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Let's sat that at the end of Sacrifice Gabrielle hadnt come back...would you still have watched the show?
OR if Ares had died in the end of Motherhood (that was the original plan) would you have came back for season 6?
Would you have watched the show if XENA died and it was just about Gabrielle?
Who to you were the most important characters? Who could you live without or not live without?
I will answer my own questions.
Had Gabrielle died at the end of Sacrifice I would have still watched...at that time I was extremely mad at her and didnt like her character any more. Also at that time she had already "touched" Xena and I dont feel she was needed in that aspect anymore.
On the flip side...if Ares had died at the end of Motherhood I honestly dont know if I would have watched anymore. By this point I was emotionally invested in his character...he was the main reason I watched....now before season 5 if he had died I definitely still would have watched but after season 5 and the humanization of him I just dont know.
Xena dieing....no I wouldnt watch a show just about Gabs.

To me the most important characters were Xena, Gabrielle, Ares and Joxer
However the only one I couldnt live without would be Xena and as of season 5 Ares. Joxer was expendable...Gabby was expendable after season 3...Ares was expendable UNTIL season 5.

Discuss...there isnt enough activity here.

No need to apologize love, after all I would watch without Gabrielle..one of the 2 main characters lol
I try really hard anytime I am asked these types of questions to remember how I felt the 1st time I watched the show...when it was on the air, because my feelings then and now are different.
To be quite honest, at the time I probably would have still watched (if Ares left) just not as often. I can tell you that now I only watch Ares eps...or occasionally eps with Caesar in them.
My feelings for Gabby remain pretty much the same. I liked her in seasons 1 and 2, hated her in season 3 and 4 and could tolerate her in 5 and 6
I don't think she should have ever left the show permanently but if she had left for her peace crap in season 4 I would have been one happy camper.
I also can tell you that discovering the online fandom, with the various message boards, has made me like Gabby even less because people are always going on and on about her virtues and her faults are placed at Xena's feet and that just annoys the crap outta me. Gabrielle was an adult and as such made her own choices, her faults/mistakes should not be laid at anyone's feet except her own...especially in regards to the Hope/Solan mess. As I have said before I felt sorry for her until The Bitter Suite.
At the end of Maternal Instincts I wanted Xena to forgive her, but once she opened her mouth to "calisto" in TBS I was over that.
I found it utterly ridiculous that she would hate Xena and blame Xena for something that had been her choice. Her thing was that Xena was so busy in her vendetta against Caser that she wasn't paying attention to her...last I checked 20 (something) yr old women do NOT need babysitters.
She was also mad at Xena for wanting her to kill Hope...hello??? Hope was EVIL. I have actually seen people who think that Hope could have turned out good if raised by Gabby and to me that is preposterous. How could a vessel of evil turn out good? They even believe that Hope isn't the one that killed that guard as a baby. It is this type of reasoning that has made my dislike for Gabrielle grow. Anything that can be used to place the blame at Xena's feet instead of their precious Gabrielle's is used and it makes me mad lol Especially when it is so ridiculous and goes against what was said in the show.

I think Joxer should have been killed off. It's been years since I sat down and watched Xena, but I remember that Joxer always annoyed the hell otta me. I can't recall an instance where he really contributed something other than comic relief. Gabrielle was okay until she went on her "hippie" crusade. All her whining about Xena killing! Hello! Warrior Princess what did she expect. Ares made Xena who she was and he loved her (eventually) and he was a god. they couldn't kill him off!

I don't think you can have a show without the person it's named for, so Xena isn't expendable.

There are some times when the show could have done without Gabby, had her death/departure been handled appropriately; same goes for Ares.

Eve and Joxer were COMPLETELY expendable though.

Well, Joxer died and I loved Joxer to bits and I still watched the show afterwards, It just wasnt the same I say crying

No, I believe the show wouldn't of survived if it didn't have both Xena and Gabrielle. The show, in the end, was really about the relationship between them. But I suppose others watched it for the action or adventure. Or maybe shippers try to watch it for Xena/Ares...heh. Theres probally loads of other reasons too.

A ton of people watched it for Xena/Gabrielle, though.

I love the character of Ares but I don't believe he was a necessary character. Though, alot of the episodes wouldn't of been the same without him. (example: my favorite episode "Old Ares had a farm")

Well, since Joxer DID die, and I kept watching (I think everyone did), I think that whole subject is a moot point. But I think it's the characters in general that are important... If Gabrielle had died, they would have had to put someone else in the role of best friend to keep Xena, and the show, afloat. But if they killed Xena off, and took too long bringing her back, the show would have folded due to lack of viewers. I mean, who wants to watch Xena: Warrior Princess without Xena? Simply doesn't make sense. As for Ares, I think he was expendable. His presence was only important on an episode to episode scale, and I can see the show surviving without him, as much as the idea pains me...

Omg, I would have killed off Virgil in a heartbeat if it were up to me.