#spartacus meta

[sforzesco]

Cardinal, you might want to check Plutarch's Comparison of Nikias and Crassus section II. It's where he says that Crassus struck Lucius Annalius in the face!

oh OH I was flipping through like, the actual Biographies and Cicero's Letters in my mind, not the Comparisons

my opinion on it is that I wish it was in any of the Biographies because the parts of Crassus' personality that appear in the Biographies of other figures are extremely interesting to me, and the fact that this incident was left out of a Biography and instead inserted into the Comparison intrigues me, especially in a larger reading of how Plutarch tackles Crassus. like. hm.

A Life in Pieces: Plutarch, Crassus 12.1-16.8, James T. Chlup

something something the whole bacchae-parthia thing, getting pentheused, a life in pieces, a body in pieces etc etc

my updated opinion now that I know what we're talking about (thank you for the clarification anon): Hot, Sexy, Wish Plutarch Put It In The Bio Itself Because It Really Drives Home The Hay On His Horns Comment In The Crassus Bio

[enbymoomin]

Someday... I will type up my analysis on the meta-dialogue between The Hunger Games, Spartacus, and Black Sails... Someday....

[windmilltothestars]

15 Questions Meme!

Not really tagged by @magnetocerebro but it’s been a while and I’m in the mood, so why not?

1. Are you named after anyone?

Sort of?  I apparently had an ancestor named Malinda Minerva Spanigal!  Is that not the coolest name ever??  My parents also found ‘Malina’ in a name book or something and decided they liked the sound and meaning of it and it could also honor the ancestor but just knock of the ‘d’!

2. What was the last time you cried?

It’s actually not too recently, oddly enough!  I’ve been a little on edge for hormonal reasons the past few days, and the good ol’ dissatisfaction with my current place in the world, but I’ll cite the funniest example.  I watched an episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys where the people tried to put Herc on trial for inspiring people to endanger themselves by trying to be ‘heroes’ and how ‘heroes’ had no place in a civilized society.  But in the end he gave a passionate speech about what it means to be a hero and if that’s wrong in the modern world, he’ll gladly go to prison for it, and then all his friends stood up and did the “I am Spartacus” thing to stand by him, and I’m not gonna lie, I got a little choked up.

3. Do you have kids?

Nope!  This is unusual among my high school classmates, but normal among my college friends.  I do have two cats that I unload my motherly feelings on, though, along with some of my friends’ kids, to whom I am an honorary auntie.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

I’ve come around to being mostly irony-free and earnest!  However, I feel being around my brother brings out my sarcastic side.  And sometimes I will try to use sarcasm for good, ie. sarcastically complaining about my friends’ qualities that are clearly false and the opposite of their best qualities, to demonstrate how absurd their own self-criticism is to me.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

I mean, obviously just seeing them I’ll notice what they look like, but I feel I am also very attuned to the kind of energy people project, and shy away from certain kinds of energy and gravitate toward others.  I don’t mean anything weird and spiritual by this, I just mean the vibes and emotions I pick up from the way people talk, carry themselves, respond to others, etc.

6. What’s your eye color?

It’s a dull greyish shade of green or blue that looks greener or bluer or brighter depending on what I’m wearing.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I mean, for sure happy endings!  There’s certain brands of ‘horror’ that aren’t too rough for me and have elements I do enjoy, but often that milder horror will have a happy ending, too!

8. Any special talents?

Well, if I’m honest, I have no false modesty about my singing voice.  In fact, I have been known (to my shame) to get a little vain or show-offy about it.  But so many people tell me it’s nice, and I take great joy in singing, and I like the sound of it, too, and I have a special pride when I am able to lead people in song because my voice is on-pitch and strong and confident.

9. Where were you born?

Billings, Montana!

10. What are you hobbies?

At the moment?  I’m trying to get back into drawing and writing fanfics.  But I have not achieved massive success so far!  I’ve had more success reading through my third biography of Lafayette, and writing weird meta-essays comparing fandom stuff . . . When I’m with like-minded friends, we always sing folk-songs or hymns together, and that’s always a wonderful time!  Occasionally I enjoy playing my guitar alone or cross-stitching as well . . .  To simplify, my hobbies are everything and nothing!!

