Summary
Spartacus: House of Ashur continues not to skimp on sex and violence in “Unworthy”, but it’s also careful to expand its plot in multiple interesting areas.
The ironic thing about a title like “Unworthy” is that it’s a reminder that pretty much nobody in Spartacus: House of Ashur is all that worthy of the positions they find themselves in. Some would have it that simple birth is enough to warrant a certain amount of privilege, but even the upper-crust wives and girlfriends are seen to be doing all kinds of shady stuff in Episode 3. None of the gladiators in Ashur’s ludus thinks Achillia is worthy of standing among them, despite her having already accomplished something that none of them has been able to thus far, and you can scarcely meet a character, even a humble sex slave, who doesn’t have designs on a more ambitious position. Worth is relative. Maybe in that sense, Ashur, a supremely unlikeable character, is the only one who has the right idea.
This is very much an episode of Spartacus, in case you were wondering. There’s a fair amount of nudity and a couple of instances of wince-inducing practical effects, including an errant lower mandible and a flapping tongue that prompted an immediate double-take from me. But it’s also careful to be the third episode in a spin-off season that has to justify its own existence, so there’s a lot of careful plot maneuvering and subtle conversational scenes — as subtle as this dialogue style can be, anyway — full of double meanings and hidden agendas. I really rather liked it, and I think fans will too.
Achillia’s arc continues at the ludus. Despite receiving Korris’s ringing endorsement, the other gladiators — though especially Erato — haven’t accepted her yet, and even Ashur is furious that his Doctore allowed Creticus to bleed to death without much in the way of punishment for his killer (Creticus deserved his fate, of course, but you have to remember that in this setting, nobody else thinks that way). Since Ashur has an assignment for Korris that takes him away from home, Celadus is made Doctore in his absence, and it’s up to him and Ashur to keep shaping Achillia into a potential champion who can bring glory to the ludus. And that means getting her over the very obvious hump that is hindering her abilities.
Celadus can keep the other gladiators in line through sheer force of will, since he’s a champion of some former renown who is clearly simmering at having been reduced to second-in-command of a group of largely arrogant and inept fighters like Tarchon. But when it comes to the matter of actually getting to the bottom of Achillia’s issues, that responsibility falls to Ashur, who suits up in full gladiator attire to put her through her paces.
There’s nothing especially surprising or novel here. Achillia is still smarting about what happened to her in her homeland, a story that will presumably be reeled out in increments via flashback, and that’s what’s preventing her from reaching her full potential. But it’s all necessary stuff. It allows her to embrace her preferred dual-wielding fighting style — Ashur figures this out as if he’s some sort of genius, despite the fact she has been openly complaining about using the shield since she arrived — and gets the other gladiators a bit more on board with her, especially when Ashur brands her and tells them, basically, to shut up bitching about it. It’s still a bit difficult to take Ashur as some kind of fierce, unrivalled warrior, since his character in the original series was pretty contingent on not being that, but whatever.
There are also interesting dynamics emerging in the ludus. I’ve already mentioned Celadus. But there’s also Hilara, Ashur’s sort-of girlfriend — she’s a slave, but they clearly have quite an earnest connection in some respects, even though Ashur is consistently awful to her — and her friend Messia, who clearly has the hots for Hilara and is trying to use Ashur’s appetites to cash in on it. At this point, it’s unclear whether Hilara is rejecting her advances because she doesn’t swing that way or because she wants Ashur all to herself for influence reasons, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Meanwhile in Spartacus: House of Ashur Episode 3, Korris heads off on a secret mission, ostensibly to secure a grain supply from Anubis, the head of the fighting pits. But what he’s really up to is seducing Opiter — not literally, although almost, to be fair — to endorse Ashur’s fighters in the upcoming arena show being thrown by Cossutia’s husband, Gabinius. He lounges around with the dude, gets drunk with him, and pretends to consider becoming his Doctore in exchange for the favour, which will involve sweet-talking Cossutia into pushing for Ashur’s inclusion, despite her openly despising him.
Now, Gabinius is trying to manipulate Ashur to gain some influence over his benefactor, Crassus, which will ideally become a means to avert civil war by brokering peace between him and Pompey, catapulting Gabinius to an even more powerful position in the meantime. Cossutia is doubtful of the plan, though, since she properly hates Ashur and is also trying to marry off her grieving daughter, Viridia. So, she has plans of her own, and she isn’t afraid to enact them, albeit surreptitiously.
This is how Korris finds himself being ambushed by Fides, an unpleasant chap he ran into earlier in the Pits, and some of his goons. Fides is known to be a regular employee of Proculus, so he immediately becomes the prime suspect when Korris kills his way to safety. But at the very end of “Unworthy”, we see that Fides was actually hired by Cossutia, who kills him to keep him quiet. Whatever Cossutia is up to, it won’t be good news for Ashur. But it’ll probably work out okay for us.
Read More: Spartacus: House of Ashur Episode 4 Recap
