SPOILERS BELOW.
I’ve dreaded watching the series finale of Spartacus ever since I learned the show would be ending, and unsurprisingly this episode stung. Tender heart felt wound that no balm could heal.
I don’t even know where to begin in writing about it, so I’ll just start with Crassus. His mourning for Tiberius is interrupted when he learns that Kore killed his son in revenge. Crassus embraces her, and I think for a moment that someone will have a happily ever after once the story ends. How silly of me.
Then, a meeting is arranged. Crassus and Spartacus meet as respected enemies, each promising politely to destroy the other, sealing their intent with a handshake.
The battle to end all battles begins.
The Roman tide surges forward, continuing even as Spartacus commands his army to hold positions. The Romans do not pause in their pursuit, but the result is they fall into a hidden pit lined with spikes. I actually cheer out loud as the Romans are impaled. It is a clever strategy, and it gives the rebels a brief edge over their enemies. Then Gannicus rides in from the other side of the army with Saxa. They take command of the Roman catapults, launching spears towards Crassus.
Spartacus and Crassus once again lay eyes upon each other on the battlefield. Crassus, atop his horse, rides toward the former gladiator, but Spartacus leaps into the air and knocks the Imperator off his horse. Another cheer from me. This battle is going well. Maybe no one I like will die after all!
Spears fly, swords clang, fires burn, and wounds bleed as fighting continues, and Spartacus will not be stopped as he pursues the injured and fleeing Crassus.
But the tide turns. And from that point on, those who reigned supreme in the arena find that war is a different monster altogether. There are no fans cheering in the stands. No laurels go to the winner. And wounds will fester and kill you before a medicus is found. The end is close at hand.
Stabbed through the stomach, Saxa dies, finding herself once again in Gannicus’ arms. Caesar takes great pleasure in killing Naevia. Perhaps she and Crixus will be reunited in the Elysian fields.
And Gannicus. I can’t bear to watch. Disarmed, outnumbered, he faces imminent death. I want to close my eyes, but the story shifts to Spartacus and Crassus engaged in epic battle. Both are heavily wounded, and it’s unclear how this fight will end. But when it looks like Spartacus is finally going to win, Crassus’ men launch spears through him. Disbelief is on his face. And mine, too. The Bringer of Rain, stabbed in the back. Only moments later Nasir and Agron bring a group up the hill, and Crassus falls to the ground below. But the man will not die!
Nasir and Agron lift Spartacus to his feet, and he turns enough to see how badly the battle is going. Only a handful of his army remains. His friends manage to reunite him with Sibyl and Laeta, where they and those that remain continue on their journey to escape the clutches of the Roman Empire. There, Spartacus tells them they must go on without him, and he thinks only of Sura as he dies, finding the peace and reunion with beloved wife he so longed for.
It is a poignant moment, tissue-worthy, and one can’t help but think about how far Spartacus’ long journey has brought him. Soldier to slave to gladiator to freedom fighter. All with love and revenge motivating his actions.
But the grief does not end there. We learn that Caesar spares Gannicus only to crucify him. “Ignoble end for legend that once stood a god of the arena,” Caesar states. And yet Gannicus smiles as he relives his time in the arena, the nails through his palms a distant memory as his mind moves towards happier thoughts.
“It is hard sight to see one so loved to be of the damned.” Caesar also comments on seeing Kore on the cross. Fleeing to the rebel camp, killing Tiberius, keeping his heinous act against her a secret . . . all poor choices, in the unforgiving eyes of The Imperator.
Knowing Caesar’s eventual fate is small comfort, but Sibyl, Laeta, Nasir and Agron live to tell the tale of Spartacus.
As the end credits flash across the screen, we are greeted by images of characters from all the previous seasons. In fitting tribute, the final one is Spartacus, as portrayed by the late actor Andy Whitfield as he screams, “I am Spartacus!”
His words, and Spartacus’, will echo in eternity.