Very few rebels escape the rescue mission from the Mines alive. Spartacus will suffer to leave no one behind even if it means the death of them all. The Romans led by Glaber's Tribune Marcus are in hot pursuit, assisted by Ashur. The captured Crixus and two others are reunited with Oenomaus at the villa, where treachery abounds. Meanwhile, Glaber must ease the insult he gave to Varinius, a fellow Praetor; Ilithyia suggests a party in his honor. Young Seppia seeks advice from Lucretia on seeking her future husband and sets her sights on Varinius, much to Ilithyia's envy. Ilithyia, angered by the neglect of Glaber, forms a plan to have her marriage dissolved and take Varinius as her new husband. Crixus and Oenomaus are to be executed in the arena while another is tortured to death at the hands of the party goers. Spartacus' numbers dwindle in the forest as they are killed one by one by the pursuing Romans. By the final fight only Spartacus, Mira, Naevia and the wounded Nasir are left alive. During a combat encounter, Spartacus manages to wound Marcus. Marcus insists on persisting with pursuit, against the advice of Ashur. Ashur takes Marcus further into the forest, only to finish him off before Marcus can order his troops to continue hunting Spartacus. Back in Capua, Ilithyia outshines Seppia, who was unable to participate in the torture of the prisoner, and brokers a deal with Varinius for marriage if Senator Albinius (Ilithyia's father) dissolves her marriage. Ilithyia seeks out her father among the party only to find him in bed with Lucretia. Furious, Ilithyia attacks Lucretia, but Lucretia reveals she did it only to heal past wrongs she had done to Ilithyia and help her seek her future as Varinius' wife. Ilithyia, on hearing this, manages to stay her hand. Spartacus and Mira now stand as one as they see a horde of strangers approach in the sun's early light ready for a fight to the death, only to find it is Agron and the rest of the Rebels come to aid them.
Tropes
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Marcus applies this strategy. Unfortunately for him, reality bites hard.
- Action Girl: Downplayed with Mira. She does participate in the fighting, but is outclassed by the soldiers and frequently needs help.
- Big Damn Heroes: Spartacus is left with only himself and Mira capable of fighting, and both are near collapse from exhaustion. As they see armed men approaching in the distance, they decide to make a Last Stand. When the would be attackers become visible, it turns out to be Agron and the rest of the rebels, who are able to rescue them and bring them to the shelter of Mt. Vesuvius.
- Earlier, Mira shows up just time to prevent a Roman from killing Naevia.
- Bittersweet Ending: Spartacus is able to unite the survivors with Agron's group and reach Vesuvius, but lost half of their number along the way, and several are still held prisoner of Glaber. Ilythyia and Lucretia have finally reforged their alliance, but Glaber still stands in their way.
- Broken Bird: What was hinted at in the last episode is confirmed: Naevia's continuing trauma has made her a nervous wreck who nearly gets the group killed several times. Several of the surviving rebels consider her new status making her Too Dumb to Live.
- Brother–Sister Incest: What was only hinted at in previous episodes is confirmed between Seppius and Seppia, although she doesn't appear quite as eager as him.
- The Bus Came Back: Cossutius returns to Capua as a friend of Varinius. He's just as despicable.
- Character Death: Marcus and Acer.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The Romans have turned this into a horrific Party Game, and proceed to start torturing Acer to death after stringing him up in the villa and takeing turns slicing into him.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: Ilythyia walks in on her father sleeping with Lucretia, much to her disgust. Lucretia just keeps grinding away after making eye contact with Ilythyia.
- Death by a Thousand Cuts: Glaber tries to smooth things over with Varinius by offering him the lives of the captured slaves to torture to death for the party's entertainment. Varinius elects instead to have them executed in his gladiator games, but Glaber convinces him Lucretia choose at least one to die, Acer. The partygoers then proceed to start slicing into the poor bastard, including cutting off a peck and his tongue, careful not to kill him. Ilithyia finally finishes him off to impress Varinius.
