Legendary Journeys (HBO)

This article is about the TV series. For the novel, see Heroes and Legends Legendary Journeys is an American fantasy drama television series created for HBO by TBC. It is an adaptation of Heroes and Legends, TBCs series of fantasy novels, the first of which is titled The Legendary Journeys. Filmed in a Belfast studio and on location elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Malta, Scotland, Croatia, Iceland and Morocco, it premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011. The series was renewed for a fourth season, to debut in the United States on April 6, 2014.[4]

The series, set in Ancient Greece. The first follows the

Contents

 * 1 Plot
 * 2 Cast and characters
 * 3 Production
 * 3.1 Conception and development
 * 3.2 Adaptation schedule
 * 3.3 Title sequence

Plot
Main article: List of Legendary Journeys episodes

See also: Synopsis of  Heroes and Legends'  Legendary Journeys ' roughly follows the three story lines of A Legendary Journey ''Set in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, the series chronicles the violent dynastic struggles among the mortals with the gods. As the series opens, additional threats begin to arise in the Northern Lands of the Amazons and the East.'''

The novels and their adaptation derive settings, characters and plot elements from Ancient Greek Mythology.

Cast and characters
Main article: List of Legendary Journeys characters Hercules received top billing in the first season. Xena led the principal cast in seasons 2 and 3.Like the novels it adapts, Legendary Journeys has a sprawling ensemble cast, estimated to be the largest on television. During the production of the third season, 257 cast names were recorded. The following overview reduces the list of characters in Legendary Journeys to those played by the actors credited as part of the main cast.

Mount Olmpus

Amazon Nation

Corthens

Amphpolis

Potedia

Carthage

Across the Narrow Sea,

Production
See also: [http:// Season 1], [http:// Season 2], [http:// Season 3], and [http:// Season 4]

Conception and development
The series began development in January 2008. HBO, after acquiring the TV rights to the novels, hired TBC to write and executive produce the series, which would cover one novel's worth of material per season

The first and second drafts of the pilot script, written by TBC, were submitted in May 2008 and  August 2008. respectively. While HBO found both drafts to their liking,undefineda pilot was not ordered until January 2009.

Adaptation schedule
Showrunners intend to adapt the entirety of the still incomplete Heroes and Legends novel series, if HBO permits it. They envision the series to have a scope of some 100 hours, about eight seasons' worth of material. However in late 2014, an end-date for the series was set, with the show ending after its seventh season, however HBO ordered 21 episodes, and plan to split the final season in two, thus bringing the total to 100 episodes for the series.

As of 2013, five seasons have been ordered and filmed: Seasons 1 and 2 each adapted one novel. For the later seasons, the creators conceive of Legendary Journeys as an adaptation of Heroes and Legends as a whole, rather than of individual novels. This gives them the liberty to move events back and forth across books according to the requirements of the screen adaptation.

The four seasons ordered so far each consist of ten episodes. Most episodes from the first and second season run for about 52 minutes, while many of the third season's episodes are 56 or 57 minutes long. The series' pilot and the second and third season finale run for more than an hour.

Title sequence
Main article: Legendary Journeys title sequence

The series's title sequence was created  for HBO. The opening title sequence showcases Ancient Greece and many various siginicant groups in the series such as gods, warriors, monsters, centaours, amazons and villages. The sequence concludes after about one and a half minutes with the title card and brief opening credits indicating the episode's writer(s) and director.

Pre-sequel Series

A Pre-sequel-Series began development in November 2010. HBO, after acquiring the TV rights to the spin-off novels focusing on events set before Heroes and Legends, these stories chronicle stories with Xena and Hercules as the primary characters to before the two characters meet in the first novel The Legendary Journeys. The Spin-off series was greenlight in January, 2011 and production on the limited series would be produce along-side second and third season of both shows. Originally it was conceived as two or three 6-part series, but due to the filming and clashes with the primary series, HBO instead ordered a 16-part series which would cover all six novels of spin-off series, and would air across two years with 8-episodes prior to both the third and fourth season of Legendary Journeys. The season is labeled as season 0, and the dvd/blu-ray release labels it as Legendary Journeys: Origins.

