#it's thematically and narratively unbalanced dammit!

[variousqueerthings]

this may be my preference speaking, but i really do think killing mira off end s3 was possibly the biggest misstep in spartacus, especially in the way it was done (THIS IS WITH THE CAVEAT IDK IF IT WAS AN EXTERNAL THING, LIKE THE ACTRESS GETTING ANOTHER JOB. STILL THINK IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN WRITTEN DIFFERENTLY, BUT ANYWAY).

her arc was building to become something and that something was specifically going to be without her being tethered to spartacus romantically, but then it kind of ends her story on a whimper that doesn't really do her justice -- like a poor shadow of sura's death, in which she's just there to serve spartacus' pain, but doesn't really add anything of thematic value in its execution, because the whole point of her relationship with spartacus is that he'll never love her, and for her own sake she needs to let him go because she's got so much else potentially going for her

it opened up the potential and then immediately snuffed it out without going anywhere with it, or her, arc

i think the hints at her interactions with saxa, her contrasting opinions and temperament to spartacus and the bridge she creates between naevia and the wider cast (since i feel naevia is somewhat disconnected outside of her narrative with crixus in s4) makes her the glue between several parts of the plot -- especially the emotional plot -- that feel just a bit weaker without her there

like saxa gets paired with gannicus in a "pair-the-spares" kinda way, but neither of them are super connected to the rest of the main cast, because neither of them were placed with the main cast until s3 (outside of gannicus knowing crixus, but that's kinda more casual + oneomaus who also dies in s3) so they don't pull the other further into the main character sphere + they never really interacted before this season, so i don't care as much for them together and the show kind of feels a bit lukewarm on them anyway (setting up gannicus and sibyl who is also a new character). gannicus fairs better than saxa, because he becomes "one of the main four," but i do notice the female characters get a bit of short shrift when it comes to character arcs in s4 that aren't about A Dude (naevia, saxa, laeta, sibyl, even kore to an extent, but she's got some revenge to do as well)

and it's all good, it's fine, the final season is still really really good and it has an incredibly satisfying ending, one of my favourites of all time -- but mira as character was doing something that none of the others could do, she was a close friend to most of them from their time at the house of batiatus so her opinion holds emotional weight, which in many ways spartacus' doesn't always (he's like. philosophical weight. political weight. emotionally the whole point is that he's a wee bit of a stone wall because he'll never stop mourning his wife, right up until the latter half of the final season when he does try), and imo ought to have become spartacus' second in command, because without her this whole thing becomes a bit of a macho fest between spartacus, agron, crixus, and gannicus (i notice that they all kind of take on mira's role at times, with saxa and laeta also doing so now and again, but none of them with quite as much Weight to it again, because we've seen mira come to that place over the course of two seasons) (also agron and crixus spend a fair bit of time in s4 losing their damn minds, especially crixus)

and. tbh. she earned it more than any of those three. she and spartacus were planning before anyone else. she kept him from doing things that would harm others way back in s1, she was always the counter-voice to him and it would have been cool to see where they could have gone with that (whether it's her dissenting more, or whether people call her out for taking his side too much, or a mix of both or or or...)

also, while they do introduce three new main female cast members in the final season (kore, sybil, laeta), the only one that has kind of a similar role to mira is laeta, and it's, i would say, again something that would have been stronger if she had been there to witness and react to it, which, if im suggesting a point where she might have died, it could have been with crixus end ep8: spartacus has set out to create a new life and stop fighting, and laeta is his chosen partner for that. if mira -- who spent s3 coming to terms with the idea that spartacus would never love again -- saw that, it would make sense for her to go with crixus and naevia and agron (and would have had someone other than crixus for naevia to care about in those scenes)

without mira it's just naevia from s1 that's the sole woman survivor of the house of batiatus, vs spartacus, crixus, agron, and gannicus, and naevia, like crixus, is not making um... good choices in the first half of the season. and there's no one to ping off of when she makes those choices

naevia is having her whole trauma spiral and has nothing to contrast to so she just floats about doing Fucked Up Stuff, acting without anyone being able to challenge her emotionally, since crixus enables it (due to his own trauma Stuff), and that should have been mira! it's one of the more frustrating parts of this to watch, because naevia is a favourite, but in s4 she spends almost her entire arc either with crixus or off on her own killing people who haven't done anything wrong, and the viewer is kinda like... well that's no good. we need a character who is not gannicus who doesn't know her and whose contribution is calling her a stupid bitch getting in her face. someone she respects. lots of characters make dumb decisions on this show (on any show) and often in order for it to feel grounded, they need a voice at some point going: "hey. i am your emotional counterpart. we've been through shit together. and i am telling you. this is dumb. now are we going to remain friends or will this signal a split? which will be its own emotional arc." i would have been so into seeing naevia and mira fighting each other, because they've experienced many of the same traumas and are pinging off each others scars, to then making up and going on the campaign together

and. i like saxa a lot, she's one of my favourites too. but she's not a particularly deep character outside of what can make of her as a fan. if the story had done anything with the fact that they started out disliking each other, made up through the team-sparring sessions, and then saxa kissed her... well that's something to build on in s4, far more than "gannicus is currently single and saxa like to fuck"

IN CONCLUSION:

mira was by far the most pragmatic character in the cast and one with many emotional ties to characters that would have tied several characters more strongly to the core narrative + given those characters more emotional depth (naevia and saxa especially)

also would have served as a stronger tie between newer characters, especially laeta

would have broken up some of the narrative being so centered on romantic bonds over all others, giving the above female characters more to do than (mostly) follow a guy around

but also had a potential to write a sexual and possibly romantic narrative between two women (her and saxa) that wasn't for some guy on the show's titillation (yes, we had lucretia and gaia, but it wasn't all the way there, we needed that to be a springboard to a more developed relationship)

she carried the early rebellion on her back and her death should have been at a time that caused shockwaves through that rebellion and shook up spartacus' resolve in some way

it could have been deeply triggering to naevia and saxa, and depending on when she died (if it had been earlier in the season for example) then it also could have caused rifts within the main leadership of agron, crixus, and gannicus -- although my preference would have been end episode 8, beginning episode 9, or end episode 10, she's a final episodes character!

although if she'd survived the whole show, it could have been a great mirror to the beginning of the story, in which sura is destined to die to make events happen -- mira could have been destined to live despite everything being against her, keeping the spirit of spartacus alive through her survival

mira is way more "the spirit of spartacus" than any other character on this show, she's giving mirror arc!!!

basically there was just a lot more they could have done with her character and it feels like they were setting up for more, so it's less that "oh it's sad," and more "hmmm feels like a rewrite for some reason. it doesn't sit right, in the plot. everyone else's death is meaningful somehow. and hers just. eh. moving on. and in what feels like the middle of her arc, not the end of it. like they didn't know what to do with her and took the lazy way out, but there was so much they could have done"

and. saxa kissed her and they did nothing with that?? cmon!!