11. Do you have any pets?

Cats!  My two girls I adopted in Korea, Kartoshka (Toshka for short) and Dulcinea (Dulcie for short) have now joined their venerable old uncle Phoenix, whom I got in high school and who stayed with my parents while I was in Korea.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

I used to play softball in middle school, and I took a summer course in Mixed Martial Arts once.  When I was a little girl, I took ballet.  But I’m not super-athletic by nature, so I haven’t played in quite a while.

13. How tall are you?

5′3′‘-5′4′‘ I think.

14. Favorite subject in school?

English, Choir, Art (specifically loved my sculpture class; my teacher was amazing!) and Acting in high school.  Really loved my Philosophy class and Classical Mythology class when I got to college, but my FAVORITE class of my college career was Screenwriting!

15. Dream job?

Well, as you can see by my favorite subjects and favorite hobbies, my interests are very wide across the spectrum of the arts!  Do I wanna be a musical theatre actress?  A folk/filk singer?  A stage or film director, or actress?  A screenwriter?  An author of fiction or an author of comparative literature criticism?  A comic book writer/illustrator?  A sculptor?  An English teacher or college lecturer who just gets to monologue about my favorite books and themes as a living?  A youtuber who does the same?  All of the above and more? 

But also, my career experience so far has been in International ESL Education, and I do love working with kids!  I specifically loved working closer with individual kids in a tutoring capacity, while also experiencing new cultures!  So I was looking into au pair/governess stuff . . .

Following in the footsteps of my esteemed forebear, I won’t tag anyone specifically, but welcome anyone who sees this (especially if we know each other!) to participate, if they feel so inclined! :)

[calispirit]

DOSSIER.

FULL NAME.   alessia alvarez-zeppeli.

SPECIES.   human.

BIRTHDAY.   november 13th

GENDER AND PRONOUNS.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. she/they.

ORIENTATION.   bisexual

OCCUPATION.   unemployed.

HEIGHT.   5'7

WEIGHT.   150lbs

BODY TYPE.   strong and well built, lean musculature noticeable around the arms and legs.

HAIR.   inky black, smooth and shiny, falling past her shoulders in soft waves.

EYES.   the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes, framed by thick lashes.

NOTABLE TRAITS.   golden skin, heavily freckled. slightly crooked teeth. strong and angular facial features.

VOICE.   aj michalka.

FAMILY / RELATIONSHIPS.

PARENTS.   hercules and evita alvarez-zeppeli.

SIBLINGS.   tiberius alvarez-zeppeli, spartacus alvarez-zeppeli, cicero alvarez-zeppeli, scipio alvarez-zeppeli, effie alvarez-zeppeli, maureen alvarez-zeppeli, johanna alvarez-zeppeli, cosette alvarez-zeppeli.

PETS.   family dog, neopolitan mastiff named bruno.

EXTENDED.   caesar zeppeli, distant ancestor.

OTHER.   

BACKGROUND.

EDUCATION.   homeschooled.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION.   roman catholic.

MENTAL PROFILE.  shows some signs of adhd, but is not diagnosed.

ALIGNMENT.   chaotic neutral   /   good.

TV TROPES.   .

STAND. california love.

STAND APPEARANCE.

STAND ABILITY. california love can produce small clouds of condensed oxygen. while these can be used to assist others by providing oxygen, they can also be used to induce oxygen intoxication - or even be lit aflame and used as a projectile weapon.

NAMESAKE. california love by tupac ft. dr. dre.

HAMON. to be elaborated on.

ETC.

TRAITS. outgoing, excitable. curious, impatient, confident, compassionate, energetic, confrontational, assertive, honest, messy, witty, charismatic.

LIKES.   cowboy movies, food, hiking, fancy cigars, beaches, parades, festivals.

DISLIKES.   being bored, cold weather, being alone for too long, enclosed spaces, wasps.

HOBBIES.   cooking, shopping, skateboarding, horse riding, guitar, dancing, cycling, surfing.

SMOKING   /   DRINKING   /   DRUG USE.   yes   /   socially   /   no.

FUN FACTS.   

IMPORTANT METAS, w.i.p.

