I've come to ask you for your analysis about the uneven appreciation and trust between Spartacus and Agron. Bring it! >D
OOOHHH!!! You know what you’ve done by asking me this!!! AND I FREAKING LOVE YOU FOR IT!!!!!!! *CRACKS KNUCKLES!!* OK!! PREPARE FOR A SUPER LONG REPLYYY!!!!! Hope you’re ready @koby-cabana !!!! ALSO tagging @tays-role-plays in this!!! <3
NOW, I AM going to start this by saying I DO LOVE the Agron and Spartacus bromance! It is a great dynamic, HOWEVER, with that said, I DO feel it is a bit one sided in terms of canon evidence. Sure I have my own headcanons and such but I am going to try to stick to canon fact here!! And will acknowledge anything that is more speculation!! AS WELL, the uneven appreciation is also what I believe comes into play with the whole Castus thing, which will be included in my analysis when I get to the Sinuessa arc!
Firstly, it is important to note that Agron was the ONLY General out of the three (Crixus, Gannicus and Agron) that immediately joined Spartacus’ cause! Agron did not really need convincing, and while his initial motives had been to get Duro out of the ludus, he was unwavering in his loyalty to Spartacus and that has not changed in all his time with him!! JUUST putting that out there!
Ok so the first time we REALLY saw that tension between them, was when it was discovered that Agron lied about Naevia. It was the first time that Agron had really done something that he knew Spartacus would not be happy with, considering Spartacus’ adamant determination to find her for Crixus. BUT, even then, Spartacus went out of line when he went to try and kill Glaber in the market. So, I think its at tad bit hypocritical for him to give Agron any sort of grief of wanting to veer another way when he himself became clouded with own motives and need for avenging a loved one -- a need similar to Agron’s own. Also further note, that Crixus didn’t go there to save Spartacus but rather, to prevent him from foiling any hope of finding Naevia! I believe Agron went there to save Spartacus above all else!
Now, Agron has always followed Sparty and listened to his words. So when he was desperate to explain to Spartacus why he did what he did, Spartacus in turn, hit him as part of his “punishment” and in anger for Agron leading everyone to believe Naevia was dead! I do understand Spartacus’ point in that if it was Duro, Agron would not have felt the same way. Though, it would be interesting to see . . . if Spartacus, and even Crixus would have shown the same determination to find Duro had he been in the mines. Spartacus perhaps -- even then it could be argued both ways, but not Crixus. Which again, is reflective of Agron’s loyalty to Spartacus and that it IS stronger than Crixus’, because despite the German’s feelings towards he Gaul, his loyalty for Spartacus outweighed his hatred for Crixus. I don’t think Crixus’ loyalty to Spartacus is as strong as his hatred for Agron or his own motives.
NOW, after Spartacus hit him, Agron said “I will not fucking die for this.” And told anyone who wished to live, to come with it. A VERY IMPORTANT fact to note here, is that it was NOT only Germans that followed Agron! As far as we saw, there weren’t many Germans among them. Donar, maybe another one or two. The other men did not follow Agron due to cultural background or place of birth -- unlike the Gauls following Crixus. They followed Agron because they shared his thoughts in that they did not want to keep risking their lives to save Naevia. Agron’s mindset was shared by so many, as we saw the clear divide. Where as Crixus’ crew was not out of any sense of justice for Naevia but rather, loyalty to the “Undefeated Gaul”, as they were ALL Gauls. This is a very important fact that comes into play later on in another event.
So alas, they go, both Agron and Spartacus talk of how they shouldn’t have divided their forces, yadda yadda. Point is, the people who went with Agron survived and most that went with Crixus, died. Now, the next important display of loyalty on Agron’s part, was storming the arena. He did not do this for Crixus, but rather, risked his life because time and time again, his loyalty to Spartacus is stronger than ALL else. At this point, I was really hoping Spartacus would show some acknowledgment of that. Even with Mira going with them. These two people did it for Spartacus more so than Crixus, yet it is not recognized and instead, is dismissed or taken for granted. OF COURSE this is just based on what we have physically seen. I would LOVE to play into conversations of Spartacus expressing his appreciation for them and this and that, which is where the joys of rping come into play!
NEXT major source of tension . . . Agron freeing the Germans. At THIS event, I was disappointed with Spartacus. Just because Crixus is all “but who will they follow?” Referring to the Germans, Spartacus decided to question Agron’s loyalties. Which, is SUPER hypocritical first of all for Crixus to say at all, considering ALL the Gauls follow HIM, NOT Spartacus! it seems he was just bitter that he lost majority of those Gauls when they went to the mines. But, Spartacus doesn’t pause to think WHY Agron freed the Germans. Crixus planted this seed of paranoia in Spartacus to dare question Agron’s loyalties and the fact that Spartacus entertained it, was disappointing. Essentially, there were two options since the third boat as described by Agron, would not have proper fighting men. So it was between the Gauls and the Germans. Agron did NOT free the Gemans for them to be loyal to him. Allow me to elaborate on this!
