‘Spartacus: House of Ashur’ Episode 9 Recap – Well, I Guess the Marriage Is Off

I think it’s fair to say that you don’t come to Spartacus: House of Ashur looking for depth of character. It’s a show about copious amounts of blood and guts, full-frontal nudity — I see you, Pompey — and ridiculous quasi-Shakespearean dialogue. On that level, Episode 9, “Those Who Remain”, is a pleasant surprise. It’s light on action and big on political subterfuge, which isn’t unusual, but it’s also dotted with a really sincere emotional depth, with both Ashur and Tarchon, of all people, feeling much more rounded as a result.

Tarchon has a bit of a cheat code, to be fair — his father was killed in the previous episode. This one opens with Celadus’s body being carried back to the ludus, so that he can be prepared for the funeral rites. It’s probably a testament to just how unlikeable Tarchon has been that I was genuinely surprised to see him show any upset about his dad at all, but you can tell immediately that the sentiment is earnest. He insists on preparing his body alone, depriving Achillia of the chance to say goodbye, but I don’t think he was aiming for that intentionally.

Not that Tarchon has come around to Achillia, of course. But her genuine devastation at Celadus’s loss and desire for revenge against the Scythian help to smooth things over, and floating around in the back of all this is the fact that Celadus would have wanted them to get along. And eventually, they do, or at least come as close to it as they’re ever going to get. Tarchon still believes that Achillia’s status as champion wasn’t fairly earned, but they get the chance to settle that to impress a visiting Pompey, and Achillia emerges victorious. She even spares Tarchon’s life against instruction, risking insulting a Roman consul, and that’s a pretty big gesture.

I’m not saying it’s guaranteed that Tarchon will, as Korris wishes, help Achillia take her revenge against the Scythian. He still has a bit of recalcitrant edge to him. But it’s looking a lot more positive, and for the first time in the entire season, I felt something towards Tarchon beyond just loathing. That’s progress!

And there’s progress elsewhere in Spartacus: House of Ashur Episode 9. The most pressing concern remains Pompey’s planned marriage to Viridia, which is bad news for Crassus politically. Caesar arrives with the usual fanfare and reveals a plan. If Gabinius were killed, Pompey would quickly lose interest in marrying his daughter. And it becomes Ashur’s job to bring this about under threat of Crassus withdrawing his patronage. He has no choice but to accept. And I think it’s important to note that we never actually see Caesar entreating with Crassus; everyone just takes his word for it that Crassus is in agreement with all of his ideas, which makes me think a lot of this is Caesar plotting for his own gain. But that might come up again in the finale.

Ashur would rather not kill Gabinius, mostly so as not to ruin his chances with Viridia, so he comes up with an alternative plan. He enlists Hilara to convince Messia to steal some poison, which is then handed off to Achillia. Pompey, impressed with her display during the fight with Tarchon, wants to meet with her privately. In between dispensing some important personal backstory — such as that she was sold into slavery by her father after she accidentally killed a royal she was sworn to protect, which would have been punishable by death if she weren’t given to the Romans — Achillia doses Pompey.

At the same time, Gabinius is summoned to Ashur’s villa, seemingly by Pompey himself. When he arrives, he’s unusually complimentary of Ashur, calling him by his name for the first time, instead of simply “The Syrian”. He thinks that Ashur is putting the republic over his own ambitions, and Ashur is moved to tears, especially by the reassurances that Viridia cares about him deeply and would probably be all for him if it weren’t for Pompey. Then again, Ashur could be more upset about the fact that he’s still scheming, even though Gabinius thinks he isn’t. It’s hard to tell.

But Ashur’s plan works. Gabinius stumbles in and finds Pompey naked with Achillia, and, assuming the worst, Gabinius calls off the wedding. And then Ashur’s plan goes wrong, because Gabinius lingers too long screaming and shouting, giving a still woozy Pompey the chance to stagger up and deny any wrongdoing. Gabinius continues with his insults and accusations, and in anger, Pompey draws his sword and slashes him. Caesar spirits Pompey away while Ashur nurses Gabinius, but Cornelia compliments his deception loudly enough for Gabinius to hear it. Even grievously wounded, Gabinius tries to fight back and attack Ashur, so he’s forced to tearfully smother him to death.

I’m pretty sure the wedding is off. But Ashur’s courting of Viridia isn’t going to become any easier based on this development.