Since time immemorial (the dawn of film, or so), popular fiction has cloaked its queer characters beneath several layers of innuendo, insinuation, and subtext. The machinery of Hollywood spent years in fear of any characters that could slightly rock the mainstream public’s boat, leaving writers with no choice but to embed subtle hints and suggestions to homoeroticism in their work that would be identifiable to the right viewers, but not the hand-wringing censors. (Todd Haynes’ recent, perfect Carol is a feature-length deconstruction of this practice.) The seminal ’90s TV series Xena: Warrior Princess often teased viewers with tantalizing implications that the lead (Lucy Lawless) and her charge Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor) may have shared a little something more than experiences on the battlefield together, but with an upcoming reboot of the fantasy-adventure, that will all change.

NBC has ordered a new Xena pilot from writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, architect behind the CW’s cult hit The 100, and he plans to be a little more forthcoming about the undeniable chemistry between Xena and Gabrielle with this updated iteration. During a Q&A session on Tumblr, Grillo-Marxuach confirmed that the two women would be lovers, no bones about it:

i am a very different person with a very different world view than my employer on the 100 - and my work on the 100 was to use my skills to bring that vision to life. xena will be a very different show made for very different reasons. there is no reason to bring back xena if it is not there for the purpose of fully exploring a relationship that could only be shown subtextually in first-run syndication in the 1990s. it will also express my view of the world - which is only further informed by what is happening right now - and is not too difficult to know what that is if you do some digging.

His passing reference to differing worldviews alludes to a minor kerfuffle among devotees of The 100 following the death of fan-favorite character Lexa, who was in a relationship with the also-female Clarke prior to her untimely demise. Fans cried foul and the choice to extinguish one of the small lights of hope for LGBTQ viewers on television, and Grillo-Marxuach has evidently heard their pleas loud and clear. This new series—the fate of which is still something of question mark, considering that NBC is still far from ordering it to series—will right past wrongs and placate the fans in one fell swoop. And best of all, it’ll provide young viewers with a hero with whom they can identify.