After finishing the most recent episode of “Spartacus: House of Ashur,” I am on the edge of my seat for the last three episodes of the season.

I had the opportunity to chat with “Spartacus: House of Ashur” actors Graham McTavish (Korris), Alro Gibson (Opiter), and Leigh Gill (Satyrus) about their story arcs and what’s next for their characters after episode six, “Empty Things,” and episode seven, “Deepest Wounds.”

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

If you’ve not been watching, please allow me to catch you up.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, wait, didn’t Ashur die at the end of the original series?

You would be correct.

“Spartacus: House of Ashur” opened with the titular character bound in the Underworld. Our Lady Lucy Lawless reprised her role as Lucretia. She appeared before Ashur and exclaimed, with divine authority, “Fate holds many paths,” and presented Ashur with a new destiny. This new world erased his death at the top of Mount Vesuvius and rewrote history, placing the spear that killed Spartacus in his hands.  Ashur awoke from his deadly slumber as the lanista (gladiator owner)  of the very house where he was enslaved. The former House of Batiatus is now called the House of Ashur. Now, he must navigate a world that will never see him as an equal. He will always be known as the Syrian.

Love it or hate it, that’s the premise of the show. This reboot wastes no time dropping viewers in a world of brutality, politics, and, of course, those classic gladiator bath scenes. You can enjoy the show for the plot and…the plot.

Opiter & Korris

Opiter is the Dominus of his own house and rival lanista of Ashur. Korris serves as the doctore to Ashur’s house; he is a former gladiator who won his freedom in the arena. He is a sad, hard, and guarded man who doesn’t allow himself to explore his softer emotions. Meanwhile, Opiter’s station allows him more freedom. Over the course of six episodes, Opiter broke through the Korris’ emotional cage, and the series gave viewers a queer relationship that the actors, Arlo Gibson and Graham McTavish, describe as tender and deep. Theirs was a love story built from a measured alliance.

The Love Story

“I think what was really beautiful about the arc of these characters is there are so many relationships within Capua that are built on trying to extract power or information out of each other,” Gibson said while thinking about the build of the love story. “With Korris and Opiter, it certainly begins that way. But those layers start to peel and fall away. What’s left is this genuine respect and love for each other that builds over the course of the season.”

McTavish echoed Gibson’s sentiment and added, “I think it was really important how we paced the relationship.”

While conceiving how he would portray his character, McTavish told Gibson that Korris shut himself off from feelings towards others, friendly and romantic. He placed armor around himself to survive in a world filled with death. Exposing yourself to love will expose you and the one you love to danger. But, scene by scene, Korris’ armor is removed.

For McTavish, those scenes culminated in a moment during episode four, “Blood and Bone.” Korris was ambushed when returning home from a night of gossip, wine, and adult entertainment with Opiter. Upon receiving word of the attack, Optier rushed to the House of Ashur, and Ashur, moved by Opiter’s concern, asked him to join Korris for a bath. Midbathing, Opiter dismissed the bather, so he could have a more intimate conversation. He waded across the pool to be closer to Korris and began cleaning his wounds. He leans closer and whispers, “Next time you find yourself in need, part lips, and I shall storm Olympus to see you satisfied.” Korris took his hand; they exchanged longing glances, then Korris pulled him in for a passionate embrace. That was the moment McTavish felt the characters truly reciprocated each other’s feelings.

While thinking about moving moments between the two, Gibson smiled while recalling a moment in the previous episode, “Unworthy.”

He chuckled, “I particularly love the moment when Korris gets in on the gossip about Roman society.” Opiter told Korris men and women of Capua like the services provided within the walls of his house, and he would marvel at those who had crossed his threshold.” Opiter named names.

“Yes,” McTavish added, “he (Korris) probably hasn’t had a chance to have that kind of relationship, you know?” Korris normally sits alone in his cell.

McTavish continued, “There’s a humor in that, and it’s very real and truthful when people are starting relationships. There’s a probing. ‘Are you going to find this as crazy or as funny as I do? Let me tell you about this. Oh, you won’t believe this.’ And those things. They just entwine you, and it’s really fun.”

The End

Alas, this is Spartacus, and happy endings are few and far between.

As we near the end of episode six, “Empty Things,” the lovers prepare to leave Capua together. Opiter promised Ashur his house and everything in it, including the gladiators, so he could leave the city with Ashur’s storied Doctore. Sadly, Opiter doesn’t make it because he didn’t account for another rival lanista, Proculus.

Proculus is duplicitous and will not stop until his ludus (gladiator school) has won glory in the arena. He dispatched the Brothers Ferox to take the Opiter’s life.

“Characters in this show are playing chess with each other, and sometimes you don’t even realize you’re playing chess with a character until that character checkmates you, and that scene is a perfect checkmate moment,” McTavish said.

While discussing the build up to the scene, Gibson said, “I think the script is incredible for the fact that the character is about to achieve the thing he wants most in the entire world, which is to leave with a love that is true, warm, and affectionate, so he can turn his back on the life he knows will end in his death. And just before he leaves, he is murdered.”

In terms of preparation, Gibson felt all of the character’s attachments within his world were so strong that it was just about playing the realization that he was about to lose everything.

