Well, that was a satisfying moment, wasn't it? Personally, I thought Achillia would be the one to sort out the Brothers Ferox, but given the events of the previous episode, it felt right that Korris got his hands on them. And that's exactly what Episode 7, "Deepest Wound," provides. It's a bit of a breath of fresh air, mending some fractured alliances and making the ultimate objective—Ashur elevating his status through success in the arena—clear and attainable.
These last two episodes were a reasonable price to pay for all the political maneuvering and character development, but with only three episodes remaining, I imagine we'll be returning to the sands sooner rather than later, and probably remain there.
Picking up from last week's episode, I'm not sure I necessarily buy the extent of the grief Korris and, oddly, Cossutia, feel about Opiter's demise. Korris's grief is understandable since he had pinned all his hopes for a peaceful future on him, but Cossutia doesn't seem to like anyone. Unless she's—as Gaibinius hilariously suggests—more upset about no longer having a steady stream of gladiators to pleasure her than she is about Opiter himself, I'm not convinced. But later developments suggest otherwise.
There was a fun theory in the comments last week that Ashur might have deliberately bragged to Proculus, knowing he'd make a move on Opiter, allowing him to retain his Doctore and secure all of Opiter's holdings as promised. I would have liked this to be true, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Opiter's holdings are going to auction, and the Cilician markings daubed in blood on his villa walls make Ashur suspect that Caesar and Cornelia were behind his death.
This puts Ashur on the back foot once again. Achillia is alive and on her feet, but her hand is still a mess, and her newfound taste for glory in the arena means she's rushing back to training. Ashur is keen on this since her recovery has taken long enough that she's not quite the hot topic she once was, and the sooner he can get her back in the public eye, the better. But while Achillia receives a relatively warm ovation from most of the gladiators, Tarchon, true to form, uses sparring with her as an excuse to damage her injured hand even further and secure his own position as champion, however temporary.
But Ashur's thirst for notoriety has now turned into a dire need for funds to purchase Opiter's holdings at auction. He turns to Cornelia, who is still grooming Messia like an obedient little pet and flooding the villa with opium from Pompey. In this rare instance, though, she's innocent of the accusation Ashur levels at her. She and Caesar didn't arrange Opiter's death, which forces Ashur to realize it was his own boastful bragging to Proculus that triggered the event. This means Ashur must confront Korris with the truth.
After Korris tries to storm the villa, Ashur confesses and pitches an alliance to uncover the truth. He appeals to Cornelia once more, this time offering to facilitate Viridia's planned marriage to Quintus Thermus, despite having dissuaded Gabinius from the idea in the previous episode. He even feigns intimacy with Hilara by imagining her as Viridia, just to show he's playing the game. Cornelia agrees to front the money for the holdings, as long as it benefits Crassus (and thus Caesar).
You can sense this is going to go south, and indeed it does. But Spartacus: House of Ashur Episode 7 provides a rare turnaround moment for Ashur, who is still able to flip recent events in his favor. Sure, he makes a fool of himself bidding directly against Proculus for Opiter's holdings, since Cossutia lets slip to Cornelia that Ashur already nixed the Quintus Thermus union, causing her to withdraw funding just as Ashur has made the highest bid. But he also finds an unlikely ally in Cossutia, who seems more torn up about Opiter's death than first imagined.
When Ashur presents his theory that Proculus was responsible, Cossutia helps him arrange an ambush under the guise of having Ashur himself killed. Proculus falls for it and sends the Brothers Ferox and a few goons to take Ashur out. But Ashur came prepared with plenty of his own men, not that they end up being needed. Korris arrives and volunteers to singlehandedly fight all of Proculus's men to avenge Opiter. And he demolishes them pretty easily in a flurry of demented—though undeniably fun—practical effects. He only leaves Saturys alive to send a message to Proculus that the House of Ashur is coming for him on the sands of the arena. Oh, and he wants his old job back. He and Ashur shake hands on their aligned purpose, since this is a pretty big moment for both of them.
However, this does free Celadus from his Doctore duties, which worries me. He spends "Deepest Wound" convincing Achillia—whom he's still very fond of—to fight with a spear and small shield to offset her new disadvantage, and it turns out to be a pretty good idea. This is obviously Achillia's preferred weapon, but her hesitation due to flashbacks of her past (in which she seems to have skewered her own daughter) ultimately causes her to lose again in their second sparring session. So, that's something she'll have to get over.
But my real worry is that with Korris's reinstatement, Celadus will return to being a gladiator, and he's an easy target for a stake-raising death. I'd much rather see Tarchon meet that end. He has his own goals—giving the Roman who abused his lover a violent spectacle in the arena and then earning enough coin to buy her freedom—but I just can't stand him. Maybe that won't go quite the way I'm expecting, but I wouldn't bet on it. Time will tell.