- Defiant to the End: Marcus steadfastly refuses to stop chasing Spartacus, even after Ashur saves him after he is wounded. Despite all of Ashur's protests that they need to stop and regroup, he refuses. Ashur ends up murdering him force their retreat.
- Dwindling Party: The rebel survivors of the mines are slowly picked off one by one in the woods until only Spartacus, Naevia, Sura, and Nasir remain.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Glaber seems to recognize that Seppius and Seppia are sleeping together and is creeped out. He also seems to dislike Cossutius, but whether this for moral or personal reasons is unclear.
- Eye Scream: A minor one, but Crixus' left eye is swollen shut during this episode from his fight in the mines.
- A Fate Worse Than Death: Lucretia deliberately keeps Crixus from being tortured to death, so that he may die humiliated in the arena he once loved.
- Friendship Moment: After being completely skeptical, and near murderous towards her the last few episodes, Ilythyia finally comes to believe in Lucretia's friendship when she reveals she slept with Albinius to help convince him to annul Ilythia's marriage to Glaber.
- Funny Background Event: During Glaber's speech, the sex slaves continue to perform.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Averted. Varinius makes it clear he will marry Ilithia if she annuls her marriage to Gaius AND aborts her child.
- Heal It With Fire: Out of options and in a hurry, Naevia and Spartacus opt to treat Nasir's minor stab wound this way. He ends up passing out from the pain and blood loss, but it does save his life.
- Honor Before Reason: An injured Marcus starts calling for more soldiers despite being told it will cause Spartacus to come and kill him, as the soldiers will come and finally kill Spartacus. Ashur has no intention of dying and kills him.
- I Warned You: Ashur repeatedly insists the Romans are spread too thin, and are underestimating the gladiators. When Spartacus injures Marcus and starts slaughtering the Mooks:Ashur: Did I not fucking tell you?
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Upon seeing Spartacus go into Super Mode and slaughter the Roman soldiers on his own, Ashur grabs Marcus and runs.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Both Albinius and Seppia are shown to be this when compared to the other Romans. Albinius because he honestly empathizes with Lucretia for her suffering and loss, and Seppia because she cannot bring herself to torture poor Acer.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Ilithyia exploits this by putting Acer out of his misery graphically, in order to turn Varinius' attentions back to her and away from Seppia.
- Oh, Crap!: Varinius has one when he realizes he was overheard badmouthing Marcus Crassus by Ilythyia.
- Only Sane Man: Ashur spends the majority of the episode trying to get Tribune Marcus to adapt his tactics to take on Spartacus. This turns him into a Cassandra Truth when the Romans continue to get picked off by the Gladiators.
- Precision F-Strike: Somehow Glaber manages it in a show where everyone single person (sans Spartacus) swears like a sailor. He uses it to taunt Seppius while discussing how both he and Varinius have attempted to ally with Seppius.Glaber:"I would have done the same. Absent attempt to fuck your sister."
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Ashur makes it clear that It's All About Me when he murders Marcus to save his own life.Ashur:"I am not a Roman. And I will not fucking die for this."
- Red Shirt: The Romans decide to execute one of their four captured gladiators consisting of: main characters Crixus and Oenomaus (who per history can't die yet), Rhaskos, and Acer who we know nothing about. No points for guessing who gets picked.
- Refuge in Audacity: Varinius responds to Ilythyia's overtures by backing her against a wall and sticking his hand under her dress, then begins negotiating their marriage while working his fingers. Ilythyia is quite receptive to this.
- Romantic False Lead: Seppia reveals she has her sights on Varinius, whom Ilithyia has also begun to lust after. However, Ilithyia proves more bloodthirsty and therefore impressive to Varinius.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Glaber makes a valiant effort to be civil with Varinius, but the other Praetor continues to goad him into it.
- Spotting the Thread: Ilithyia is able to deduce most of Lucretia's plans, from Ashur's medical knowledge having saved Lucretia to Lucretia sending Naevia to the mines.
- Tongue Trauma: This is only the beginning of Acer's torture at the hands of the Romans.
- Took a Level in Badass: Nasir is now capable of taking on Roman soldiers, but he still gets wounded for his efforts.
