Line #36 Heartwarming/Rome


1	* ''Rome'' has what must be one of the bloodiest Crowning Moment of Heartwarming possible. Lost and alone since leaving the 13th Legion, becoming a criminal and an assassin before being caught and sentenced to die, Titus Pullo is fighting for his life in the arena. Except he refuses to fight. He just sits there, telling the first three gladiators to kill him and be done with it as they poke him with their weapons... right up until one of them [[BerserkButton repeatedly insults the 13th Legion.]] Within seconds, Pullo disarms and kills all three before shouting "Thirteen! Thirteen!", then starts fighting more gladiators as they come out of the gate. Finally he's almost crippled, and about to be killed by the last gladiator. Little does Pullo know, his former commander and [[OddFriendship new friend]] Lucius Vorenus is watching in agony, knowing that Pullo (who despite their friendship has given Vorenus more than enough reason to hate him) is about to die. Just as the gladiator seems about to finish Pullo, Vorenus screams "THIRTEEN!" and charges into the arena grabbing a weapon. The last gladiator and Vorenus each wound each other several times until Vorenus slashes the gladiator's leg, and then... [[CruelAndUnusualDeath ''finishes'']] him with his own weapon. Vorenus grabs Pullo and helps him out of the arena, as the crowd and even ''the arena guards'' chant "Pullo! Pullo! Pullo!"
2	** It's for good reason that this doubles as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, for ''both'' characters.
3	* Just before the above scene, Pullo makes an offering to the gods by killing a beetle crawling in his cell. Rather than beg for his own life, he prays to the gods for Eirene and Vorenus to have long lives, along with Vorenus's family and for Eirene to know he's sorry for what he did (to her first lover) before being taken out to die. Compare this to Pullo at the start of season one, praying to the gods to spare him and offering animals he does not have onhand.
4	* Pullo and Vorenus have ended up supporting opposite sides in the CivilWar, but it never affects their friendship. They can even take pride in their own "boy" being a success.
5	-->'''Vorenus:''' Your boy's a little aggressive, isn't he?
6	-->'''Pullo:''' My boy gave your boy a whipping. Expect he knows what he's doing. ''(both grin at each other)''
7	* In a strange combination of 'heartwarming' and NightmareFuel, Vorenus' wife loves her husband too much to let him become a murderer for her sake... so she tries to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.
8	* Agrippa's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Octavia, in front of Atia.
9	-->'''Agrippa''': I'd tear down the sky, if you wanted me to.
10	* Pullo and Vorenus taking care of each other's children during the years they are apart. Pullo's message to Vorenus to let Vorenus know that he's really in Alexandria with Octavian being "''His children are well and I hope my child is well also''."
11	** When Caesarion asks Vorenus to tell him about his father Vorenus begins to talk about Caesar but soon slips into telling him about Pullo instead without even realizing it at first.
12	*** Caesarion bonding with Vorenus. Unlike the others, Vorenus, while respectful, treated him with genuine feelings refusing to mindlessly grovel under his feet. Thus earning some of Caesarion's respect.
13	** When Vorenus flees with Caesarion he goes to a place where he hid with Pullo way back in season one and Pullo knows exactly where to find him.
14	* Octavian is a cold and often heartless character but whenever he speaks to or about Pullo or Vorenus he softens and shows clear attachment to them. When Pullo shows up at the battlefield after Octavian has defeated Mark Antony Pullo is looking for Vorenus to tell him that his children are alive. When Octavian hears this he actively helps Pullo find Vorenus even though Vorenus fought for Antony. In a strange way, his relationship with Pullo especially approaches that of a stable father-son, or older-younger brother. Which is a good thing, as it counts as perhaps the only positive male relationship he has.
15	* Atia helping to arrange a secret meeting between Octavia and Agrippa after their secret romance has been found out. She seems so happy for her daughter.
16	** Seeing Atia with her granddaughter is also very sweet.
17	** Any time we see how much Atia truly does care for her children. The season two episode where Agrippa comes to tell them Octavian has won against Antony she initially thinks he's there to tell them Octavian is dead and she nearly breaks down.
18	* The fact that Vorenus and Pullo stay together, always close to one another, throughout most of the show. Especially in the first season where they dislike each other at first and it takes Vorenus a long time to learn to tolerate Pullo. They are a team long before they grow to love each other as brothers.
19	** Mascius says they are "like Castor and Pollux".
20	** In season two they call each other "brother".
