5 and 6 to know if The Hoard made a return appearance. I just hope that if they did, it's The Hoard of "The Price" and not The Hoard of "Daughter of Pomira".

5/10