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I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that she never really hated her.

Interesting comments, but I think I have to disagree with this. I think that after Maternal Instincts Xena did in fact really hate Callisto, hated her all the way through Sac II, and possibly up until IoM, when TPTB had her pull that "Way of the Warrior" schtick out of a hat. Note that in Sac I, when Callisto suggested teaming up with Xena to stop Dahak, on the condition that Xena would give Callisto the death she wanted, Xena refused point-blank until Gabrielle talked her into it, even wishing on Callisto, "I hope you live forever"--essentially condemning (and expressing a *desire* to condemn) Callisto to not just a lifetime, but an *eternity* of suffering. Keep in mind also that by refusing to go along with / kill Callisto, Xena is not only possibly risking her ability to stop Dahak, but is leaving a proven sociopath loose to wander the world, wreaking devastation as she goes.

Given how good Xena usually is at separating her personal feelings from the greater good and the mission at hand, I *personally* see this as fairly strong evidence that Xena did, in fact, harbor a deep hatred for Callisto. Xena also had fairly strong reason to do so--AB, you argue that Xena's real hatred over Solan's death was directed at Hope, but we do have fairly graphic evidence in the form of the Gabdrag that she also hated Gabrielle for at least a short while (and Gabrielle hated Xena as well, although as I've said before, I *personally* find the motivation TPTB assigned Gabrielle for hating Xena to be more than a little bit of a misfire.) In fact, I wonder if some of Xena's anger toward what she saw as Gabrielle's betrayal wasn't in fact sublimated after the end of TBS into hatred of Callisto, thus helping to fuel her rigid anti-Callisto stance in Sac II. (Where *Gabrielle's* anger at Xena ended up being sublimated into is a bit of a mystery to me--given that many see Gabrielle as, in a way, "regressing" during the later seasons, with her "any path is okay as long as it's with you" attitude, it's possible she turned it back on herself.)

I will also say that aside from the Solan thing, I think both X and G had very valid reasons to hate Callisto as the series wore on. For example, time and time again they thought they'd finished her--let her sink into quicksand, sent her back to Tartarus, trapped her in lava, dropped rocks on top of her, etc.--and yet time and time again, she kept coming back and doing even worse things to them. This, btw, is why I don't find anything incongruent about Gabrielle's professed forgiveness of Callisto in ANE and her anger at Callisto in FA--at the time she forgave Callie in ANE, it looked as if Callie was gone forever, but then, as the song goes, "The cat came back/the very next day." I don't think it's realistic to expect forgiveness of someone to stand when that someone keeps coming back over and over and not only shows no remorse over their former actions, but even continues hurting the forgiver and those she cares about.

As for the reason why Xena gave up her light for Callisto in FA despite having hated her earlier (as I see it), I think it was due to a combination of factors. First, a great deal of time and distance had passed between then and the end of MI. Xena had had the perhaps-cathartic experience of stabbing her in Sac II and working out some of those issues; also a *lot* had happened in Xena's life since then, what with the whole Search for Gabrielle, Alti's prophecy, the India jaunt, the crucifixion et cetera. I don't find it surprising that somewhere in there Xena might have gained some perspective. AB has mentioned that Xena was an angel at the time, so that might have had something to do with it. Also, if you want to take the "Way of the Warrior" material that Xena supposedly learned during the India arc and referenced in IoM as valid (which I don't, but there it is), that could have been a factor as well. Her statements about Callisto's spirit possibly dooming Eve to darkness, I don't think necessarily mean that Xena is still bitter over Callie (although to be sure, I was no longer a regular viewer by the whole Eve arc so I'm not clear on that), but it could just be Xena simply recognizing or taking into account the fact that Callisto was, in fact, certifiable and there is at least a possibility some of that nuttiness was passed on to Eve.

Furthermore, it was suggested somewhere, possibly even by one of TPTB (RJS IIRC?) that giving up her light for Callisto was part of Xena's overall plan to get Gabrielle back, although I know that's not a popular interpretation. For myself, I'm agnostic on that issue--I don't really have an opinion one way or the other. I didn't care all that much for FA for various reasons--I'd started to cool on the show in general by that point; I found FA *way* overblown; I *personally* wasn't wild about such blatant mixing of Christian theology into the Xenaverse, and as much as I loved Callisto, by that point IMO it was long past time to stick a fork in her because she was *done.* IMO Sac II should have been the end of Callisto's story, and even that was pushing it. I will say however, that a.) I find that interpretation consistent with the way Xena was generally portrayed on the show--able to concoct extremely elaborate, seemingly implausible plans that nevertheless worked perfectly, and b.) I also don't think it would have to mean Xena didn't care for Callisto and wasn't trying to get her out of hell--in fact, it would be just like Xena to create an elaborate plan specifically for the purpose of saving both herself, Gabrielle *and* Callisto. So if you accept that interpretation--that it was all part of Xena's cunning plan--that could have contributed as well.