[lovendured]

DOSSIER.

FULL NAME.   alessia cruz-zeppeli.

SPECIES.   human.

BIRTHDAY.   november 13th

GENDER AND PRONOUNS.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. she/they.

ORIENTATION.   bisexual

OCCUPATION.   unemployed.

HEIGHT.   5'7

WEIGHT.   150lbs

BODY TYPE.   strong and well built, lean musculature noticeable around the arms and legs.

HAIR.   inky black, smooth and shiny, falling past her shoulders in soft waves.

EYES.   the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes, framed by thick lashes.

NOTABLE TRAITS.   golden skin, heavily freckled. slightly crooked teeth. strong and angular facial features.

VOICE.   aj michalka.

FAMILY / RELATIONSHIPS.

PARENTS.   hercules and evita cruz-zeppeli.

SIBLINGS.   tiberius cruz-zeppeli, spartacus cruz-zeppeli, cicero cruz-zeppeli, scipio cruz-zeppeli, effie cruz-zeppeli, maureen cruz-zeppeli, johanna cruz-zeppeli, cosette cruz-zeppeli.

PETS.   family dog, neopolitan mastiff named bruno.

EXTENDED.   caesar zeppeli, great - uncle.

OTHER.   

BACKGROUND.

EDUCATION.   homeschooled.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION.   roman catholic.

MENTAL PROFILE.  shows some signs of adhd, but is not diagnosed.

ALIGNMENT.   chaotic neutral   /   good.

TV TROPES.   .

STAND. california love.

STAND APPEARANCE.

STAND ABILITY. california love can produce small clouds of condensed oxygen. while these can be used to assist others by providing oxygen, they can also be used to induce oxygen intoxication - or even be lit aflame and used as a projectile weapon.

NAMESAKE. california love by tupac ft. dr. dre.

HAMON. to be elaborated on.

ETC.

TRAITS. outgoing, excitable. curious, impatient, confident, compassionate, energetic, confrontational, assertive, honest, messy, witty, charismatic.

LIKES.   cowboy movies, food, hiking, fancy cigars, beaches, parades, festivals.

DISLIKES.   being bored, cold weather, being alone for too long, enclosed spaces, wasps.

HOBBIES.   cooking, shopping, skateboarding, horse riding, guitar, dancing, cycling.

SMOKING   /   DRINKING   /   DRUG USE.   yes   /   socially   /   no.

FUN FACTS.   

IMPORTANT METAS, w.i.p.

[ailtrahq]

A mysterious project, known as “Project Spartacus,” has emerged, presumably with the intent to support Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. What Happened: The project seeks to commemorate the classified information that the U.S. government has accused Assange of illegally providing to journalists in the renowned Afghan War Diary by inscribing it onto the Bitcoin BTC/USD  blockchain.Established in 2006, WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organization. The organization was founded by Assange, an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who is presently fighting against extradition to the US due to his involvement with WikiLeaks. Despite being an Australian citizen and having allegedly not committed any offenses on U.S. soil, Assange’s extradition remains a looming possibility.Bitcoin Magazine revealed the existence of Project Spartacus, which aims to immortalize the tens of thousands of logs from the Afghan War published by Assange’s WikiLeaks in July 2010. To accomplish this, Project Spartacus utilizes the Ordinals protocol, a meta protocol for Bitcoin that allows for the addition of arbitrary data to the blockchain. This approach aligns with the project’s aim to combat information censorship. Will The SEC Finally Approve Long-Awaited Bitcoin Spot ETF? secure early bird discounted tickets now!A Stay At The Floating Palace From James Bond's ‘OctopussyWhy It Matters: By inscribing the Afghan War logs onto the blockchain, Project Spartacus seeks to protect the data that Assange risked his life to make public. Project Spartacus takes a unique approach by utilizing Ordinals’ successful use case of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin blockchain to emphasize the importance of decentralized information accuracy. With tens of thousands of nodes in different jurisdictions worldwide, the Bitcoin blockchain, powered by Ordinals, may serve as the ultimate publishing tool to combat information censorship and tampering.According to a report by Galaxy Digital, text files represent the vast majority of Bitcoin inscriptions, accounting for approximately 95% of all inscriptions. Image-based inscriptions account for approximately 3.5% of all inscriptions, with the remaining 1.5% consisting of other types of digital artifacts.Last week. Democratic Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed his clear stance on Assange. "Yeah, I will pardon Julian Assange on day one, and probably Snowden as well. And I will look at other cases," he said.Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $0.058, down 1.06% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro. Here’s How Much You Should Invest In Shiba Inu Today For A $1M Payday If SHIB Hits 1 Cent?

