The time has finally come for Xena the warrior princess of Amphipolis to take down another victim of hers. This person was infamous for starting the whole Beads of Subjugation nonsense, which was at first used as a means of protection for one manipulative, shrewish dumbass in distress but has now become an instrument of her petty jealousy because of one dog hanyou’s devotion to this person’s deceased sister. Yes, my friends, she is none other than Kaede.
You might think I am such a prick for placing her on Xena’s list of people to kill because she is a senior citizen, but the reality is I did not care for this character even in my first viewings of Inuyasha. At first, there was something about her that made her interesting such as her past with Kikyou, why she ended up getting that eyepatch, and how she wanted to be a shrine maiden like her sister. However, as time went on, I found a lot of things wrong with Kaede.
The most grating about her is that she is so antagonistic towards Inuyasha but always sides with Kagome mostly because she cannot trust him to run off on his own. I do understand that Kaede used the Beads of Subjugation for Inuyasha not to harm another soul and entrust him to Kagome after she started the whole fiasco of the Sacred Jewel being shattered into a million pieces all while trying to save a little boy from a carrion demon. It may have served its purpose in a few episodes, but the Beads of Subjugation show how much control Kagome has over Inuyasha thinking that he could and should be the one to do the saving for her without helping out in battles.
Moreover, Kaede does not seem to be in favor of yokai hooking up with humans, as she is rather discriminatory against that. For example, in the final episode of Inuyasha: The Final Act, Rin ends up living in Kaede’s village because she wants her to live the life of a normal girl only to get colorful kimonos from Sesshoumaru. Here is a reality check for Kaede when it comes to Rin. Rin lost her family as a child and was killed by Kouga’s wolves. The one person who came to her rescue was Sesshoumaru courtesy of the Tenseiga. Hence, Rin would not want to be parted from Sesshoumaru in any shape or form, as he, Jaken, and Ah-Un are the only family she has and needs in this world. She does not need to live a boring life, her quality, her destiny, and her being are all with Sesshoumaru, as he is everything to her and vice versa. Essentially, Kaede’s own discrimination, bias, and salty attitude towards yokai and humans being in a loving relationship, Inuyasha and his emotional baggage, and believing that Kagome is still using the Beads of Subjugation for protection when she is constantly using them to show her dominance over Inuyasha. Believe me, Kaede’s whole plan of Inuyasha and Kagome working together was a farce from the very beginning, as their relationship showed signs of volatility, stress, and emotional constipation.
This is where Xena comes in to put Kaede out of her misery. Usually, Xena would not endeavor to kill senior citizens, especially those who have lived a long, fruitful, and prosperous life. However, she is more than willing to make an exception, as Kaede started the whole Beads of Subjugation malarkey, showed a lot of distrust towards Inuyasha and more favor towards Kagome, and was extremely discriminatory when it came to humans having relationships with yokai. No doubt will Xena knock some sense into Kaede’s stubborn mind that everyone has a right to free will and it is not her duty to be overly controlling.
At least, Kaede can now see Kikyou in the afterlife, unlikely as it is, as Xena puts her out of her misery.
I hope you all enjoyed this little series of Xena attempting to kill certain Inuyasha characters that were either bad excuses for heroes, bad excuses for friends, were nefarious but had charm and charisma or extremely grating. I will see you all in the next submission. Take care and stay safe, everybody.
Xena: Warrior Princess belongs to Julian Schulian and Robert Tapert.
Kaede from Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