Main Character Appearances
Is listed in order of how they are billed in credits among the 18 total starring roles Recurring Characters
 * Hercules (12 episodes)
 * Xena (11 episodes)
 * Ilaous (9 episodes)
 * Gabrielle (10 episodes)
 * Amarice (10 episodes)
 * Salmonues (7 episodes)
 * Ephiny (10 episodes)
 * Melosa (10 episodes)
 * Terreis (10 episodes)
 * Cortez (10 episodes)
 * King Andrus (10 episodes)
 * Queen Metalia (10 episodes)
 * Richard (11 episodes)
 * Lily (10 episodes)
 * Zeus (12 episodes)
 * Hera (12 episodes)
 * Ares (11 episodes)
 * Athena (11 episodes)

Is listed in order of how they first appeared in the series
 * Alememe (3 episodes)
 * Cyrene (3 episodes)
 * Aphrodite (3 episodes)
 * Hades (3 episodes)
 * Nemesis (1 episode)
 * Artemis (3 episodes)
 * Sisyphus (2 episodes)
 * Karis (2 episodes)
 * Deriana (2 episodes)
 * Demeter (3 episodes)
 * Lila (2 episodes)
 * Toris (2 episodes)

Main Character Appearances
Is listed in order of how they are billed in credits among the 24 total starring roles
 * Hercules (12 episodes)
 * Xena (12 episodes)
 * Ilaous (9 episodes)
 * Gabrielle (11 episodes)
 * Amarice (11 episodes)
 * Salmonues (7 episodes)
 * Ephiny (8 episodes)
 * Melosa (8 episodes)
 * Terreis (2 episodes)
 * King Andrus (9 episodes)
 * Queen Metalia (9 episodes)
 * Richard (11 episodes)
 * Lily (9 episodes)
 * Zeus (10 episodes)
 * Hera (10 episodes)
 * Ares (11 episodes)
 * Athena (11 episodes)
 * Joxer (6 episodes)
 * Callisto (6 episodes)
 * Aphrodite (5 episodes)
 * Artemis (5 episodes)
 * Velesca (5 episodes)
 * Prince Phillip (9 episodes)
 * Lord Zar (9 episodes)

Main Character Appearances
Is listed in order of how they are billed in credits among the 26 total starring roles
 * Hercules (11 episodes)
 * Xena (11 episodes)
 * Ilaous (9 episodes)
 * Gabrielle (11 episodes)
 * Amarice (11 episodes)
 * Salmonues (5 episodes)
 * Ephiny (8 episodes)
 * King Andrus (8 episodes)
 * Richard (11 episodes)
 * Lily (8 episodes)
 * Zeus (9 episodes)
 * Hera (9 episodes)
 * Ares (12 episodes)
 * Athena (10 episodes)
 * Joxer (8 episodes)
 * Callisto (6 episodes)
 * Aphrodite (6 episodes)
 * Artemis (6 episodes)
 * Velesca (5 episodes)
 * Prince Phillip (8 episodes)
 * Lord Zar (8 episodes)
 * Serena/Golden Hine (5 episodes)
 * Discord (5 episodes)
 * Strife (6 episodes)
 * Nebula (5 episodes)
 * Maleus (7 episodes)

Season 4 (2013)
Main Character Appearances

Is listed in order of how they are billed in credits among the 20 total starring roles Note: This is the first season to not introduce have any new main characters. Its the only season to date to have a tighter storyline, which only focuses on three main groups Hercules, Xena and the gods.
 * Hercules (14 episodes)
 * Xena (14 episodes)
 * Ilaous (12 episodes)
 * Gabrielle (14 episodes)
 * Amarice (13 episodes)
 * Salmonues (3 episodes)
 * Ephiny (8 episodes)
 * Richard (13 episodes)
 * Lily (3 episodes)
 * Zeus (10 episodes)
 * Hera (10 episodes)
 * Ares (12 episodes)
 * Athena (10 episodes)
 * Joxer (8 episodes)
 * Callisto (7 episodes)
 * Aphrodite (7 episodes)
 * Artemis (7 episodes)
 * Discord (6 episodes)
 * Strife (5 episodes)
 * Nebula (4 episodes)

Season 5 (2014)
Main Character Appearances

Is listed in order of how they are billed in credits among the 24 total starring roles
 * Hercules (15 episodes)
 * Xena (16 episodes)
 * Ilaous (7 episodes)
 * Gabrielle (15 episodes)
 * Amarice (15 episodes)
 * Salmonues (1 episode)
 * Ephiny (8 episodes)
 * Richard (15 episodes)
 * Lily (10 episodes)
 * Zeus (9 episodes)
 * Hera (1 episode)
 * Ares (11 episodes)
 * Athena (8 episodes)
 * Joxer (8 episodes)
 * Callisto (3 episodes)
 * Aphrodite (7 episodes)
 * Artemis (7 episodes)
 * Discord (7 episodes)
 * Nebula (8 episodes)
 * Morrigan (8 episodes)
 * Prince Phillip (10 episodes)
 * Lord Zar (10 episodes)
 * King Andres (10 episodes)
 * Heather (7 episodes)
 * Orin (9 episodes)

