The life and conquests of King of Macedon Alexander the Great (356-323 BC).
Tropes In General:
- Extra-Long Episode: Four parts are scheduled about Alexander the Great alone, unlike previous subjects that had only one video each.
- Multi-Part Episode: Divided in four parts, with a yearly release schedule.
- Special Guest: Kleitos the Black is played by Boris Rehlinger, one of the most prominent modern French voice actors.
Tropes for each part:
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Part I
Alexander's upbringing and the schemes of his mother, Olympias.
- Born in the Saddle: Aristotle insists on the fondness of Macedonians for horse riding.
- Cardboard Box Home: Diogenes of Sinope lives in the Ancient Greek equivalent, that is, a pithos (large ceramic jar) in the streets of Athens.
- Evil Matriarch: Alexander's mother Olympias, who rejoices each time another wife of King Philip dies, when she doesn't plan assassinations herself.
- The Ghost: Alexander's father King Philip II of Macedon (an obviously important figure in this era and setting) is mentioned a lot in the episode, but never appears and gets Killed Offscreen.
- No True Scotsman: Macedonians have a different accent from other Greeks, who mock them because of this, according to Aristotle, who's had to adapt quickly to avoid "social death". They mock them less since they've been conquered, though.
- Running Gag:
- Characters going on long tangents about the Greek etymology of words, and especially Aristotle, who can go on and on about the etymology of a word used for the etymology of another that's used for another...
- The Speech Impediment of Kleitos the Black, who keeps confusing "b" with "f" in words and vice-versa.
- Semi-Divine: Alexander's pseudo-demigod origins are brought up with pride by Hephaestion.
- Shout-Out:
- Alexander's helmet is a replica of the one made for the Oliver Stone film. The webseries' creator Ugo Bimar worked on special effects for the film back then, actually.
- Part I's title; "If you haven't conquered Persia at 21...", refers to the infamously memetic quote by French publicist Jacques Séguéla "If you don't have a Rolex watch at 50, you've failed in life".
- When the name of King Leonidas of Sparta is brought up, the picture of him is, of course, taken from 300 as played by Gerard Butler.
- The Hypaspists (Alexander's elite infantry) have shield bearers with each subclass among them having its own attributed metal for the shields - gold, silver and bronze. To illustrate that, there are pictures of characters from... Saint Seiya.
- When Alexander talks about King of Troy Priam, the picture is that of his portrayal by Peter O'Toole in Troy.
- The Stinger: The end credits scene shows the bematist (specialists in measuring distances by pacing) doing his job (that is, walking and counting the feet)... and realizing the military expedition has left him behind as they sail away in their ships.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Olympias always points out she has nothing to do with a number of deaths occuring among King Philip II's other wives and Philip's death itself, while admitting she was behind others. She likes the outcomes regardless, and thanks the goddess Hera each time such woes happen.
Part II
Alexander's conquest of The Achaemenid Empire.
- Anachronism Stew: Deliberate.
- When Darius III talks about the Anabasis, the icon has a Routard Guide logo, from a famous modern French brand of guides for tourists.
- The interviewer's reference to Jeff Buckley when Alexander almost drowns in the Cydnus river.
- Bling of War: Kleitos the Black mentions how Alexander's unique and flashy helmet almost got him killed at the battle of the Granicus.
- Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards: Darius III Codoman of The Achaemenid Empire talks about the Greeks in his employment.
- Call-Forward: When Hephaestion talks about Alexander stopping at the Cydnus river for a bath and almost drowning there, the interviewer tells him it "often happens there", with a picture of the barrel Frederick I Barbarossa was put in (featured in the episode about the Third Crusade). He would die at that same place hundreds of years later.
- Facepalm: Aristotle lauds Alexander for his spirit he was proud to "sharpen", saying he can solve all the riddles... then Alexander cuts the Gordian Knot, and Aristotle facepalms as a result.
- Shout-Out:
- The picture of the giant Darius III is said to have defeated is that of Fezzik (André the Giant) from The Princess Bride.
- One of the Immortals from 300 briefly shows up and does a "V" sign when Darius III talks about his namesake elite troops.
- Tempting Fate: At the beginning, Darius III think Alexander won't be a major threat to him.
- Underestimating Badassery: Darius III badly underestimates Alexander initially.
