Spartacus ended its epic story with the series finale, “Victory,” as we saw how the final battle between Spartacus and Crassus and their respective armies played out.

I spoke to the creator of the show, Steven S. DeKnight, about all of the huge events that occurred and how the decisions were made about who lived, who died and how it would all play out. We also talked about DeKnight’s next project for Starz, the sci-fi series Incursion , and the potential Crassus/Caesar spinoff of Spartacus that has been discussed.

Spartacus: Series Finale Review

Suffice to say, huge spoilers follow for the Spartacus series finale!

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[Laughs] You know, I’ve been warning everybody, prepare to cry big salty tears, and man, I’m not kidding. I’ve said this in interviews - that I wrote it, I was through the production process, I saw dailies and multiple cuts and I still can’t watch it without crying. It gets me every time.It was very early in the entire series, really at the beginning, that in my mind -- at least, in regards to Spartacus -- I read his body was never found, and I decided early on that he would be mortally wounded on the battlefield and removed from the battlefield. Actually, I had two options: I either wanted him mortally wounded and removed from the battlefield, or I wanted to construct a story where Crassus had gained such respect for him that he decided to leave Spartacus’ body on the battlefield and not drag him through Rome. But ultimately, I felt like that choice put the emphasis on Crassus and not Spartacus. I really thought you had to have a last moment with Spartacus, with a ray of hope. That’s really how the whole remainder of his “slave rebellion going up over the mountain in freedom after he died” concept came about.

Why We’ll Miss Spartacus

Yeah, exactly. It’s interesting, in editing we tried a couple of things. On the hilltop, we have Spartacus flashing to Sura, right before he’s about to die. We also tried that when he was dying at the foot of the alps. We looked at it, and it just felt like too much. We’ve had his Sura, he’s talking about Sura, and we felt like we really just wanted to stay on Liam, especially since Liam’s performance was so powerful in that final scene. But yes, it was great being able to do those two things, because we were able to introduce one half of the emotional element during his fight with Crassus and his near-death on the hilltop. Then we were able to concentrate on the other half of the emotional element, at the foot of the alps.Oh, definitely. I was dying to get to the Crassus character. I was fascinated by his story, and I really wanted to craft a man who could see both sides of it. But he is Roman, and he does see the need for slavery to keep the Republic going and eventually the Empire going. But he does have great respect for Spartacus, and that’s ultimately what allows him to bring Spartacus down, because he doesn’t underestimate him. He thinks he’s a worthy opponent. One of my favorite lines that really showed this was in that final moment on the hilltop when he’s about to kill him, he tells Spartacus, “Would you had been born a Roman and had stood beside me.” I think that really says everything he feels. Spartacus in many ways is much more worthy of the name “Roman” than a lot of Romans.You know, history really decided that one, since Gannicus did historically die. He actually died in a much earlier battle. We bent that and kept him all the way to the end. But for me, it felt like he really had to die to give his life to this cause that he fought believing in for so long. It was beautiful symmetry. Because if you remember in Vengeance, the thing that turned him to take Ilithyia to Spartacus was seeing his prostitute friend crucified. Then to have that come all the way around where he gives his life to help Sibyl and the others escape, and ends up on the cross, I thought was apt and fitting. I love that final moment when he’s dying, and he sees Oenomaus because he’s spoken so often of Oenomaus greeting him in the afterlife. Then his final hallucination of being back in the arena, which is the only place he really felt like he belonged.No, that was all previous footage. Movie magic. Yes, I thought the visual effects people did a beautiful job.

Continue to Page 2, as DeKnight talks about the fates of Agron, Nasir and Crixus.