The new season of the STARZ’ show Spartacus: War Of The Damned debuted last night, and it was everything that Spartacus fans have come to expect: Sex, blood, guts, fight scenes, and gorgeous men galore. And, a few not so gorgeous men made an appearance too, but you can look past that.

In the first episode of the season, ‘Enemies of Rome,’ the first scene finds Spartacus in the midst of battle against the Roman army. Spartacus (Liam McIntyre), on his horse, rides hard into the fray towards a small band of Roman soldiers who are protecting the two leaders of the Roman army. Spartacus reaches the group of soldiers and, with precise and powerful blows from his sword, begins cutting them down–one by one. Crixus (Manu Bennett), Gannicus (Dustin Clare),and Naevia (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) are not far behind, and they arrive to the scene to help Spartacus finish the Roman’s off.

Spartacus: War Of The Damned is the final season in the Spartacus franchise, and from the looks of the first episode, the show will come to a spectacular end.

While Spartacus is undoubtedly the leader of his growing army, this initial episode is about developing the leadership in others, specifically, the somewhat-reluctant fighter and former gladiator Gannicus. The Roman Senators also have leadership development and ascension planning on their minds:

To that end, much of tonight’s War of the Damned premiere, “Enemies of Rome,” was devoted to introducing the new key player, Marcus Crassus. Strapped for both cash and manpower, the Senate had no choice but to call upon one of the Republic’s richest men to finance further rebellion-quashing. But Crassus is no mere bottomless checkbook. He has designs on martial, as well as aristocratic, glory. One of the episode’s primary jobs was to establish Crassus’s bona fides as a Big Bad, and it pulled that off with aplom

Of course it is inevitable that Spartacus and Marcus Crassus will eventually face each other; as they are set at cross-purposes, their fates have now been intertwined.

You can watch the first episode of ‘Spartacus: War of the Damned‘ now, for free, on STARZ online.
________________________________________________
Jamila Akil is a Senior Editor at Beyond Black and White. Follow her on Twitter @jamilaakil