Special 'SPARTACUS' WAR OF THE DAMNED ♥

"Spartacus: War of the Damned" Episode 10 Recap: “Terminus/The Next to Fall”

April 13, 2013

What an amazing final episode. What a tribute to a series that has rearranged our concepts of masculinity, femininity, violence, sexuality, and the ways in which television can and should depict all of these things. And what a tribute to the fallen. But, really, let’s just skip all that for a moment and go straight to the really bigholy crap moment of the evening, shall we?

The gays lived.

The gays lived! Seriously, when do the gays ever live? I’m pretty sure they killed all the gays at the end ofWill and Grace, that’s how rarely do the gays live. But our two fan favorites, Agron and Nasir, lived to walk off into the sunset (well, sunrise) together.

Wow.

Of course, not very many other people lived, but we’ll get to that.

The series finale opened as this series finale should: to the sounds of battle. When the light comes up we see the rebels attacking a Roman villa. Gannicus emerges from the carnage to tell the villa’s owner to free his slaves, and to tell other Romans that they, too, should free their slaves. When the villa owner, terrified, asks who he is, Gannicus replies, “I am Spartacus.”

Nice touch.

We spy others doing the same: Lugo, Nasir, and, lastly, Spartacus himself. While an allusion to the famed 1960 Stanley Kubrick film, the activities by the rebels are also designed to confuse Crassus, Caesar, andPompey. Not even the great Spartacus can be in six places at once. Can he?

As Crassus stares lovingly at his son’s death mask, he speaks harshly of wanting revenge on the man he blames for his son’s death: himself, err, I mean, Spartacus. But Crassus also recognizes that Spartacus is a crafty foe, and must be approached carefully.

Elsewhere, Spartacus, too, begins to prepare for the final battle. Caught between Pompey and Crassus, he knows he has but little choice left. Agron wishes to fight at the side of his brother in arms, and Spartacus tells him that if he can hold a sword, he can fight. Agron cannot. Spartacus orders him to lead those who cannot fight to safety in the mountains.

But Agron cannot have his comrade go to the final battle without him. And despite their previous parting (or perhaps because of it,) Nasir understands. So he fashions Agron a weapon: a shield, emblazoned with a red dragon, with various pointy blades sticking out from the surface. Agron does not need to grip this weapon—he can sling it across his forearm. Nasir understands; the two will go to the final battle together. As they embrace, the dark etchings of fate are reflected in the tenor of their eyes. They speak nothing, but say volumes to the other. They know this is the end.

(Except it isn’t.)

Gannicus makes love to Sibyl, and, afterward, tells her to make preparations to go to the mountains with the others. She protests, and says she does not wish to leave his side. But he tells her she must. He says: “You once told me the gods had sent me to save you. You were mistaken. You were the one sent. And I needed saving.” I swoon. Gannicus has shown such growth this seen, and now shows such poise and depth of feeling. Oh, dang it all, now I’m even starting to like Sibyl. These truly are the end times.

Crassus trains, preparing himself to fight, and Kore appears. The two stare at Tibby’s death mask and both talk about who Tibby used to be. Each has a sense of sorrow in their voice, but for different reasons; Crassus for the man Tibby was becoming, and Kore for the boy Tibby once was and the man he became. Caesar interrupts them: Spartacus has been spotted. Crassus orders the Romans to break camp. He moves to lead them, but Kore stops him. She says to him, “You did not ask why I turned from you,” but it seems clear that Crassus really does not want to hear it.

Laeta, like Sibyl, does not want to go forward without Spartacus, but, unlike Sibyl, she does not want to stay with Spartacus at the battlefield, but rather wishes Spartacus would accompany her to the mountains. Smart girl—I knew I always liked her. Spartacus tells her he cannot, but she already knows this. It is evident to both of them that he does not love her as he did Sura, his wife, but he does appreciate and respect her, and the two share a moment before parting.

Agron tells Spartacus he will fight, and Spartacus tells him they remain the two last brothers from the House of Batiatus. He tells his followers they must make preparations to leave, and that they must fly to freedom: “Part ways, and live free,” he exhorts them. In a truly beautiful scene, his people line up, one by one, to touch him, to thank him, and a chorus of the word “Gratitude” echoes through the night.

The scene is interrupted when Castus approaches, telling Spartacus that Crassus has spotted them. Spartacus urges his followers on ahead—no time for good-byes. Laeta says to Spartacus in parting: “I shall lend prayer toward the end of Crassus and the triumph of Spartacus,” but she knows that neither of those things is very likely. Sibyl kisses Gannicus goodbye, as well, wistfully, as if for the last time.

As the two armies prepare to meet in battle, a messenger approaches Spartacus, who hurls a spear at him. The messenger says he only brings news. When next we spy our hero, he and his most trusted lieutenants meet with Crassus and his men upon the plain. When Spartacus asks why Crassus wanted to meet, he answers, “Curiosity,” which, he says, is the same reason Spartacus accepted the meeting.

