Lucy Lawless talks about the demise of Lucretia:

Lucy Lawless as "Lucretia' In Spartacus: Blood & Sand' (season 1). Lucretia was killed off in STARZ's Spartacus: Vengeance in the season 2 finale. (STARZ)

HuffPo/Maureen Ryan: When did you know that Lucretia would die at the end of the season?
Lucy Lawless: I knew before we began filming [Season] 2 that Lucretia was going to meet her end, and how. That knowledge was vital to the way I played everything. It explains why she puts up with certain things, like Ashur’s repeated rapes. She had to feel that anything that happened to her, no matter how degrading, must be borne in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled.

Ashur/Naevia GIF credit:

“I made that decision before season 1 was done shooting. I bumped into [Ashur actor] Nick Tarabay at the grocery store and I was like, ‘Oh I got a great ending for your character.’ There’s a lot of speculation on the Internet about who is going to kill Ashur. It came down to who is the most grievously injured by Ashur and that’s Naevia.”
Steven S. DeKnight

Q: Did you think her death made sense within the context of the overall Spartacus story?
Lawless: The Spartacus storyline was moving away from Capua, so I guess if they were going to remain true to Spartacus’ journey, then it made sense to offer up Lucretia and Illythia’s lives, in the richest, nastiest tradition of the show.

HuffPo:
Q: Did you resist the idea of Lucretia being killed off? Did you lobby the producers to change their minds?

Lawless: “No, I know better.’

‘I was hoping Lucretia’s long gown would catch on a branch on the way down and there she’d be like Wyle E. Coyote, dangling from a twig with babe in arms and throwing a huge tanty (tantrum) that her plan to go to the afterworld had failed.

Imagine the storyline to follow: Lucretia raising young Sparty. Now THERE’s a show!”

Q: Was Lucretia faking her friendship with Ilythia, or was any of that real?
Lawless: I’ll leave that for the audience to decide. But

Lucy Lawless played Lucretia as 'losing her spirit' after the death of Batiatus (John Hannah) in the slave revolt bloodbath in the season 1 finale. (STARZ)

….basically, the death of Batiatus was a spiritual death for Lucretia. – Lucy Lawless on Lucretia’s  ‘state-of-mind’ following season 1′s memorable finale.

Q: What was it like to say goodbye to that character? Was it harder or easier than saying farewell to characters you’ve played in the past?
Lawless: I’m sad over this one. Still, she was originally slated to die at the end of Season 1, so she’d already had one stay of execution. I am so grateful to all the writers for allowing me a role of such scope and depth. I is [sic] one lucky actress.

Huffington Post’s Maureen Ryan is a “Spartacus: Vengeance” critic and fan. She had a fun exchange with a number of people vitally connected with the show. Above and below  are a few of the more memorable bits of the email exchange.

Steven DeKnight: Gannicus, Crixus, Agron, Nasir and Naevia — and the actors that portray them — are all returning next season. Joining them will be Saxa, Lugo, Nemetes and Donar [all of whom joined the show in Season 2]. I can’t guarantee they will all make it to until the end of the season, but at least they’ll be alive at the beginning!

Photo credit: STARZ

Liam McIntyre as "Spartacus' (STARZ)

Q: Is the show done with Capua for good? Are you taking the Spartacus escaped-slave show on the road to Rome?

DeKnight: We have indeed turned our backs on Capua for good. We will not be revisiting the city, Batiatus’ ludus, or the destroyed area. Instead Spartacus’…group will take their war across the lands of the Republic, offering up stunning new vistas and impossible situations. I’ve seen some of the early designs and one major set already being built, and they are truly a feast for the eyes. If “Vengeance” expanded the Spartacus world, this next season completely blows it up.

Q: Is Ilythia dead, or will she be back next season?
Steven DeKnight: Ilithyia is definitely 100 percent gone to grass. Her story was intimately tied to Lucretia’s. It seemed only fitting their story should end together.

