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It would have been tough because two possible solutions to the baby problem -- (1) Xena's child is killed and (2) Xena gives up her child to be raised by someone else -- were made impossible by the fact that they had already done this with Solan.

(I actually remember a similar discussion we had a while back and someone, I think BluebellXWP, said that it was really reckless of TPTB to "waste" those storylines when they knew they had an actress who could get pregnant so that a "how do we dispose of the baby" issue could arise. )

For Xena to lose a second child would be just too heartbreaking. I could imagine a storyline in which Xena reluctantly gives up Eve to be raised by Cyrene, because she realizes that life on the road as a warrior is no way to raise a child but also ultimately realizes that she cannot give up being a warrior. (You could even have a story arc where she tries to "settle down" but then is called on some mission that she can't refuse.) Or maybe, if you still went with the "bringer of Twilight" storyline, Xena could just fake Eve's death (not her own or Gabrielle's) and leave Eve with the Northern Amazons for her safety, and then periodically visit. However, I think this would have sent a somewhat negative "you can't combine career and motherhood" message (even if, in this case, Xena has a somewhat unusual career ) and also might have caused some negativity toward Xena, since people tend to make rather harsh judgments of women who place their children in someone else's full-time care so they can pursue their vocation. Actually it would have been interesting to see how people would have reacted to such a storyline. Because I'm pretty sure it would have been considered okay for a male hero to do that.

Another possibility, of course, is the "parallel dimension in which time flows at a different speed." There's actually a fanfic like that by Carly, the "Ares' Daughter" trilogy, in which Ares basically kidnaps Eve and takes her to some pocket universe where he raises her in the belief that he is her father and trains her to be a warrior. A day in our world equals a year in the pocket universe, so that while Eve is only gone for about two weeks, she's 16 when Xena and Gabrielle get her back. That could actually be a good way to handle it, though I have to say I would have really hated it as an X/A shipper because it would have made Ares much too evil and I couldn't see Xena ever forgiving him if he did that ... unless they found some major way for him to redeem himself later (which he actually does in Carly's fic, but there his act is slightly mitigated by the fact that Eve may actually be his child and he's pissed at Xena for keeping her away from him).

Personally, I had no problem at all with the 25-year jump. I agree it was a shame to lose Joxer but on the other hand I loved old Joxer and I thought it was nice that we got to see him live out a good life and raise a son like Virgil. I know people say that the 25-year jump resulted in killing off all the familiar characters the audience had grown to love, but really, what characters? Ephiny was dead. Callisto was dead and angelized. Caesar was dead (if anyone really loved Caesar ). Ares and Aphrodite were still there. Autolycus and Minya hadn't had a single appearance in S5 pre-25 year sleep, and they could have been brought back after the jump -- Alyson Wall would have had a blast playing Minya as a crusty old woman reminicing about her glory days as a warrior, and I'm sure Bruce Campbell would have been a hoot as Old Autolycus still trying to hold on to his crown as King of Thieves. (Or they could have had him steal an elixir of youth or something. )

IMO, the 25-year jump actually had a lot of potential, by allowing TPTB to bring on a whole new set of recurring characters. Three of them -- Livia/Eve, Virgil, and Varia -- actually got off to a highly promising start; too bad about the character assassination that followed. Actually they could have even brought back Ted Raimi -- I suggested a while back that they could have done a storyline involving Old Jett and his son who just happens to take after Uncle Joxer, much to Jett's exasperation. Can you imagine Ted in a dual role like that?

So, my conclusion: Don't blame the 25-year jump, blame the way it was handled.

Anyone want to write a fanfic based on this scenario, feel free. (I've already got waaaay too much on my plate...)