The two talk, alone, as equals. Crassus tells Spartacus he cannot win, but Spartacus reminds him that is of lesser consequence: what really matters, he says, is that the rebels “decide our fates,” not Rome, and not Crassus. Crassus tries to figure out what Spartacus’ end game may be, to seek a tactical advantage, but he soon realizes there is nothing that will ever cause Spartacus to quit, as Laeta told him many episodes ago.

Oh, and Spartacus lets it slip that it was a woman who killed Tibby—a woman whom Tibby had ill treated.

On return to his camp, Crassus is livid with Caesar. He demands to know the truth of Tibby’s death. Kore confesses that it was she who killed Tibby. Crassus demands to know why. It is Caesar who tells him that Tibby raped Kore. Crassus is clearly stricken by the news: “The son is but a reflection of the father,” he says. He smashes Tibby’s death mask in both anger over what he did and anger, perhaps, of the path that Crassus himself set his son upon. He then apologizes (yes, apologizes) to Kore and takes her into his arms. Wow. I did not imagine Crassus reacting this way to the news of how his son actually died, and the events that led up to it. Somehow, though, I do not think this is the end of this.

Spartacus looks at a map of the battlefield, but it is another map that truly catches his eye—the map of Thrace, his home. Gannicus enters and speaks of the odds of this battle, which Gannicus wagers are not in their favor. Spartacus goes into a rote speech about bucking the odds but Gannicus forestalls him—he understands all too well what is to come. After all, the love of Sibyl has even made Gannicus stop drinking, which has apparently cleared his mind to many a thing. Saving his speeches, Spartacus instead tells Gannicus about Sura, and that she prophesied that he will never love any woman but her. Gannicus asks if this is true, and Spartacus wryly smiles and says, yes, it is true. But, when he looks at his people, he sees them all as Sura. He loves them all and wishes to protect them, as he wished to do with his wife. Umm, seriously, am I the only one thinking Spartacus for President, 2016 (and considering his liberal acceptance of the gays, I presume he is a Democrat.)

As the two sides prepare for the final confrontation, Spartacus notices that Agron’s weapon has a red dragon on it, reminding him of another prophecy by Sura, a prophecy that seems, both to him and the audience, to have emerged from a lifetime ago. No matter. This is it. He is Spartacus.

The battle is engaged.

Crassus orders his catapults to fire, and tells his men to show no mercy. Spartacus and the rebels charge, even as their numbers fall from the wicked Roman weapons of war. They charge and charge and—suddenly stop. The Romans keep going and wham! They fall into a ditch Spartacus and company have prepared for them (a neat little trick he learned from Crassus, it seems.) Spartacus orders his archers to fire and more Romans fall. He then uncovers bridges and places them on the backs of the Roman army itself. As Crassus watches from afar, Spartacus is the first to cross, as he and his rebels charge into the heart of the Roman army, kicking butt left and right. Crassus coldly orders the catapults to fire on both the rebels and his own men. Caesar finds this disturbing, but Crassus says it will end this war. The Romans fire, and death rains down from on high as Spartacus continues charging forward.

Lugo is the first to fall.

Brawny Lugo is set ablaze by a Roman catapult, but still continues fighting, even as he burns, until a Roman cruelly dispatches him. Where is the cavalry when you need them? There they are, coming in the rear. Gannicus and Saxa, previously conspicuous by their absences, are riding horses and attacking the Roman rear. Their goal: to gain access to the Roman artillery. They point the catapults at the Roman army itself and fire. Crassus orders Caesar to go back and recapture the artillery.

Castus is the next to fall.

The rogue pirate fights bravely, and has earned his place among the champions of Spartacus’ army. But he is felled by Roman swords, and dies, as Nasir holds his friend and Agron looks on. Elsewhere on the battlefield, Crassus seeks Spartacus, while Spartacus does the same. Spartacus knocks Crassus off his horse, but before they can engage a group of Romans pull their Imperator off of the battlefield and up a small hill. The group of Roman soldiers does not deter Spartacus. He will engage Crassus, one way or the other.

Caesar fights Gannicus as the Romans try to regain their stolen artillery. The rebels fight bravely, but are soon outnumbered.

Saxa is the next to fall.

She dies as she lived, a warrior, and Gannicus holds her. She tells him, in Germaniac, that she is once again in his arms before she finally expires. Gannicus, enraged but his numbers dwindling, re-engages the Romans. Meanwhile, Spartacus dispatches Crassus’ guard, but not without taking on injury himself. It is he and Crassus, alone, one-on-one, slave versus master, rebel versus Roman, man on man. The two begin to fight.

Naevia is the next to fall.