End of the East Land Adventures
 * Lily, King Andres, Prince Phillip, Lord Zar and Maleus story completes in season 3, with the books borrowing material from the later novels, the storyline of the east ended during The Rift novel, and played a supporting role in the next two novels in the series, but the writers of the series decided to cut back on some storylines in order to focus more on Xena and Hercules central storylines, since The Rift novel focuses heavily on Dahka and Hope and the gods.
 * The Return of the East will be included in the show's fifth season, when the action focuses on three separate storylines, Xena searching for Gabrielle, Hercules dealing with Iolaous death and Dahak and the gods dealing with the threat of Dahak entering the world. The characters from the east is revisited in four episodes of season 5, who also get invovled with the threat of Dahak.
 * Season 6 deals with the death of the gods and twilight, the first few episodes sees Hercules and Iolaous getting invovled with the East storyline.
 * Season 7 deals with the aftermath of the twilight of the gods, and the story is set 5 years later, with a now adult-Eve as Livia who has now magically been aged by 25 years. It adapts the final two novels in the series Livia and A Heroes End.
 * Episode 15, 16 and 17 all aired for 65 mins. Episode 1 aired for 65 mins also.
 * The final novel A Heroes End is adapted into the series final of the show, some elements are spread throughout the season, but the primary story is adapted into one episode. The Series final is the longest episode of the series and aired as a movie-length final with a running time of 1 hour and 56 mins.
 * Fan blacklash over the series final was fulled with the assuption that the final novel A Heroes End should of been adapted in the last 11 episodes, and not just the series final. Some felt that the series should of ended after 8 seasons, and allowed the final novel to be given its own season. However what was liked was the primary story was all adapted in the final, making it feel truely like a movie-length episode. What was greatly liked by critics and fans alike was that the series final opened with a scene that mirrors the first episode, book-ending the journeys of both Hercules and Xena. The decision of having a majority of the flashback material used in the final novel used in earlier season episodes was liked, as it allowed the show to focus more on the present, but the decision of including Hera and Zeus in the final in flashbacks was liked, since neither appeared in A Heroes End novel, but only mentioned.
 * The hallucinations that Xena, Richard, Hercules, Gabrielle, Amarice and Eve experience In the City of the Dead payed tribute to many deceased characters, occured exactly like in the novels, however Callisto is the only deceased character who haunts Eve aswell briefly.
 * A Total of four main characters are killed in the series final, Xena's death being the final one in the movie and both Amarice and Kol being both killed first. The final scene of the series is a flash-forward set one year following the events of Xena's death, where all the characters visit Xena's grave-site.
 * Fans disliked the idea of killing off so many main characters, Amarice and Kol were disliked for dying as there deaths didn't have the powerful feel next to Xena, saying they both should of died an episode or two before the end, and simply reappear in the final in some form as ghosts to honour there characters.
 * Originally an alternate ending to the series final, had the series ending on the boat scene, and no flash-forward.

Xena Non HBO Version
Season Information
 * Airing History: Sundays

Main Character Appearances
Is listed in order of how they are billed in credits among the 14 total starring roles Note:
 * Hercules (25 episodes)
 * Xena (23 episodes)
 * Ilaous (17 episodes)
 * Gabrielle (21 episodes)
 * Amarice (15 episodes)
 * Salmonues (14 episodes)
 * Richard (21 episodes)
 * Zeus (25 episodes)
 * Hera (25 episodes)
 * Ares (17 episodes)
 * Athena (17 episodes)
 * Aphrodite (15 episodes)
 * Discord (15 episodes)
 * Strife (15 episodes)
 * Hercules, Zeus and Hera appeared in all episodes of season one.
 * Xena appears in all but one episode "The Other Side"
 * Gabrielle and Richard appear in all but three episodes "The Gauntlet", "The Unchained Heart" and "The Other Side".
 * The Other Side is the only episode of the season to feature just Hercules and all seven gods.
 * Eight episodes of the season features only Hera as a set of disembodied eyes with peacock feathers for irises, However her voice can be heard and as such she is still credited as appearing in every episode of the season. This occurs in episodes; 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 122, 123 and 124.
 * Six episodes of the season features Zeus in the disguise of a mortal man, as such Zeus true form is only shown briefly when he reverts back to his true form. This occurs in the episodes; 104, 108, 112, 113, 117 and 123.
 * The appearances of Zeus and Hera in other forms, was to create the idea that they are always watching over mortals, as to not have them features significantly in every episode of the series. However this would not continue beyond the second season, when both would be absent in various episodes. During season 3 and 4 both Hera and Zeus appeared in 17 episodes, and in season 5 Zeus appears in only 7 episodes, while Hera appears in just one due to her character being trapped in the abyss of time. In Season 6 both characters were killed off during the twilight of the gods storyline, with Zeus appearing in 8 episodes and Hera appearing in 5 episodes. In the final season both appeared as special guest stars in the series final appearing in only one episode.
 * Hercules and Xena both tied with appearing in the most episodes of the series, with both being absent in 13 episodes each.

