"Do not shed tear. There is no greater victory than to fall from this world a free man."
The forces of Spartacus and Crassus are coming together for a final clash. On the outskirts of Rome, Spartacus and his inner circle meet to parley with Crassus, rejecting his offer of surrender. That night, the rebels prepare for the morrow, and the two armies clash in the morning.
The Romans attempt to advance on the massed rebels, but fall into a hidden spiked ditch they dug in the night. The rebels then use planks to span the ditch and attack the front lines. Soon, Gannicus and Saxa attack the Roman rear with the horsemen they have, sowing confusion and letting them attack the Roman artillery.
Spartacus catches sight of Crassus and pursues him off the battlefield. He kills all of his guards, but takes several deep injuries. Crassus, to his credit, simply arms himself and says come hither. The two fight, and Spartacus eventually disarms him after countering his own disarm. However, just before killing Crassus, Spartacus is speared through the back by three common soldiers, and falls to his knees, fatally wounded. Agron and Nasir arrive in time to pull him away, but the damage is done. At the same time, Gannicus's people are overwhelmed by Caesar, and Saxa is killed.
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Tropes:
- Back for the Finale:
- A straight example is Gannicus seeing a vision of Oenomaus before him as he dies on the cross.
- Spartacus has flashbacks of Sura and Varro while fighting Crassus.
- The end credits contain a montage showing the entire cast from the past four seasons, finishing on a shot of the late Andy Whitfield declaring "I am Spartacus".
- Big Badass Battle Sequence: The last twenty-five minutes.
- Bittersweet Ending: Spartacus's army is defeated, and most of the cast die, with Gannicus and even the innocent Kore being crucified, as well as even the group of people Spartacus sent to the mountains suffering losses. However, Agron, Nasir, Laeta and Sybil survive, Spartacus is happy to die a free man, and believes he'll be Together in Death with Sura, and Agron declares that Rome will eventually fall and Spartacus's memory will endure throughout history.
- Black Dude Dies First: Castus is the second of the named characters to fall in battle.
- Bury Your Gays: Zigzagged. The bisexual Saxa and the gay Castus die in battle, but Agron and Nasir survive.
- Call-Back:
- Naevia dies being stabbed in the back of the neck just as her friend Diona had in Gods of the Arena.
- Gannicus previously said he was "no martyr upon a cross", and he dies via crucifixion.
- Characters Dropping Like Flies: It's the Grand Finale, and most of the protagonists die in the final battle.
- Death of the Hypotenuse:
- Castus dying in battle solves things quite nicely for Agron and Nasir to get their happy ending.
- Subverted when Saxa is killed in battle, as Gannicus soon joins her, leaving Sybil alone.
- Died Happily Ever After: Spartacus isn't too sad about dying, knowing he does so as a free man and having stood up to Roman oppression, as well as hopefully reuniting with Sura in the afterlife.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight:
- Saxa is slain by Caesar, and Gannicus holds her in his arms as she dies. Her last words, in German, are joking about how she is in his arms once again.
- Spartacus dies while holding Agron's hand.
- False Flag Operation: The episode starts with various characters (Gannicus, Nasir, etc) cutting through Romans and declaring they are Spartacus. This is revealed to be a obfuscation strategy, as a confused Roman command is receiving reports of Spartacus at multiple locations.
- Manly Tears: Agron, the Manly Gay of the cast, absolutely weeps when Spartacus dies in front of him.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Crassus's forces defeat Spartacus's, but Crassus doesn't get to deliver the killing blow, Pompey takes all the credit for the victory, and with his son dead and lover crucified, it's clear Crassus has lost everything except his status.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- While Spartacus's forces had managed to keep the Romans at bay for a while using guerrilla warfare and unexpected tactics, in a battle with their army severely depleted, up against the superior numbers of the Roman Empire, they are finally defeated.
- Spartacus has an action movie style duel to the death with Crassus, as befitting the final antagonist of the series. But since he is the figurehead for the whole rebellion and Crassus the imperator, he is killed from behind by other soldiers.
- Vasquez Always Dies: A justified example. The two Action Girls Saxa and Naevia, the former especially being a Lad Ette, die while the more feminine Laeta and Sybil live. Justified because the first two were fighting in a hopeless battle.