[blondelucretia]

In "Reckoning," a promising gladiator named Dagan became blind in his right eye. [...] Oenomaus, in speaking with the dominus about Dagan's gladiatorial future, doubted his ability to survive in the arena, saying, "Dagan is now blind to attack from the right." This appraisal foreshadowed Dagan's death in the following episode, but it also provided insight into Oenomaus' mindset in Spartacus: Vengeance heading into the battle in which he was killed.

In the penultimate episode of Spartacus: Vengeance, Oenomaus was also blinded, albeit in his left eye, when the Romans attacked the rebels' stronghold and forced them to retreat to Mount Vesuvius. Spartacus devised an ingenious plan to escape from the mountaintop and rout Glaber's army in a surprise attack, and Oenomaus without hesitation helped lead it. He inspired the rebels in saying, "A man is never too weak or too wounded to fight if the cause is greater than his own life." A sword tore through his midsection during the fight, undoubtedly because he was blind to attack from the left.

Oenomaus therefore marched down Vesuvius likely aware that he had a small chance of survival, as evidenced by his appraisal of Dagan in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Although Oenomaus' death was objectively likely given his injury even without the Dagan/Oenomaus connection, an audience member aware of it realized that Oenomaus himself knew his death was forthcoming, which made his end all the more heroic. Killing him in an early battle between the rebels and Romans satisfied any expectations the audience had about seeing a historically accurate depiction of his demise. His death was foreshadowed, and consequently given meaning, by linking one point in the story space to another.

—"It is for history to decide": The Story Space of the Spartacus Series, by James Klima. (Spartacus in the Television Arena)

[blondelucretia]

How heartbreaking is it, that the first thing Naevia says upon being reunited with Crixus is “Forgive me for what I have done”?

Of course survivors often feel guilt & shame. Did she feel guilty about Ashur (and the countless terrible men who followed)? She had no choice in sleeping with him, but she saw how it hurt Crixus just the same. And she knew that pain well: she often had had to stand around the corner & listen to him having sex with Lucretia.

Perhaps she also carried guilt about speaking the truth to Lucretia at last: “Crixus never loved you. He did only as commanded.” Maybe if she hadn’t been so defiant she wouldn’t have been sent to the mines; maybe Crixus wouldn’t have been lashed so severely.

Then pair Naevia’s plea for forgiveness with Crixus’ parting words to her: “I have ruined us.”

The tragedy here is not only that they were pulled apart, but that they both turned their blame inwards instead of at the system that separated & repeatedly traumatized them. As slaves, they were brainwashed into believing that they were at fault for breaking the rules; that it was foolish for them to love in the first place, rather than unconscionable that they were forbidden to do so. And remember that Crixus was determined to earn his freedom as a gladiator & find Naevia—it wasn’t until he discovered that Lucretia had drugged him in his match against Spartacus that he realized how fundamentally unjust the situation was: the house always wins.

You are safe, you are safe now. I’m here, I’m here. Crixus? Forgive me, forgive me for what I have done.

[brunnismemorybank]

I might be the only fan who didn’t consider Spartacus’s final season a letdown. 

That said, by treating Crassus and his family as the relatively-staid alternative to a wild-child Julius Caesar, the producers missed a golden (heh heh) opportunity to out-tacky all previous villains in conspicuous consumption.

[kurozu501]

this scene was long but i had to cap all of it. I love this speech and how it fleshes out spartacus’ character. 

I kind of assumed the narrative would just keep spartacus ignorant. He’d go on being a cool friend to the villagers, eventually sacrifice himself for them, and it would be tragic because despite all he’d done for them ultimately we have to destroy this lostbelt. There were tons of moments in Fate Zero like that where people would sacrifice for what they believe in and then have it be for naught. With urobuchi once again writing, it wasn’t hard to imagine we’d see something like that again. 

