Awesome / The Eagle (2011)

• Marcus has a few moments early on in the film. One of the first is during the rescue of his men. Upon being pursued back to the fort by a chariot equipped with daggers on its wheels, Marcus takes one look back at it, slows down to let his soldiers go on ahead, then picks a spear off the ground and hurls it at the chariot’s driver. Although the results of this are horrific for him, it was a very bold move, and one that makes it obvious why he’s qualified to lead.

• During a dinner with Marcus and his uncle, Placidus, a politician, goes too far during a discussion about the lost Eagle, and almost blatantly insults Marcus’ father. Marcus briefly loses his temper, and all he has to do is stand up and shoot Placidus a warning glare for the latter to shut his mouth.

• When Marcus first sees Esca, the latter is being beaten ferociously by a gladiator in an arena, not even bothering to fight back and only standing defiantly until he physically can’t. As he’s laying there, waiting for the final blow to come, almost everyone in the stands gives the gladiator the signal to end him….but Marcus instead stands up and starts shouting ‘life’, which ends up turning the entire arena around into agreeing with him. It doubles as a moment of heartwarming as well.

• The Last Battle for the Eagle of the Ninth definitely qualifies. Grizzled, veteran Romans, each equipped with his own beard, return to fight under the same standard they once ran from alongside our Fire-Forged Friends protagonists, against the most vicious and determined tribe from the confederation that wiped out the rest of their legion long ago. In the end, Honor Before Reason means neither group will back down, and only one group is left standing.

• Esca managing to outfox not only Marcus, but the Seal People.

• At the very end, Marcus and Esca strolling up to a bunch of politicians with the returned lost Eagle , and lay it down in front of Placidus, who earlier scoffed at the idea of it ever being seen again. The entire corridor is left dumbfounded.
  • Directly after this, Placidus questions aloud how Marcus managed to do it, ‘with only a slave to help him’. Without missing a beat, Marcus and Esca both glare at him, and the former states that Esca is not a slave. He adds that Esca knows more about honor and freedom than he ever will, before the two stroll confidently out of the building. Even better is that if you look closely, Esca smirks at Placidus before leaving.