21	** In season one when Vorenus takes a job as a butcher Pullo goes to work with him, just because they're always together.
22	** When Erastes Fulmen threatens Vorenus, Vorenus tells Pullo to hold even though he has his back turned to him. He knew that Pullo would be willing to kill or be killed to help him.
23	** When Vorenus stops one of Erastes' thugs from mutilating a baker, Niobe is telling him this was a ''really'' bad idea. Suddenly there's a rap on the window, which Vorenus cautiously opens...to find the baker presenting him with a loaf of bread in simple thanks.
24	* Pullo & Eirene's relationship in Season 2. Sure, it started off poorly in Season 1, what with him killing her first lover and all, but time's moved on and now they quite obviously love each other. Pullo even says that if she and Vorenus were drowning in the Tiber, he'd save her first. Awww. (Admittedly his reasoning is that she's half Vorenus' weight but still...awww.)
25	* Mark Antony coming to pull Vorenus out of his depression. He looks absolutely disgusted while he's there but he didn't have to come in the first place and he does what he can to get Vorenus back on his feet.
26	** Antony dies with Vorenus at his side (actually Vorenus is the one who kills him, at Antony's request), pulling himself into Vorenus' embrace as he dies.
27	*** Vorenus then washes off his makeup and dresses him in his Roman attire so he could be truly Roman in death.
28	** Vorenus saying that it has been an honour serving with Antony, and Antony's touched "Has it?".
29	* Atia's slave Castor took in a boy from the streets to be his lover, not knowing that the boy was actually working for Servilia with the goal of poisoning Atia. The attempted murder fails and the boy is tortured then killed by Timon. Castor throws himself at Atia's feet, knowing full well that she has the legal right to do exactly the same thing to him and is most certainly not above doing it. Instead she forgives him instantly and plays it off as a sight annoyance, showing how deeply she does in fact care about her closest slaves.
30	* After the triumph of Julius Caesar, Vercingetorix's body is thrown away, discarded like a common piece of trash. Several of his compatriots recover the body and burn it in a traditional sense, with (as much of) the honor they could maintain.
31	* Before everything went to hell, Servillia's relationship with Brutus is quite sweet. Although she finds Brutus' lack of ambition a bit irritating, she does not push him into a role that he is not suited for (which didn't last but compare pre-breakup Servillia vs after, she was positively loving). In the first episode, they greeted each other with warmth, with Brutus even teasing about a letter he received from Caesar. Unfortunately, this heartwarming relationship did not last when faced with the [[DecadentCourt brutal Roman political climate]], with Servillia allowing her bitterness and vengeance to consume her while Brutus' BreakTheCutie lead him to eventually murder his [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]], exile and death.
32	* Cleopatra's farewell to Caesarion. Considering that the Ptolemies are a DysfunctionalFamily at best, Cleopatra tries to buck the trend and is shown to genuinely love her children. Compare how she treated her former brother-husband, and how she orders Caesarion to don travel clothes and prepare for what she knows is a long exile. And when the news came she had died, Caesarion was genuinely upset.
33	* Vorenus and Niobe's second reunion. Compare to the first reunion where Vorenus accuses his wife of being a 'whore' and the children's fear of him. The second time they reunite, Vorenus and Niobe promptly hugged (shagged) each other and his daughters and grandson greeted him warmly. It was a refreshing family scene - which made the ending of season 1 and the subsequent TraumaCongaLine of season 2, the more heartbreaking.
34	* Servillia and her duenna. Each scene with them showcased just how close they are, with Servillia leaning to her for assurance and comfort while the latter show UndyingLoyalty and love even until the former's suicide.
35	* A small one, but on the march to Phillipi, Brutus cheerfully tells Cassius about his exploits getting to know the men under their command and that he's been jovially sharing a laugh with the soldiers about their shared annoyance with the constant marching. Given that as an upper-class Roman, Brutus wouldn't have contemplated associating with plebians, it's quite a display of character development.
36	** At the end of the episode, when it's clear the battle is lost, Brutus thanks his men for their service, tells them [[ItHasBeenAnHonor it was a privilege to command them]], apologizes that he couldn't lead them to victory, and urges them to save themselves.
37	* Vorenus raising Lucius after Niobe's death. He could have just as well killed the boy for being the product of his wife's infidelity and would have faced no repercussions but he chooses not to and even expresses concern when Pullo says Lucius wants to join the army, not wanting Lucius to put himself in such danger and instead wanting him to pursue a more peaceful life as a stonemason.

Context Heartwarming / Rome