But instead we get this amazing moment. Gordelf brings up the idea that we shouldn’t be nice to anyone in the lostbelts, that we should just keep our distance and treat them all as our enemies. Its a logical, cold view that most people would call reasonable. And thats why i love Spartacus’ counter. He’s essentially arguing that its important to respect these people’s agency, and their right to make free, informed decisions. They didn’t ask to be thrust into this death game either. Even if they are our enemies, they should be allowed to stand up and fight for their right to exist just like us. 

(In a way its a rebuke to LB2′s ending where the people all died in their sleep without even knowing death was coming. No one in that world even knew they were involved in a battle that would decide if their world would live or die. All agency was kept from them to the very end. As he says, they deserved to know and to fight against that fate.)

But more then that, Spartacus is saying that instead of treating them as obstacles that need to be destroyed, we have to treat them as people. “If they are to inherit the hopes and dreams of our history, we must teach them about our poetry and our feelings.” is such a beautiful line that gets to the heart of this. Because the reverse is also true. If we are to be the ones that go on after destroying them, then its only right that we should learn about their feelings and their dreams, and carry those on with us.

[littlehollyleaf]

Tagged by the dear @castiel-saved-me-from-myself <3

Rules: name your top 10 favorite female characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people

Charlie Bradbury (spn)

Tabitha Galavan (Gotham)

Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Eve Baird (The Librarians)

Entrapta (She Ra)

Shotgun Mary (Warrior Nun)

Naevia (Spartacus)

Lily/Brona (Penny Dreadful)

Tilly (Star Trek Discovery)

Lumen (Dexter)

Dang, choosing only one from each fandom was HARD! These aren't necessarily my absolute hard and fast favs from each fandom, but they are the ones that first sprang to mind.

(is my Dexter one too left field? I adore Deb, ofc I do, but Lumen's season is my fav! ...doesn't mean it's the best, however :p)

Ten people is too many to tag *whines* Play if you want and say I tagged you ;P

[crushcandles]

I cannot wait to hear your thoughts on Nasir!! -Spartacus anon

Spoiler alert! I am already super into him! I am very excited to see a character explore freedom from a different lens than the characters who came from the ludus together (and especially the gladiators who are trained and powerful and more ready for this), and it’s interesting to see him struggle with it because it’s so new and scary. I want to see where he goes! I assume after trying to stab the leader of the rebels and then almost losing his trust in a gambit to bait Roman scouts to their deaths you can only go up from there.

(I won’t lie to you though: even though I know a bunch of the cast is from AUS/NZ I literally went “WHAT” when he started speaking. I wasn’t expecting the accent at all!)

Other random thoughts:

After the prequel, I am much warmer toward Crixus. He’s still the kind of person who would fart in a crowded room and then shrug when everyone looked at him, but I understand him and his Batman voice better now.

I want Naevia back. I hope they find her!

I am very, very interested to see what Lucretia gets up to. Her surviving was a total surprise to me.

I’m still getting used to the new Spartacus. I’m guessing that it would be easier to handle if I had the traditional 8-12 months between TV seasons, instead of finishing S1 on Friday and starting S2 yesterday.

I...love...Agron. I love him. In these first two episodes he’s so, so bitchy. He has excellent reason, but I cannot get enough of his snippiness. Him giving Nasir a drink, talking to him about brothers, and then getting all passive-aggressive about GUESS YOU’D BETTER JOIN US HUH is everything to me.

Speaking of them together, Agron eying Nasir speculatively and calling him “this wild little dog”? You know I’m here for it!! It’s one step removed from pup/puppy. GIVE.

[awed-frog]

Hi! So I might be a bit dummy but I still didn't understand the oyster subtext :3 (& I am not the previous anon) I love your blog too much :D

Hi and thank you! And don’t worry - not a dummy, it’s a complex subject! I had the great luck of following a semester on ‘cinema and the ancient world’ back in uni, so I have vivid memories of this Spartacus thing but not many online sources. Sorry for that.

