#opiter

kopiter + intimacy

What an episode! It's safe to say Opiter was appropriately honored, his death is given the weight it deserved, and we got to delve deeper into the relationships between characters. Korris is given time to grieve, Ashur supports him in his own way, where Cossutia is dismissed by her own husband (and the bastard even makes that snide remark about why she spent so much time at Opiter's house, so from the bottom of my heart - fuck you, Gabinius).

Claim as they may that they're not friends, Korris and Ashur do trust each other. Ashur has nothing to gain by feigning sympathy for Korris at this point, so I was surprised by his tenderness towards the former doctore. It came across as heartfelt, and Korris was obviously responding to it with equal sincerity. Another pleasant surprise was that Ashur simply came out and confessed that he was the one who provoked Proculus, knowing full well that Korris would likely - and justifiably - blame him as much, if not more than Proculus. If one wants to read this confession as manipulative, they certainly could, but that's not how I interpreted the scene. Ashur seemed profoundly ashamed. Additionally, I think Korris would have caught on to it if Ashur had been anything less than sincere in that moment. They certainly know each other well enough.

Cossutia! My gods, I can't get enough of Claudia Black's facial expressions. She remains mesmerizing in every scene. It also seems like she and Viridia are finally repairing their relationship, but now Viridia is the one comforting her while gradually getting disillusioned with Gabinius. I need the mother-daughter duo to tear Gabinius a new one, and soon.

While on the subject of Cossutia, the episode poses an interesting question. Does she hate Ashur more than she loved Opiter? The answer to that is the answer to whether she set Proculus up at the end of the episode or if Ashur had simply had the foresight not to trust her message. Personally, I'd like to see her team up with Ashur for real, they're endlessly entertaining together, but you never know with her. We'll probably find out in the next episode.

Achillia is a BEAST with that spear. Watching her beat the shit out of Tarchon was incredibly satisfying. Well, until the very end of the fight, at least. She still has trauma to work through. Here's to hoping she finally talks to someone about it - and by "someone" I mean Celadus, he'd be the natural choice. Also, he's giving her puppy eyes! It's cute! I adore him.

Messia continues to intrigue me. She's putting all of her money on Cornelia, and Cornelia clearly favors her. The potential for disaster is strong with this one, so I am very worried about Messia's well-being... When the time comes, will her bitterness for Hilara prevail, or will she make the more pragmatic choice? Gotta wait and see.