If you love a comeuppance, the ending of “Deepest Wounds” will leave you exhilarated. Korris started his road to revenge.  Thanks to an elaborate plot to trick several of Proculus’ gladiators, Brothers Ferox included, into a battle, but Ashur’s men surrounded them. Korris wanted to handle them all. He entered the arena as the sun broke through the clouds and battled seven men alone, leaving only one, Satyrus, alive. His previous street brawls were nothing compared to the force used in this battle. This is why Korris is THEE Doctore.

So what’s next for Korris? McTavish said Korris will be plotting and shaping his revenge to be delivered at exactly the right moment with the people he wants to take out.

“The death of Opiter ignited this terrible rage,” McTavish said, “but I think what comes after that is this sort of cold anger. And when somebody has that cold anger, that’s when they are at their most dangerous.”

He spares the life of the last brother, Satyrus, for a deliberate reason. I know a few things that we’ve talked about for the future, and I think they’ll be very surprising.

Satyrus

Satyrus is a gladiator from the House of Proculus and the fearsome leader of the deadly Brothers Ferox. He’s described as a hard-drinking, hard-loving ball of death and destruction, but he’s also a man yearning for connection.

Satyrus actor Leigh Gill said, “As soon as I received the character description, I was super excited and keen to have a crack at playing this horrible little man. The challenge is then to find the reasons why he behaves the way he does and what his motivations are. I always sort of compare him to the smallest dog. They always bark the loudest. It’s all a front.”

The Brothers Ferox

He and his brothers, Musicus and Balbus, were born with dwarfism, but that doesn’t stop them. They work together as a trio in the area, and who can defend against three?

“They have to work together as a unit,” he continued, “and that is their advantage. No one knows how to fight three. And the love and bond between them are so strong that they’ve got that extra reason to fight. It’s not just for their own survival, it’s for each other’s lives too. You see, in a lot of the series, even scenes where we’re not there, we’re always spoken about. I think a part of my character’s reason for always being hard to maintain that reputation is keeping them feared. That’s one of their biggest advantages.

Within the House of Proculus, the Brothers found themselves doing his dirty work, very much like Ashur for Batiatus in the original series. They were denied the opportunity to fight Achilla, née Neferet, a gladiatrix for the House of Ashur and the first woman to ever fight in the arena. Proculus assigned one of his larger brutes to fight her, and the brute lost. He lost in a way that would haunt you. This is where Gill felt the relationship between the brothers and their lanista started to crack.

“Well, I think that’s the start of the downfall in their relationship with Proculus, or Satyrus especially, because I think we’ve been led to believe we’re the main guys. We were excited to get in there and have the opportunity to fight Achillia,” Gill said. “There are lessons my character learns throughout the series, and I learned a pretty hard lesson in episode seven.”

By the end of “Deepest Wounds,”Satyrus realized who was to blame for his two slain brothers, and it wasn’t Korris.

“He (Proculous) would use us to do his evil deeds. He wouldn’t give us the glory in the arena that we felt we deserved, and we’d been led to believe we were going to have,” Gill said about his character’s relationship with Proculous. “That’s the great thing about the show–the constant change in dynamics between each character. It’s a complex world; everyone is trying to find their own place. The brothers were in a bit of a unique position, and we thought we had our place.”

“But, we get BETRAYED,” he exclaimed!

Deepest Wounds

During the final fight with Korris at the end of episode seven, Gill thought about the fate of his fictional brothers. Musicus was impaled, and the Balbus was decimated. He actually lost a tenth of his body.

“Poor Danny (Balbus). He’s such a lovely man, too. And, yeah, there’s no coming back from that one.” Gill said jokingly, “When I read the script, I was like, ‘That’s a pretty graphic way to go.’”

Gill, Daniel Bos (Balbus), and Mikey Thompson (Musicus) filmed all their scenes together and developed a bond on their shared days off. As episode seven approached, he found a real truth and sadness in the loss of his fictional brothers because his newfound family would soon be heading home.

“And then you’ve got Graham McTavish. He’s terrifying when he gets going. My God, Korris is cool! Yeah, I don’t think we really stood a chance.”

What’s Next

Satyrus survived with his brothers by his side. Now, he’s alone, and the people he thought had his back clearly haven’t.

“I think Satyrus is a survivor,” Gill said. “As horrible as he may seem, he does have a heart, and he is very smart. I think the tactician is what helped them in the arena. I think there’s an element of that in life. He’ll find a way.

“Well, maybe, who knows?” Gill shouted! “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

While discussing what he hopes the audience takes away from his character, Gill said, “I think there should be characters everyone can identify with and relate to, but obviously they’re in a more rough environment. And all of these characters have their own struggles. Although Satyrus will probably be looked at as the bad guy, I think he’s quite likable. There is a lot in Satyrus that is good, more than you would initially think. This is his struggle in a world that really isn’t designed for him.

He mentioned that there will be upcoming interactions that the audience will enjoy watching him navigate.

There’s a whole cast of characters scheming against one another. Stay tuned to see who comes out on top. Or is all of this just Ashur’s hell loop? Keep watching to find out.