With each new episode, the Starz alternate history drama series Spartacus: House of Ashu is growing more intense and interesting, starting to spin a tale of romance, politics, and glory that is bound to continue for several seasons. With Achillia having won her first battle in the gladiator arena, the House of Ashur had been delivered the glory and popularity that the protagonist had been craving for, but it also left the warrior heavily injured and unconscious. House of Ashur episode 6 has Korris finally making a request to Ashur, granting which will also help the Dominus greatly, while Achillia is being healed by a Greek medicus in the background.
Spoiler Alert
How does Cornelia further humiliate Ashur?
As discussed at the end of the previous episode, Gaius Julius Caesar has now left Capua, but his wife, Cornelia, remains at Ashur’s house, playing the full role of the Domina. Cornelia sees Ashur with the same sense of disdain as her husband, and so she pretends to be the mistress of the house, treating Ashur like just a common servant. To begin with, Cornelia seems to have totally won over the support of Messia, Ashur’s other slave, for she is seen following her throughout the episode. Messia seems to be particularly impressed by Cornelia’s straightforward nature and her habit of snatching at whatever she wants to possess. She is also quite mesmerized by the sight of Cornelia making love to other women in Ashur’s private pool and also sometimes in his bedroom, all to make him feel humiliated and out of place.
Being the Domina of the House of Caesar, as she and her husband call it, Cornelia also hosts small parties and invites guests over. Aside from the trivial acts of disrespect, like calling the finest wine from his collection only good for throwing away, it is at such a party or gathering that Cornelia terribly humiliates Ashur. On this particular occasion, Cossutia and Viridia visit the house, and Cornelia instantly starts playing the host, even directly reminding Ashur of their arrangement and telling him to stay away. Seemingly inspired by Opiter, Cornelia arranges a perverse show for her guests, with three gladiators selected from the ludus to entertain the women by simply standing in front of them with their bodies bared.
Since the gladiators are essentially slaves to the houses that they fight for, they can easily be ordered around, and Cornelia takes the chance to make them strip for the amusement of the guests. Viridia is obviously grossed out by such a display of nudity, something that she is neither used to nor comfortable with, but her mother rather enjoys the show, happy to have found a replacement for Opiter’s presentations. But much to everyone’s shock, Cornelia first asks Ashur to speak about his experiences as a gladiator himself before ordering him to strip right in front of everyone. Although Ashur tries to defend his honor by stating that he is the Dominus of the house and also a man of honor and integrity, Cornelia refuses to let up, reminding him that she is of much higher pedigree and therefore he must abide by her orders. After all, Ashur had received all this fame, fortune, and wealth from Crassus after having risen from the rank of a mere slave, and he is constantly reminded of this past, with it always being used against him to keep him away from a lot of opportunities.
Ashur has no choice but to strip and stand in front of the women in a compromising stance, right beside the slaves of his own house. This is a terribly humiliating experience for him, especially after Cornelia even questions his virility and manhood. After a brief moment of exposing himself and following Cornelia’s order, Ashur puts his clothes back on and storms out of the room to nurse his emotions in his private study. Meanwhile, Cornelia tries to woo Cossutia and even seduce her, since her daughter is away, clearly in a bid to make her husband, Gabinius, change his allegiance and switch sides from Pompey to Caesar.
Are Ashur and Viridia finally going to be together?
Following Ashur’s public harassment by Cornelia, Viridia refuses to have anything to do with the crude company and leaves the scene, complaining of the excessive wine having taken a toll on her body. She quickly goes to Ashur’s study to apologize to him for the terrible acts and also to console him. She even throws in a compliment for Ashur’s virility, stating that she had hardly seen anyone with such an impressive physique, making it all the more obvious that she has genuine romantic interest in him. The two take a walk through the villa and converse on various topics, with a casual attempt to flirt with and impress one another. Viridia even helps translate the instructions of the Greek medico, since Ashur does not understand the language at all.
At one point, Ashur and Viridia are almost about to share a kiss, being caught up by their respective emotions, but it is once again the medico who interrupts them. Although Viridia takes her leave from the villa after promising to pray for Achillia’s recovery, Ashur remains jovial throughout the rest of the day, evidently because of this interaction with the woman whom he is really developing feelings for. However, it is then just as worrisome for him when he learns that Cornelia is arranging for a matrimonial match for Viridia. She wants Viridia to be married to Quintus Thermus, an ally of Julius Caesar, and even convinces Cossutia that such a union would be best for her daughter.
Cornelia obviously wants to establish a deep connection with the family of Gabinius, knowing well that the senator is an ally of Pompey in Rome. Pompey happens to be the direct political and social rival to Crassus and Julius Caesar, and so taking away one more supporter from his side will be highly advantageous to Crassus’ camp. For this reason, she even orders Ashur to visit Gabinius’ house and convince the senator to agree to the marriage proposal, stating how he is technically a servant to Caesar and must carry out all his orders. But Ashur takes this chance to make his allegiance absolutely clear to Gabinius. He openly tells the senator that he only supports Crassus, and nobody else, and also discourages Gabinius from agreeing to marry his daughter off to an ally of Caesar.