Agron witnessed first hand how the Gauls followed Crixus, and would not offer any loyalty to Spartacus. This is evidenced in the ludus when none of the Gauls joined Crixus in the bring down of the ludus until Crixus decided for them to. And it’s also evidenced in the whole search for Naevia. Agron was avoiding a recreation of this. He wanted men who would follow SPARTACUS as well, and thus, did not want their numbers to be swelled by Gauls because they would just follow Crixus rather than Spartacus. Had the ships been between Gauls and Celts, or Gauls and another group, I’m certain Agron would have always chosen the other group. I’m not saying Agron wasn’t thrilled to have his own kin among him, but it was not at ALL his intention to bring them there to follow him and undermine Spartacus. It was his intention to have warriors in the rebellion that would not necessarily divide themselves when Crixus decided to veer from Spartacus’ command or conflict with his decisions.
So Spartacus questioning Agron’s intentions was really sad to me. And lets be real, it obviously would have hurt Agron. Here’s a guy, who was just doing what Spartacus asked him to and got shit for it because Crixus didn’t like the lacking number of Gauls in his group and didn’t like Agron. Agron also CLEARLY chooses Spartacus over them, even attacking Sedullus when he sees him going after Naevia which came from an act of sheer conscience. And then of course Agron’s powerful declaration saying that he is with Spartacus and will not call any man his kin who is not so. Now, the actions that followed with the Germans just reinforces and justifies Agron’s reason. Lugo exclaims that Spartacus defeated their great warrior Sedullus and would follow such a man.
NOTE, they did NOT follow Spartacus because Agron did. They followed Spartacus because they saw within him, a great warrior. This validates Agron’s decisions about why he chose the Germans instead of Gauls. Would the Gauls have shared that loyalty? The past proves differently in that, they would have followed Spartacus because CRIXUS did, and if Crixus strayed from Sparty, then they would have too. But the Germans did not; they had their own developed loyalty to Spartacus and knowing this, it is safe to say that Agron’s decision was a sound and fully justified one. Now of course, the assumption that the Gauls in the ship would follow Crixus is simple speculation, but I do think it is believable they would have based on how the Gauls we saw in the show were.
These are just some major events, and there are quite a few more in War of the Damned! It gets a bit sadder to be honest! Like, Spartacus saying that if anything were to happen, Crixus would take over. You could SEE the hurt in Agron and even Spartacus knew how much this would hurt him which was why he turned to face Agron and try to explain himself. Agron just cut him off by saying that Spartacus was still among them and would have it remain as such. But like, DAMN that had to have hurt Aggie that even after everything, Spartacus would trust Crixus in charge more than Agron -- and look how that turned out! Crixus rebelled and killed the Romans. Like, lets be real, Agron DESPISES the Romans but once again, his loyalty to Spartacus outweighs his hatred for Romans. Agron I think must have felt like a backup; a last resort rather than a first option. Even when Spartacus took Gannicus and Crixus with him to storm the villa and Agron was all like “Wait, why am I not going?!?!” And so on!
As I said, there are MANY other moments where Spartacus sort of questions Agron. Another being where he asks him where Agron stands and Agron tells him “with you and always shall upon field of battle”. I think in this case Spartacus was just really worried about losing him, but I also think that he is always questioning where Agron stands when Agron has time and time proven again, just how LOYAL he is to Spartacus!!
OK NEEXTT big event, is Agron leaving Spartacus to side with Crixus. Is this due to any lacking loyalty to Spartacus?? NO! QUITE the opposite! He wants Spartacus to be happy and is willing to be part of a diversion so that the others may flee to the Alps. But that of course is just a reason on a smaller scale. Because, for the FIRST time, Agron experiences something that this time, outweighs his loyalty to Spartacus, and that his is love for Nasir. Because it is THAT love that makes him break off from the two men he loves most -- obviously in VERY different ways!! BUT it is Agron’s love for Nasir that fuels his actions and where he always picks his loyalty to Spartacus, this time, he picked his love for Nasir -- and even his love for Sparty in a way -- to leave them and fight with the others.
I am just going to add a small bit here, as stated in the beginning, as to why this whole thing plays into his feelings with Castus. Now, Agron is obviously very paranoid about losing Nasir! Why? Because as with Spartacus, Agron is quite used to never being a first choice. Spartacus often chose others (i.e. Crixus, or even Gannicus) and so on and while Agron never really says anything against it, its GOTTA hurt the guy! He’s giving Spartacus everything, every ounce of loyalty, and there are others placed above him. I think this same concept is what makes him so irrational and fearful in losing Nasir to Castus. Obviously, not the ONLY reason, but I think he FEARS that Nasir will pick another over him -- recognizing the way Nasir looks at Castus -- because history dictates that to him. The more he loves someone, the more loyal he is to them . . . the more hurt experienced when he sees that they inevitably choose another. It’s not to say Nasir would EVER do that, but I think its where Agron’s paranoia and intense fear of it comes from, at least partially!
SOOO just to conclude this horrendously long answer/analysis , I DO feel that there is uneven appreciation. I would have LOVED to see more moments where Spartacus acknowledges Agron’s unwavering loyalty, rather than always questioning it. Agron has never directly defied Spartacus’ orders -- the closest being to when he lied about Naevia but even then, he wasn’t technically defying Spartacus. So I just wish we saw more bromance moments between them!! I get that the show can’t incorporate everything, but I do feel that the bromance was stronger with Agron and Spartacus compared to Spartacus and any other general on the show, so it would have been SUPER nice to see proper moments where Agron’s loyalty and devotion to him were recognized and appreciated!!!
THANKS FOR THE QUESTION MY LOVE!!!!!!! FEEL FREE TO SEND ME ANY MORE!! AND THAT GOES FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU ALL AND THANKS FOR READING MY DEEJAMBLE!!!!
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