Go West Young Warrior Part 1 (of the #Xena Virtual Season) ended with Xena valiantly carrying a dehydrated Gabrielle to the shore of a whole new world to Greece & Rome. I believe they are on the Colombian/Venezuelan shore of South America, surrounded by indigenous Amazons. The Amazons are topless, covered in warpaint & wearing headdresses made from caiman lizards. I did a lot of research into the tribes mentioned in the story, not just online but at the library, until I had some idea of its practical & symbolic nature, so we could adapt it to the story. That said, there’s no way we could fill the next 2 eps with a topless cast, but I was certain that the show would’ve done something like this to signify a dramatically different culture from the Mediterranean, & it was historically accurate, so my plan was to occasionally suggest a clothing optional environment without being explicit. 

The rest of the eps show colorful costumes that gave the Amazon jungle a magical look, & it was probably my favorite time on the season, working on those with the illustration team. Here, the Amazons discover a very sunburnt #Xena & Gabrielle without their metal armor, so they don’t look entirely alien.