When Spartacus: House of Ashur was first announced, many fans asked a valid question: “How is this going to work if Ashur is dead?” Indeed, the Syrian has his head chopped off at the end of Spartacus: Vengeance, making it difficult for him to return in his own spinoff. Now, we finally have our answer thanks to a sneak peek that’s been released which reveals everything.
In the new clip which comes courtesy of Starz (seen below), Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay) is seen in the underworld following his death. Before him stands Lucretia, which also marks the return of star Lucy Lawless to the franchise, albeit only for a brief moment. She’s seen holding a baby who isn’t her own, but Ilithyia’s. “Your life was forfeit upon Vesuvias,” she tells a confused Ashur before recounting the events of his past. “Yet the fates weave many threads,” she adds, saying that what happened to him was “but single path of what might have been.” She then sends him to a new reality where he never dies, but instead was the one to kill Spartacus, and in return was rewarded with his own Ludus.
Thus, House of Ashur begins with the character everyone loves to hate waking in his own bed with women on either side of him, as if the past were nothing but a dream. The question now becomes: Can Ashur change his ways, or is he destined to relive the same fate? “I know the answer to that, because I know how the series ends,” creator Steven S. DeKnight told Deadline, adding:
“I’m not going to say, but for me, that’s the really interesting part. That’s what I loved about watching The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. Can they overcome what’s inside them and be a better person? To me, that’s fertile ground.”
More to come…
