The Spartacus workout: How Ashur bulked up for Gods of the Arena:
Holy Frak! Of course I’ve suspected that Lucretia had poisoned the wine from Batiatus senior, but that it also resulted in the accidental death of Mellita. :eek:
And yeah, I thot that Batiatus would slay his old man in the old arena. The love for each other really pushes both of them to the “dark side”, but much more Lucretia than her husband.
I was also very surprised to see Diona smuggled out of the house by Navea, although I would not believe it until the credits roll after the final episode, that her escape was successful and she will not meet a brutal end.
Lucy Lawless was great in that scene! she’s so giddy as she tells the paterfamilias how she’d been poisening him for months. It reminded me of that scene…“Bud, meet my friend, the Black Mamba”.
I think they put that there so when would meet again when Spartacus season 2 resumes.
I am really digging the Ganicus fellow. Actually much more likeable than Spartacus… I hope he doesn’t die by the end of the next episode… it’d be cool to see him return in season 2.
Yeah, I also thot for a moment that the escaped Gladiators led by Spartacus might meet Diona in Season 2. But who knows.
For Gannicus and with such a series, IMO he sealed his death when he dropped his guard for Crixus to attack. Can’t see how he might still be a Gladiator of Tullius after the end of this Prequel since I assume for the finale:
Tullius and his friend have to die, Ashur gets his injury and Crixus becomes the Champion of Capua by defeating Gannicus in the new Arena.
yeah, you are right… though Ashur doesn’t need to get his injury I think. Because I am assuming it takes a while between the time Crixus is so well established as the Champion of Capua till the time Spartacus arrives. So in the time between the finale and Season 1 is when Crixus gets super cocky and Ashur gets his injury.
Is anybody else incredibly sad that tonight (or tomorrow, if you’re like me and have been watching this on Netflix) is the last episode of Gods of the Arena? Not only that it’s the last new Spartacus for a while, but it’s pretty much the end of an era. No more John Hannah (unless they go with my idea and slap a wig on him as Crassus, or have him as the heretofore unknown and unspoken of twin brother Hatiatus), no more Andy Whitfield as Spartacus, no more Lesley Ann Brandt as Naevia. I just got done with a Blood & Sand rewatch, and it really struck me how much I’m going to miss them.
But hey, new episode coming soon! Yay!
Good points, Sithwitch. “Hatiatus” made me laugh heartily.
GANNIC-US! GANNIC-US! I did not see that end coming.
wait… Andy Whitfield is no longer Spartacus? That man can’t get a break…
anyway, it was a really well made 7 episodes, and I will miss John Hannah…
Think the guy is still dealing with his health issues. Hopefully, he’ll recover and be able to retrun.
I’m just at the scene where Vettius tells all that he will gift his gladiators to Solonius. With all that perverts in the Loge, I have the feeling that Navea poisoned the wine to kill Cassius and his friends.
Yeah, I’m also very sad to see the show leave until next year and especially that we won’t get more of John Hannah as Batiatus. I’ve got nothing against meeting his twin-brother who you mentioned. lol
seven? have I missed a secret episode? 
This was really a fitting end and I was much surprised how Solonius managed to grant Gannicus freedom. Hearing Gannicus telling Crixus to search for him, when he receives freedom foreshadows that we might meet him again in Season 2. Was it just me, or did Lucretia look much more beautiful and of elevated spirit in this episode after her father-in-law is dead?
yeah, my bad, 7 just sounds like a better number 
one thing i didn’t enjoy out of the prequel is i don’t understand Crixus any better than before. I don’t like him any better either. He just seemed like a real douche…
it seems like the only thing he wants is to be a champion. and he turned out to be a giant champion of slave douche…
i mean is there nothing else he wants? he doesn’t even seem to want to earn his freedom through being a champion… he only started to dream about that after he fell in love with Naevia. What’s with the constant challenging of Gannicus, the only person who even wanted to help him.
I just got to finish the last episode last night! What an end! I love how they wrapped up most of the loose ends and made everything believable. Definitely think that Batiatus Jr. and Lucretia get what they deserve. Very foreshadowing (or is it post-shadowing since we already knew what would happen) when Solonius turns against him and gives him the ‘I have just realized who you really are and hope you get what’s coming to you’ speech. Puts him in a difference light though, I sort of thought it was his fault they fought, but now I think a little better of him… just a little though.
I’m planning to do a rewatch of Blood and Sand now to see everything with all the knowledge from the prequel. Absolutely love this series.
Can’t wait to see what they do with the next season.
If you didn’t catch it, Mo Ryan & Ryan McGee’s Talking TV podcast interviewed showrunner/Whedonverse alum Steven S. DeKnight the week before the finale aired. It’s a must-listen.
http://www.tvsquad.com/2011/02/24/spartacus-steven-deknight-talks-gods-arena/
He says we’d see Diona again. But I thought he meant in a different way, in a different place.
I think I get it. He never got to prove his mettle in battle before he got enslaved, and it was kind of a big thing with his people. Then he gets a chance to be a rock star, and all he has to do is kill people? And he gets a chance to be the absolute best at it in this place? Yeah, he’s still a slave, but he gets to be king of the slaves for a while.
And then he falls in love with Naevia and realizes there’s more to life than being king of the gladiators, and that’s when season 1 happens, and he gets to grow up!
Actually, I’ve approached the show having listened to the first 4 podcast episodes of Dan Carlin’s “Death throes of the Republic”,
Check out the history archive here: http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive
Anyway, the most relevant episode for this discussion’s purpose is the newly released [Show 38 - Death Throes of the Republic V](http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive/Show-38---Death-Throes-of-the-Republic-V/, %20Rome-Marius-Sulla) which covers the 3rd Servile War i.e. the uprising led by Spartacus.
If you really wanna know what went down after the series finale of Spartacus, Show 38 gives a quick, emphatic overview. (NB Spartacus’
uprising was only a sideshow gig in the spectacle of Roman history, so the coverage is brief) What was spectacular, however, was that Spactacus’ slave army was the first to take on Roman legions full on, and win!
I did check this out and it was really interesting to listen to their take on it and hear the discussion about the episode ‘before’ it aired and where they might take the show
Dan Carlin’s podcast is fantastic. Mike Duncan’s The History Of Rome also covered the Third Servile War in some detail a long while back (we’re up to Constantine the Great now, so… long ways off! Episode 36, specifically, almost two and a half years ago), though not as dramaticallly as Carlin. It’s a fantastic history podcast, though, and I love watching Rome and the like and connecting these characters to the histories.
Duncan’s great for a jumping off point and a dry humor, and Carlin’s great for a more dramatic, visceral, focused (though less frequent) take on history, IMO. His trilogy on the WW2 Eastern Front was chilling, and anyone interested in the Punic Wars NEEDS to give the Punic Nightmares trilogy a listen. (I think it’s only available for sale now, though.)
I wonder if I could get my husband to give Spartacus a second shot now that he’s heard me raving about it for months.