Spartacus: Blood and Sand - Motion Comic (2009) s01e04 Episode Script

The Shadow of Death

Pain.
It has a life.
A Purpose.
A name.
Theokoles. The Shadow of death.
Only one man has ever faced the shadow and lived.
Spartacus!
He breathes among you. His whip ever at your backs.
You charge without thought. A weakness your opponent could turn to advantage.
A difficult feat from his backside.
You speak without thought as well.
Another weakness.
Thracians. Always on their backs, with legs spread.
Where they belong.
Forget everything you have learned outside these walls. For that is the world of men.
We are more! We are gladiators.
Study. Train. Bleed.
And one day your name will be legend, spoken in hushed whispers of fear and awe.
In the valley of the river Eurotas, a child was born.
Monstrous of size, his birth forever crippling the mother who give it.
But mother loves her son.
She tells him he is a gift from the gods.
His father born of spartan blood. A king among men before he fell in battle.
Theokoles grew strong from her milk, draining the life from her.
As she withered and failed, she told him that her life now flows through his veins.
Honor the gift and never die.
Theokoles remained in the old hut after his mother's death.
He seldom ventured into the village.
Only one was ever kind to him.
His mother taught him to always return in kind.
In Karina, Theokoles found respite from his lonliness.
And love.
But his love was too powerful.
Monster!
The village did not understand his grief.
They swore that day that the beast would fall.
They cut him a thousand times.
But none could fell the giant.
He buried his love beside his mother, and left Laconia, never to return.
He moved and ate without purpose or desire.
Until he reached the end of the earth.
They thought he would serve as another meal.
They were wrong.
So easily the hunter becomes the hunted.
Father!
But not this time.
Gharib and the Cilician pirates welcomed Theokoles on board their ship.
The giant banded with the sea-dwellers, leaving behind the whispers and stares that followed him on land.
Gharib and the pirates teach Theokoles the ways of the sea.
Engage.
Seize.
Destroy
Or be destroyed.
Capture.
The pirates likened themselves to kings and tyrants.
Crews were slain or sold into slavery.
The elite held captive for ransom.
Gharib became the father that Theokoles never had.
The cilicians, a familiy to him.
It is a good life. Filled with food, wine and merriment.
Gharib tried to stop him, but Theokoles waged war on the pirates, shredding every marauding cock on board.
The giant was alone.
How many days he was buffeted by the sea, no one knows.
Until finally, he found himself on the shores of Rome.
There was only one place in the republic for a monster.
Yet only in the republic could a monster be revered as a god.
He finally found his place in the world. A Home.
They called him the shadow of death.
For every man who faced him met his end.
Except one.
The numidian warrior.
Carved from stone.
Built as a god.
They fought for hours.
Equally matched.
Blood for blood.
Flesh for flesh.
But now the game is over.
Theokoles watches as the numidian prepares to meet his death.
No
And finds the man is loved.
Grasp your sword.
Astouned by his mercy, the numidian hesitates, but only for a moment.
We have witnessed today a rivalry unparalleled.
Titans of equal division.
Both have fought bravely! And shall live to fight another day!
The magistrate calls a draw, declaring both as victors.
But the numidian does not share in this honor.
He turns in shame.
Knowing he should have died that day.
But not that love had stayed the giant's hand.
One day you will face Theokoles.
One day, the shadow of death will fall upon you, Spartacus.
And vengeance shall be mine.
Credits : yhann31 - Dp
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