Something Britannia has done, which I’m honestly note sure if it is a plus or minus, is they keep introducing low-ranking characters that in other shows would become viewpoint characters for the foot soldiers. The equivalents to Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo from Rome, who inexplicably keep getting involved in critical moments while always remaining low-ranking grunts for an outside perspective. Only here they are all killed or rendered irrelevant after the setup.
It starts with Antonius in the beginning of the very first episode of the series. He and his friends were caught trying to desert the legion before the invasion of Britannia, and to spare his own life he kills his three friends to rejoin the legion. This is obviously the start of his own story-arc: Maybe the guilt gets too much for him and he deserts again in Britain, joining the locals and fighting against the Romans. Or maybe the guilt overwhelms him and he dives deeper into the legions to try and convince himself it was the right decision, becoming the unquestioning enforcer for Aulus Plautius in his darkest acts.
Nope, he is killed at the end of the first episode.
So, nice little bait-and-switch at the start, making way for the real viewpoint characters: Philo and Decimus. A pair of legionaries we meet in Britain, they are tasked to follow and guard Aulus Plautius when he leaves the legion on his mysterious missions. They make a bunch of wry comments, particularly about how they personally are going to die since they’re wandering the British countryside alone, which sets them up as the “I didn’t sign up for this shit” average joes just trying to get along. They’re clearly going to be recurring players for the rest of the season, offering commentary on the actions of their leaders and a glimpse at the day-to-day life of the people who actually make up the legion.
Nope, they are hypnotized by a local, pumped for information, Philo is forced to kill Decimus, and then Philo is sent back to the camp as a distraction carrying Decimus’ severed head.
Okay, so maybe there’s no foot soldier viewpoint characters at all. Not every show has them, after all. At least it’s good to know that it’s just not happening in this series....until we run into Rufus and Felix in season two.
Once again, two legionaries of the “Can you believe this shit?” school. We see their marching, some of their duties, hear them bitching about how they cannot believe that THAT guy was promoted to centurion, can you believe it? Again, set up as a viewpoint for the common grunts, not the generals and druids and prophecies. And like all the rest it is all for naught because their cohort is ambushed and slaughtered to a man.
I’m honestly not sure if this is a good bit of storytelling -- directly addressing that the common foot soldier is not going to be granted access to the inner workings of the commanders or given any special protection from the slaughter of war -- or if it is just lazy.