Season 5 (TBC)

Main Character Appearances
Is listed in order of how they are billed in credits among the 14 total starring roles Note: Hera is only credited in the one episode she appeared in during "501" in a flashback. Ilaous is only billed and credited in the select episodes he appears in.
 * Hercules (22 episodes)
 * Xena (23 episodes)
 * Ilaous (9 episodes)
 * Gabrielle (21 episodes)
 * Amarice (23 episodes)
 * Richard (23 episodes)
 * Zeus (5 episodes)
 * Hera (1 episode)
 * Ares (15 episodes)
 * Athena (8 episodes)
 * Aphrodite (6 episodes)
 * Discord (7 episodes)
 * Morrigan (9 episodes)
 * Nebula (8 episodes)

Hercules does not appear in Gabrielle does not appear in Richard does not appear in Amarice does not appear in
 * Xena does not appear in
 * 1) 106 The Other Side
 * 2) 115 Let The Games Begin
 * 3) 305 Not Fade Away
 * 4) 311 Encounter
 * 5) 313 When a Man Loves A Woman
 * 6) 318 Reign of Terror
 * 7) 319 The End of the Beginning
 * 8) 403 Webs of Desire
 * 9) 407 Two Men And A Baby
 * 10) 421 Twilight
 * 11) 422 Top God
 * 12) 506 Somewhere Over The Rainbow
 * 13) 608 Evader
 * 1) 312 The Quest
 * 2) 314 A Necessary Evil
 * 3) 316 A Day In The Life
 * 4) 406 The Debt Part 1
 * 5) 407 The Debt Part 2
 * 6) 415 One Against An Army
 * 7) 5?? The Way
 * 8) 5?? Takes One to Know One
 * 9) 6?? Chakram
 * 10) 6?? Amphpolis Under Siege
 * 11) 7??
 * 12) 7??
 * 13) 7??
 * 1) 102 The Gauntlet
 * 2) 103 The Unchained Heart
 * 3) 106 The Other Side
 * 4) 115 Let The Games Begin
 * 5) 305 Not Fade Away
 * 6) 311 Encounter
 * 7) 313 When a Man Loves A Woman
 * 8) 318 Reign of Terror
 * 9) 319 The End of the Beginning
 * 10) 403 Webs of Desire
 * 11) 407 Two Men And A Baby
 * 12) 421 Twilight
 * 13) 422 Top God
 * 14) 501 Adventures In The Sin Trade Part 1
 * 15) 503 Resurrection
 * 16) 506 Somewhere Over The Rainbow
 * 17) 608 Evader
 * 1) 102 The Gauntlet
 * 2) 103 The Unchained Heart
 * 3) 106 The Other Side
 * 4) 115 Let The Games Begin
 * 5) 305 Not Fade Away
 * 6) 311 Encounter
 * 7) 313 When a Man Loves A Woman
 * 8) 318 Reign of Terror
 * 9) 319 The End of the Beginning
 * 10) 403 Webs of Desire
 * 11) 407 Two Men And A Baby
 * 12) 415 One Against An Army
 * 13) 421 Twilight
 * 14) 422 Top God
 * 15) 506 Somewhere Over The Rainbow
 * 16) 608 Evader
 * 1) 101 The Journey Begins
 * 2) 102 The Gauntlet
 * 3) 103 The Unchained Heart
 * 4) 104
 * 5) 105
 * 6) 106 The Other Side
 * 7) 107
 * 8) 108
 * 9) 109
 * 10) 110
 * 11) 305 Not Fade Away
 * 12) 311 Encounter
 * 13) 313 When a Man Loves A Woman
 * 14) 318 Reign of Terror
 * 15) 319 The End of the Beginning
 * 16) 403 Webs of Desire
 * 17) 407 Two Men And A Baby
 * 18) 415 One Against An Army
 * 19) 421 Twilight
 * 20) 422 Top God
 * 21) 506 Somewhere Over The Rainbow
 * 22) 608 Evader
 * 23) 7??
 * 24) 7??
 * 25) 7??
 * 26) 7??