Spartacus: House of Ashur is about to completely revise the history of the Starz TV series which spawned it, by retconning the story of a key character in the original show. As a result, this latest series will inevitably have to retcon the death of Spartacus himself, too.
The fourth season of Spartacus, 2013’s War of the Damned, saw the show’s title character finally succumb to his fate, following a victory over the Roman general Crassus in one-to-one combat. This victory proved to be short-lived, as the leader of Ancient Rome’s most famous slave revolt was promptly speared by multiple Roman soldiers, and later died from his wounds.
It’s clear that this TV battle scenes isn’t historically accurate in its depiction of how Spartacus died, not least because there’s no record of any single-combat showdown between the slave leader and Crassus. However, Spartacus: House of Ashur is taking a bold step by revising the lore of the TV franchise it belongs to.
Spartacus: House Of Ashur Will Retcon The Death Of Spartacus In War Of The Damned
Although the series featured plenty of artistic license, Spartacus was historically accurate in certain respects. For example, its depiction of the gladiator school run by Quintus Lentulus Batiatus in Capua, as well as the Roman army of Crassus, mostly reflected what we know about them in historical terms.
On the other hand, the show’s portrayal of Ashur, a Syrian former gladiator who served as Batiatus’ accountant after an injury in the arena, was entirely fictional. There’s no record of such a person having existed, although there were likely many slaves like him in Italy at the time.
Spartacus: House of Ashur will see the return of this character, as the new protagonist of the franchise. Ashur was previously killed off in the climactic episode of Spartacus: Vengeance, the show’s third season, but this new spinoff revives the character via an alternate timeline of events.
The resurrection of Ashur as a character, despite his previous death at the hands of the female gladiator Naevia in season 3, also necessitates the revision of the season 4 storyline in which Spartacus was killed. If Ashur was still around during the events of War of the Damned, then he must have been fighting Spartacus alongside the Romans.
Ashur’s Survival Story Depends On His Role In Killing Spartacus
While Spartacus’ title star Liam McIntyre has spoken about this new sequel series before, it isn’t yet clear whether his character will even appear in Spartacus: House of Ashur. Nevertheless, Ashur’s alternate-reality survival story makes no sense without Spartacus in it.
For a start, this new show is still prefixed by Spartacus’ name. What’s more, there’d be no reason to make a story all about Ashur unless he had a hand in the death of the franchise’s original hero.
At this point, it’s clear that House of Ashur will mostly be set after Spartacus has already been defeated and killed by the Romans. Still, a flashback scene illustrating exactly how Ashur has been retconned into the death of Spartacus feels like it’s needed.
House Of Ashur Will Be The 1st Franchise Season Without Spartacus As A Hero
A recent teaser clip of Spartacus: House of Ashur revealed Lucy Lawless’ surprise return to the franchise as Lucretia, the widow of Quintus Lentulus Batiatus, but there’s still no sign of Spartacus himself as yet. But even if he does make a cameo appearance, he certainly won’t be the hero of the story.
In this way, Spartacus: House of Ashur becomes the first release from the franchise that doesn’t feature Spartacus as its central protagonist. He may have been one of ancient history’s greatest heroes, but franchise creator Steven S. DeKnight has decided that it’s time to see things from the perspective of a different former gladiator.