Gabinius had already started to figure out the political strategies at play behind such a proposal, and Ashur’s words now convince him even more. But this very conversation might also lead the protagonist to more trouble in the future, as Caesar might have intentionally sent Ashur to Gabinius just to find concrete proof that he is actually trying to work against the Roman politician. Caesar is bound to use this as proof of disobedience to Crassus and try to get Ashur cut off from the businessman as well.
Does Ashur let Korris leave?
In the House of Ashur episode 6, Korris learns of his beloved Opiter’s decision to flee Capua and move to Sicilia, as he is scared of being hunted down by Julius Caesar and his men. Opiter reveals how he had been involved in Caesar’s scheme of hiring Cilician pirates to attack Cossutia and Viridia in the market and has since fallen out of favor with the politician. Caesar has now been threatening to find and kill Opiter for his lack of support, and so the latter has no choice but to flee the city. Before leaving, though, Opiter makes a heartfelt request to Korris, asking the Doctore to accompany him and be a part of his new life in Sicilia. Although Korris initially turns down the request, he too gradually grows fond of the idea and ultimately agrees to it.
But going away so randomly is not an option for Korris, or rather, as he clarifies, going away so suddenly with Opiter will most definitely make his Dominus, Ashur, grow angry at the pair and retaliate against the House of Opiter in some way. Therefore, Opiter comes up with a grand deal, one that is very difficult for Ashur to turn down, and approaches the protagonist with it. Opiter directly asks for the Doctore of the House of Ashur, Korris, and is willing to hand over his villa, his ludus, and all his warriors to Ashur in exchange. Although Ashur does not want to lose his extremely skilled and experienced Doctore and, moreover, a close friend and advisor to him, he cannot simply ignore the fact that getting Opiter’s ludus and his gladiators will definitely make his house stronger.
Therefore, Ashur takes some time to think about the offer after expressing his disappointment in Korris for abandoning his house and ludus. Eventually, he discusses the situation with Gabinius when visiting the senator, and this is when he finally makes up his mind. Gabinius openly tells Ashur that he must take advantage of the impressive wins that his gladiators achieved at the Ludi Apollinares in the previous episode. He encourages the protagonist to try and continue keeping his family’s name in the limelight in whatever way possible, and taking over a rival family’s villa and ludus is definitely a correct choice at this time. Thus, Ashur ultimately decides to let Korris leave with Opiter, promoting Celadus to the position of the Doctore instead. Korris is seen taking his leave from the House of Ashur, with all the warriors paying their respect to him.
Can Achillia be brought back to her senses?
At the very beginning of the episode, Achillia is carried back to Ashur’s ludus, where the medico suggests that her arm be amputated to prevent the spread of toxic diseases. Frustrated and angered by this suggestion, Ashur simply tosses the medico off the cliff, killing the man in the most brutal manner possible. As he is naturally in need of a new medico for his house, Korris does the bidding on Ashur’s behalf, as he requests Opiter to lend them one. Opiter gladly gives away his Greek medico, who seems quite skilled and effective, but he is unable to communicate with Ashur and Korris because they don’t understand, let alone speak, Greek.
The new medico tries his best to treat Achillia, but she remains trapped in visions from her past, in which she had ended up killing a young woman in her village, most likely her own daughter. After some time, even the medico seems to give up, as he claims that he has already done all he can, and the recovery of the warrior now depends on divine intervention. Ashur initially makes it very clear that he cannot hold prayers for his champion because he is an atheist. But at the end of the episode, Ashur decides to change his ways and turn to the gods, simply to help Achillia survive and regain her consciousness. At the same time that he sacrifices a goat and lets its blood flow through the chamber where the warrior had been resting, Achillia wakes up from her deep slumber, and she seems to have finally recovered from her injuries.
Who kills Opiter?
Having decided to let Korris leave and take over Opiter’s villa and ludus in exchange, Ashur makes the mistake of boasting about it to Proculus when the two meet in the market. Proculus asks Ashur to agree to a gladiator matchup between the houses once again and then also offers an alliance between their houses. This is when the protagonist brags about his new fortunes, marking the worst relations between the houses, and the evil Proculus comes up with a devastating plan. At the very end of the House of Ashur episode 6, intruders break into Opiter’s house and haunt him, making the man beg for mercy and to be allowed to live. But the intruders, who are soon revealed to be the Brothers Ferox, led by Satyrus, violently murder Opiter, making it obvious that Proculus had ordered his warriors to commit the murder. It is not yet clear whether Proculus intends to take over Opiter’s property and wealth himself, but this is the most likely situation. Having heard about how Opiter was on the brink of leaving Capua, Proculus had realized how this was an opportunity to simply murder the man and take over his property, instead of waiting for him to willingly hand it over in this cruel and lawless world.