It is Caesar who kills the injured warrior, with a smirk on his face as he takes the sword that belonged to Tibby away from her. (Seriously, Goldilocks, show some respect—Naevia has earned it!) Naevia dies and rejoins her beloved Crixus.

Gannicus fights a large group of Romans, who box him in between their shields and contain him. He is stabbed, beaten, disarmed, outnumbered twenty to one. Finally, it is Caesar who stays their hand, as he marches forward. Gannicus prepares himself for the final blow, but Caesar only punches him in the face, rendering him unconscious. His end is yet to come.

Crassus and Spartacus still do battle. It is evident that Spartacus’ earlier wounds are causing him to lose a lot of blood, and Crassus, thinking himself oh-so-slick, uses the move he used to defeat his former slave/trainer/aerobics instructor Hilarus and takes Spartacus’ sword and stabs him in the side. Spartacus, however, does not fall. He grabs a sword and prepares to give Crassus a death blow—when a Roman spear is thrown into him from behind. Then another, and another. Still, Spartacus will not fall. Crassus stays his men’s hands, and then tells Spartacus, “Would that you been born a Roman, and stood beside me.” Spartacus tells him no, he would not wish that so. He remembers his beloved wife as Crassus raises his hand—

But here comes Agron! And Nasir! Here comes the gays to save the day! (How many times have we all heard that phrase before?) Agron knocks Crassus down the hill while Nasir dispatches the remaining Romans. Spartacus asks for a sword, but then turns and sees his army defeated. Crassus races back up the hill—but the three are gone. He fumes.

Gannicus is the next to fall.

He is crucified along the Apian Way, nails piercing his wrists as he experiences tremendous agony. But then he spies Oenemaus, waiting to welcome him to the next world, and has a vision of himself back in the arena, a god once more. Beside him on the cross is Kore. Caesar says that it is a tragedy that someone so loved must share the rebels’ fate, but Crassus replies that she was known to have consorted with the rebels. The son, it seems, is a reflection of the father, indeed.

Pompey arrives, with Metellus in tow, gloating of his victory over the rebels in the north. He must have come across those who were too stricken or old to fight and were attempting escape. My heart aches. Caesar is quick to contradict him about whose victory it is, but Crassus interrupts, and heaps praise on Pompey. When Caesar demands to know why, Crassus says that now is the time to make an ally of Pompey, and that the three of them could make a powerful triumvirate indeed. Way to reference history (and a potential spin-off, should it ever happen.) And thus Crassus fades from our view.

Spartacus, indeed, is the last to fall.

Agron and Nasir have brought him to the foot of the Alps, where Laeta, Sibyl, and others await. It seems the group of followers split into two, and Pompey only found one group. The other escaped. Laeta kept her word to Spartacus to wait for him at the foot of the mountains, but Spartacus knows he will not make it across. He tells them, “There is no greater victory then to fall from this world a free man.” And then, with visions of his beloved Sura welcoming him home, he dies, just as the sun sets, and the rain begins to fall. Yes, once more, Spartacus is the bringer of rain.

Spartacus is buried, with Agron’s shield (with the red dragon) left as marker. It is left to Agron to have the final say: “One day Rome shall fade and crumble, yet you shall always be remembered in the hearts of all who yearn for freedom.” And then, as the sun rises, Agron, Nasir, Laeta, Sibyl, and other former slaves head off into the mountains, off to a new day made possible by the man they have just lain to rest. They head off to a world unknown, with only one beating truth remaining in their heart:

They are free.

Final thoughts: What can I say? The episode was a fitting end to a glorious legend and an amazing show. While I am sorry to see the series end, the producers, writers, cast and crew have left behind a legacy that reinvented the historical epic on television and created such rich, vibrant characters that will long be remembered after the series exists only in our hearts (and on DVD, Netflix, endless reruns on Starz, etc.) And, by the way, can I take a moment to heap praise on the show’s writers? They work with a form of dialogue that can sometimes tend to stilted or oddly structured, and yet they always—and most especially this season—craft the language to tease out every nuance and subtlety. Really, the entire season has been remarkable—the acting, the writing, the production, the casting. I know a show like Spartacus will never get any love from the Emmys, but it has been one of the most consistent, consistently entertaining, and consistently amazing shows on television. I will miss it—and all the hot naked beefy mancake it showed us every week. Oh, yes, I will miss that too.

Now is the time to roll credits, and Spartacus’ ending credits—with pictures of all the characters who came before—were a great way to remember them all. And the last image, of Andy Whitfield, a glorious actor, shouting in the arena, “I am Spartacus!”—perfect. Yes, he was Spartacus. So was Liam. And Manu, and Dan, and Cynthia, and Dustin, and Jai, and Ellen, and Katrina, and Peter, countless others. And, in a way, so were we all.

Live well, Spartacus, and pass into legend once more.

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