Basically what happens is: one big problem we have with Hollywood vs Classics is that people want movies to be about Christianity and Christian values, which eliminates about 99% of Antiquity and leads to a huge misunderstanding of the other 1%. In the case of Spartacus, that’s a great movie (it’s Kubrick, ffs) and I’d rec the hell out of it, but from a historical perspective - academically speaking, I think one might define it as ‘one giant sucky mess’. 

(Which is mostly Kirk Douglas’ fault, by the way, because he got really zealoty and weird over how Christian the whole thing should be and people kept telling him ‘You do know this is set a full century before Jesus was even born, right?’ to absolutely no avail.)

So anyway Spartacus is about the most significant slave revolt in the ancient world (that we know of), and it’s a story that always fascinates people because a) all the what ifs, b) slavery is awful and c) a lot of guys we know were around at the time, including Caesar, Cicero and Crassus. As for Spartacus himself and what his plans were, unfortunately that remains unclear. After much effort and trouble and panic on the Roman side of things, Spartacus’ army was finally defeated in 71 BC and the survivors were crucified and left to die (note that crucifixion was a common - and humiliating - torture method, so there’s no Christian subtext in this at all).

[only slightly Jesus-y: Kirk Douglas prettily tied to a cross]

On top of the Christian propaganda -

(Which, i can’t stress this enough, wasn’t subtle. I mean, look at the absurd voiceover at the beginning of the movie: “In the last century before the birth of the new faith called Christianity which was destined to overthrow the pagan tyranny of Rome and bring about a new society, the Roman Republic stood at the very center of the civilized world…Yet even at the zenith of her pride and power, the Republic lay fatally stricken with the disease called human slavery.”)

- the movie, which is from 1960, is also very much concerned with the American civil rights movement and the Cold War-related purges in the entertainment industry. In fact, the book which inspired it was written in prison by Howard Fast, a Communist and political activist who’d refused to name the contributors of a fund for orphans of the Spanish Civil War (a fund! for orphans!). The screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, was also blacklisted because he’d refused to name people ‘spreading Communist influence’ in Hollywood, and Kirk Douglas fought personally (and bravely) to hire him and include his name in the credits. 

(At some point there’s this scene, now famous, where everybody claims to be Spartacus so they don’t betray their leader; it was most probably inspired by the anti-Communist trials of the 1950s.)

Anyway - coming back to your question, in 1960 the Hays Code was still enforced, which means no ‘sexual perversions’ could be shown on screen - and that included homosexuality, which was - not exactly in today’s form, because cultural norms and stuff - normal and widespread in the Roman world. Despite this, someone decided to film a scene of the movie’s main villain, general Crassus, attempting a seduction of his (male) slave and - problematically - chose to frame that seduction as acceptable. The dialogue goes as follows:

This went too far in that a) it established Crassus as bisexual (oysters being a euphemism for vaginas and snails for penises) and b) it didn’t condemn bisexuality or homosexuality as a perversion, or a moral issue. The scene was thus cut, and only reappears in the restored version in 1991 (the Hays Code was abolished in 1968). Fun fact: because the audio couldn’t be recovered, Spielberg, who supervised the restoration, had to fly in Tony Curtis (who played Antoninus) to re-record it. Sadly, Laurence Olivier (Crassus) had since died, and his widow chose Anthony Hopkins as a voice double.

[platonic bonding: Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier share a bath]

Now, as I said, I don’t know if that oyster reference in Good Omens was a nod to all of this (we should ask @neil-gaiman about it!), but on the whole it seems likely? Both Spartacus and that scene loom large in movie history, and Good Omens was peppered with careful historical and cultural references. For instance, the Petronius mentioned in that same scene has been confirmed to be Nero’s chief fashionista and famous gourmet - and possibly the author of tongue-in-cheek, outrageously funny novel Satyricon.

So there you go. It should be noted that despite the (cautious) steps forward we’re taking to normalize queer relationships on screen, movies set in Antiquity continue to be ridiculously straight. Here’s to hoping that changes soon. 