Read More: ‘Spartacus: Vengeance’ Finale Review – Maureen Ryan/HuffPo

Previously:

According to a Starz press release: “Gaius Julius Caesar is a handsome young rogue from an esteemed lineage. His deadly intelligence and skill with a sword will be brought to bear against the rebellion. And Caesar will begin his ascent towards the all-powerful ruler he will one day become. Marcus Licinius Crassus is the richest man in the Roman Republic. Envied and despised by the highborn among the Senate, he craves the power and respect that defeating Spartacus and his rebel army would bring.”

Steven DeKnight Interview #2 In re: Season 2 transition to season 3:
TVLINE | What are some of the new characters you’re planning to introduce to fill the void left by all of these departures?

A: Crassus [played by Luke Pegler] is the main one. And a young Julius Caesar will be joining Crassus’ campaign. Crassus has a son that will also be on the campaign with them. There will be a couple of Romans who will pop up. There will be three new female characters that will be coming around. And one or two other people from history will make an appearance, but I can’t really say who. And one of the reasons for the high body count at the end of this season was… we needed to make a little room to bring new characters in. We couldn’t carry everybody.

Liam McIntyre as Spatacus survived season 2. Katrina Law as 'Mira' did not. (STARZ)

Q: Those actresses coming in have some big shoes to fill.
A: They are going to be completely different types of characters. I’m not going to try to reproduce what Viva and Lucy were. There was a lot of concern going into this season about losing John Hannah and [we debated whether to] try to recreate another John Hannah-esque character on the show, and my feeling was if we even attempt to do that the audience would know what we were doing and would probably not have a good reaction to it. Here is Battiatus-lite! And I feel the same way about Lucretia and Ilithyia. These new female characters will be completely different and won’t have that same dynamic. But hopefully they will be engaging.

VIva Biance " Ilithyia (STARZ)

DeKnight defends the high death toll, reveals which fallen character(s) he briefly considered resurrecting, and offers TVLine a preview of Season 3:

Spartacus: Vengeance wrapped its 10-episode season Friday with a breathtakingly action-packed and staggeringly lethal episode. When the sand dust settled, at least six major characters — including Lucy Lawless’ Lucretia! — were left for dead. Even in this day and age, where casualty-prone shows like The Walking Dead, True Blood and Game of Thrones are de rigueur, the body count was astonishing.

“One of the things that I love about working with Starz versus a normal network is we never would’ve been able to kill off so many major, important characters on a normal network — whether the story required it or not,” enthuses Sparty‘s boss, Steven S. DeKnight. “They may have let me kill off one. But I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have let me kill off six.”

Aside from Lawless’ Lucretia, the list of the dearly departed includes Nick Tarabay’s Ashur, Craig Parker’s Glaber, Katrina Law’s Mira, Peter Mensah’s Oenomaus and, despite a somewhat ambiguous “death” scene, Viva Bianca’s Ilithyia.

EDIT: I disagree. Only an idiot would think Ilithyia is ‘passed out.’ Her eyes open and her massive blood loss/ghost while pallor equal a dead Ilithyia. There was no one coming to save her. And really, did anyone think they would open season 3 with Ilithyia surviving. For what purpose?

Lucretia only survived because Ashur, for reasons never fully explained, stitched her up when he came out of hiding from the Spartacus-led slave revolt at the end of season 1. Lucretia was  extremely lucky (she might disagree). Ilithyia will be having no such luck.

Unfortunately, I watched the show for Lucy Lawless. No Lucy equals no interesting female character. Viva Bianca as Ilithyia was awesome, too. Dead now, too. I knew Mira was a goner when Sparty and she broke up, but still. Three main/co-starting women killed off in one episode? Too much.

Oenomaus went too soon IMO, too but I’m looking forward to Peter Mensah on True Blood as a member of the powerful “Vampire Authority’ in Season 5 beginning in June.

Read more at: TVLine:

After the JUMP – Best Kills in Spartacus season 2 finale: PHOTOS

SOURCE: TV.com

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