Hit the Jump to Read the full Review

In terms of the death count of major characters in one episode I believe this show takes the cake. The final kill count of Major characters was 6, that is quite a lot, but each did their part towards the closure that this season needed. Next season will show the power of a true revolution, but for that to happen some lose ended need to be taken care off.
Let’s start with Mira. She started off as just a love interest to Spartacus but ended up as a strong female role, and pretty deadly with the bow. Her death right at the start of the episode sets the tone, and reminds Spartacus of the reason for his vengeance. As a side not, I like how the show did not make Mira a ‘feel sorry for me’ character as her and Spartacus grew apart. She kicked a lot of ass, and I very much enjoyed her as a strong female character.
Just when Ashur has it all worked out and he would be on the winning end of things for once, Ilithyia sinks her teeth into his life. Ashur goes from the leader of a badass pre-modern era navy seal team, to getting killed by Naevia. I did not enjoy this fight scene at all, and Ashur could have killed her many times, and he should have. Then again that is his tragic flaw, (arrogance) he paused to ridicule her and that led to his demise. Ashur liked to watch people suffer, and even his lasts words were used to try and scar Crixus and Naevia. He is an evil ‘SOB’ down to his very last seconds on earth, and his death was another step in the right direction towards a full revolution; free of the bindings holding the gladiators to the ludus.

The funny thing about this episode is how fast they were able to bind together four ropes made of vines to scale down the side of a mountain, and how the catapults were in perfect position to hit the camp. I didn’t know slaves could do math. However, I am going to toss that aside, because I enjoyed the episode and frankly, those are minor things. The open field battle was a sight to see; mainly Oenemaeus killing someone, while simultaneously choke slamming another was epic. Oenemaeus’ death was the first death in the episode that really struck me as sad. However, you feel happy for him because he finally met a warrior’s end deserving of the man who stood against Theokoles. He was begging for death in the beginning of the season, and with his death Gannicus is cemented as a full time brother to Spartacus; a worthy end indeed.

I have always said that woman could control the world, if they could just put their underlying hate for one another aside. This is a large generalization, but woman even the best of friends are always conspiring against one another. I have seen it unfold in my life quite often, and now Spartacus has brought two BFF’s full circle. Although, in my life no one ends up performing a c-section on another, the overall theme is the same. To watch both Ilithyia and Lucretia at odd again this episode gave a nice tightly wrapped packaged ending to this feud. The actual event of what transpired in the last minutes of the episode came as a complete shock to me. I knew they were bound to have a final bout, but what happened left me flabbergasted. Their deaths further detached this show from the Ludus of Batiatus, and what a fantastic detachment it was.
The death of Glaber as the final act defines the story arc that made Spartacus who he is right now; he went from unknown Thracian warrior, to slave, to gladiator and now a leader of a rebellion against Rome. With Glaber’s death, Rome is now fixated on Spartacus, and the wraith of Rome will come down on him. This singular moment is a telltale sign that next season will be a larger and more over encompassing story that will add a lot of new cast. Some major characters you can hope to see are: Julius Caesar (Todd Lasance), Marcus Crassus (Simon Merrells) and Pompey. As well, besides the one German blonde bombshell, there will be a lack of female hotness on the show right now, so I look forwards to see who the new female roles will be. Not to undermine what I just said, but Spartacus is one of the most feminist shows on TV, it has a varying amount of female characters, and lays out their roles quite bluntly, making for complex and strong females.