[demolitionloversleftalive]

i love loki but the minute i see some wall-o-text meta on my dash i’m like *falls asleep*

[violethowler]

The People's Champion: A Meta on Shiro's Missing Year

I keep seeing this perception of Shiro in the Voltorn fandom, particularly post-Season 8, that treats the nickname of “Champion” like it’s something sinister linked to his time being experimented on by Haggar and that the ultimate expression of it is usually along the lines of what we got in The Black Paladins and the end of The Colony, with him serving as a brainwashed puppet who coldly does whatever Haggar commands. The fandom likes to argue that the name “Champion” was a major part of his suffering at the hands of the empire. Except… that’s not what canon tells us.

The first time the name Champion is uttered in the series, in relation to Shiro, is by captured slaves. Fellow prisoners of the empire who were there with him in the arena. The only other characters to refer to him by that moniker were Pidge, who was just as confused over the nickname as he was, and Haggar, who from her tone of voice was clearly making fun of him. It’s very telling that Shiro only had a strong negative reaction was with Haggar, and that was more of a reaction to who was saying it. When Pidge and the other prisoners use it, the worst he expresses is concern over what he might have done in order to earn it (yes, he denied that he would have hurt Matt, but that was unconnected to the name itself).

Season 1 makes it clear that “Champion” was not a moniker given to him by his captors and tormentors. It was what his fellow prisoners called him. When the captured aliens rescued in “The Rise of Voltron” refer to Shiro as Champion, they say “if anyone can get us out of here, he can.” We know Shiro didn’t escape until Ulaz rescued him, but one of his first flashbacks back in the first episode clearly shows Sentries charging at him. But that raises the question of what happen. While it is admittedly disappointing that we don’t get any verbal acknowledgement of this, something I’ve come to realize is that the writing in Voltron is a lot like a pointillistic painting: all of the details are there, but you need to take a few steps backward in order for you brain to process the work as a complete image instead of a series of colored dots.

When the prisoners aboard Sendak’s battle cruiser recognize Shiro, the grey one (also the only one with lines) says “if anyone can get us out of here, he can.” There is no trace of doubt in his voice. He speaks with certainty that the Champion is here to free them, and not only that, that he will succeed. That pretty much tells us what Shiro did to earn his nickname. Just being a tough gladiator wouldn’t be enough to earn that kind of reverence from his fellow prisoners. If he was just a gladiator, the other prisoners were more likely to fear him instead.

But when you combine that reverence the prisoners have for him with his brief flashback of sentires charging at him, it becomes clear that while he never successfully escaped on his own until Ulaz, Shiro has pulled off multiple prison breaks before. And for the name of Champion to have that level of trust attached, each one of those prison breaks would have had to have been successful. The fact that he was Haggar’s pet project was probably be the only thing that would’ve saved Shiro from execution each time. And with the fact that the name itself didn’t prompt any flashes of memory the way Allura saying Zarkon’s name did earlier in the pilot episode, I don’t think Shiro was aware of the moniker his fellow prisoners had given him until that day.

Fans latched on to the fact that Haggar was aware of the nickname and took it as a hint towards what her ultimate plans for him had been. But while fanon interpretations of his Champion persona regard him as a cold, brainwashed killing machine, every use of the name in canon by someone not part of the empire carries an undertone of reverence. The Champion was a beacon of hope to his fellow prisoners. Someone who, when all the details we get in Season 1 are taken together, staged several successful breakouts from Central Command that allowed his fellow prisoners to escape the clutches of the Galra Empire.

Guys, Shiro was basically a proto-Spartacus in space. 

So, when the moniker is alluded to in Clear Day, it’s a reminder that as much as we all want to see him fly the Black Lion again, there is more to Shiro than being the Black Paladin. He isn’t just the Captain of the Atlas. He isn’t just an ex-Paladin, or a former Garrison pilot, or a diplomat. He’s the man who spent an entire year held prisoner and tortured by a hostile regime, but used the small modicum of status and privilege (if being Haggar’s lab rat could even be called such, but as I said before, it would have kept his head off the chopping block) his captors had unintentionally given him to help his other prisoners escape to freedom at the cost of his own. And even after all these years that heroism is still remembered. 

I have plenty of issues with the way the season we got in December treated Shiro, but the reminder of the Champion nickname is not one of them. It’s a reminder that you can take away the Black Lion. You could even take away the Atlas. But Takashi Shirogane always has been and always will be a hero.