Solan | |
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First appearance | Orphan of War |
Last appearance | God Fearing Child |
Created by | Robert Tapert |
Portrayed by | David Taylor Nicko Vella |
Information | |
Species | Human |
Occupation | None |
Affiliation | Xena, Kaleipus (foster father/uncle), Gabrielle, Ephiny , Centaurs |
Solan is a fictional character in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, he is played by David Taylor, and later by Nicko Vella.
He is the older brother of Eve and the son of Xena and Borias. During Xena's pregnancy with Solan, Alti cursed her unborn child, in order to prevent Xena changing her dark ways as Alti knew that Xena's child would eventually bring Xena back to the light. Xena escaped from Alti. However, the prophecy would later be fulfilled and Solan never knew the love of either of his parents. Shortly after Xena gives birth to him, Borias is killed by Dagnine and a woman named Satrina, Xena's ex-slave. Borias's abandonment and death made Xena eventually realize what a monster she had become. Afraid she would be a bad influence on her child, She gave her newborn son Solan to the centaur Kaleipus, because she believed that he did not deserve a mother like her, and so he would be raised in safety and away from her dangerous influence or a target to her enemies. So, Solan never knew his father, or that the ex-warlord Xena was his mother.
Ten years later, Xena finds Solan at the age of ten, and discovers that he blames her for Borias's death, because he thinks she is the woman who killed his father. Xena manages to convince him that she is not responsible and becomes friendly with him, but does not have the courage to tell him that she is his mother. Later, Hope kills Solan in revenge for Xena's attempt to kill her as a baby, resulting in a bitter fight between Xena and Gabrielle. Solan helped Xena and Gabrielle reconcile by creating the land of Illusia. It is there that he finally learns that Xena is his mother, and Xena sings to him for forgiveness.
In the fifth season episode God Fearing Child Xena finds that Solan chose to go to Tartarus instead of the Elysian Fields, because once there he would forget about his mother, Xena rescues him and leads him to the fields and told him that it was he who helped her realize that she couldn't be all bad and that Solan was her vision of Hope, on the way to the Fields he tells her she should name his baby sister Eve. It is revealed later that Solan also has an older half-brother named Belach from his father's side. Both his death and Borias's death help Belach realize that all the things he has done were wrong.
Legacy
After Solan's death, Xena became focused only on her grief. Due to the fact that it was because of Gabrielle's lies about Hope, she dragged Gabrielle on the back of a horse and attempted to kill her in an attempt at gaining justice over his death. Just as Xena was about to throw Gabrielle over a cliff, Gabrielle kicked her in the face and rushed at her, knocking them both into the water and taking them to Illusia. It was Solan who was behind the land of Illusia and he helped Gabrielle and Xena eventually reconcile. In season 5, while in the underworld, Xena discovers that Solan chose not to go to the Elysian fields. Instead, he remained in a purgatory state in order to have the ability to watch Xena and Gabrielle on their journeys. After cutting him loose from a web-like substance and prying him away from what looked like TVS showing him memories of Xena and Gabrielle, Xena convinced him to leave. Before Solan went to the Elysian Fields, Xena informed him that he was her vision of hope and he was one of the key reasons that she remained good and virtuous. While standing in the doorway to the entrance of the Elysian Fields, the two touch the entrance and Xena sees his face and tells Solan she will see him soon and that he will hardly notice she's gone. Also in season 5 after binding Celesta, the goddess of death, Xena mentioned Solan, along with her good friend and ex-lover Marcus and younger brother Lyceus, as one of those who was killed before their rightful time.