Here's what I know after this week's "Reckoning" episode. Don't cross Lucretia. We already knew that though. And keep your home brew secure. You never know who's trying to tamper with it.
All our major players from Blood and Sand took a huge step towards becoming the characters we got to know last season. All season Lucretia has been the subservient dutiful wife with barely a glimmer of the deceitful conniving Matriarch of the house of Batiatus. That changed in a hurry. I wasn't ready to believe the death of Gaia as the catalyst for her transformation but then her confession proved she had just been hiding behind a veil of dutifulness. I never doubted her loyalty to Quintus but I wasn't completely convinced she didn't act with ulterior motives until this episode. Any doubt I had about her loyalty and love for Quintus was washed away by the look on her face as she gave herself to Crixus in an attempt to give Quintus a son.
She obviously knows as well as we do that Quintus, while a man of great aspirations isn't quick to action unless provoked to the extreme. Lucretia desperately wanted him to confront his father but even the treat of banishment wasn't enough for him to stand his ground against Titus. Though Quintus is prone to take matters to greater extreme Lucretia has always been more willing to take matters into her own hands. If Titus had seen this in her he probably would have banished her long before.
The tournament of Batiatus gladiators provided some of the best action this season. Even though they fought with wooden weapons and lives weren't being lost in the arena, the fighting was intense. Doctore though not sold on the merit of the tourney has definitely fully embraced his new position and cracks that whip with keen authority. With his wife now dead, I look for an even less forgiving Doctore in the Ludus.
I want to congratulate Gannicus on being the least likable champion of the House of Batiatus. Now move over because there's a new king in town. I wish they hadn't made Crixus' victory a result of Gannicus being distracted because I'd much rather have seen him humbled by the upstart. I think they've done a nice job evolving the friendship of Crixus and Barca. A friendship we will see carry on through to Blood and Sand.
So what do we have in store for us in the finale? Well we know there will be blood and lots of it. We know Crixus will arise from the games a star. I have little doubt Gannicus will not survive. Whether it's an honorable death in the arena or at the hands of Doctore, we're not sure. At some point he has to find out about Gannicus' relationship with his wife, right? By the time of Blood and Sand Doctore's heart ans soul are pure granite. Is it the death of his best friend or his betrayal that turns his heart to stone?
How does Quintus deal with Tullius now that Titus is out of the way? I don't think we'll get the satisfying destruction of Tullius at the hands of Batiatus we want. It's just a gut feeling but I think Tullius is going to fall to Solonius. We know that Solonius fills the vacuum left by the absence of Tullius in Blood and Sand.
Regardless of what they have in store for us, I'm not ready for it to end. I say we have another go with these characters. How about Spartacus: The Minor Deities of the Arena. When can even follow that with Spartacus: Lesser Immortals of the Arena.
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