Spartacus Episode 17: Empty Hands

Spartacus’s group escapes the mines with the rescued women and other survivors, but the retreat becomes a running fight through the woods as Roman soldiers close in and the rebels keep losing people. Crixus is separated from the others, and he eventually ends up back at the former House of Batiatus, where he is captured along with a few other gladiators after helping cover the others’ escape.

Back in the woods, Spartacus keeps pushing the remaining survivors toward safety while they are pursued and attacked in smaller clashes. The situation grows worse as more rebels are cut down, and the group begins to feel trapped and doomed until another rebel force that had previously gone to Vesuvius arrives and helps them.

At the villa, Lucretia continues to manipulate Ilithyia and pry into her plans. Ilithyia tries to improve her position with her husband, Glaber, by using a gathering that includes the Roman Varinius, while also working toward ending her marriage and arranging a new one; her efforts are complicated by the politics and rivalries around her.

The captured gladiators are brought before the Roman authorities. Glaber wants them punished, but Varinius chooses to send them to the arena instead; Lucretia, in her own way, influences what happens to the captives, and Crixus is spared the immediate fate the others face.