The Trojans
Troy: Fall of a City finally produced an hour of TV that captivated me from beginning to end. It helped that the stakes were as high as they have ever been as the Trojans dealt with the aftermath of Hector’s death (“He really was the best of men,” noted Priam, accurately if sadly) and Achilles’ refusal to return his body. That refusal led to Priam making his own late-night journey into the Greek camp (security being notably lax on both sides when the plot needs it to be) where he staged an uncomfortable looking sit-in before confronting Achilles in a well-written scene, which had the additional bonus of finally giving David Threlfall something to do.
Things were also coming to an uncomfortable head back in Troy where a grief-stricken Andromache raised a righteous toast to Helen “the woman who caused all this”. Paris said goodbye to the fripperies of youth and announced he was putting city before sex. Xanthius found himself betrayed by the very moppet he has spent his time being kind to and faced a very short and painful future as Aeneas and Paris tried to whip the truth from him. Luckily for him, Helen, finally realising that she was all out of options, carried out what may have been the first unselfish act of her life and freed him after offering herself up in exchange for the safety of the people of Troy. Unfortunately, I rather think that it may prove to have come too late.
The Greeks
Things weren’t much better over on the Greek side as Agamemnon, Menelaus and Odysseus (the latter reluctantly) conspired to deceive Achilles, forcing him to forfeit his honour in the process. The resulting fallout saw the treacherous Greeks break the agreed 12-day mourning truce. Then a rage-filled Achilles cut down half the Trojan army, defeated Penthesilea and the Amazons, and finally confronted Priam at the gates of Troy before being killed by Paris after taking an arrow to the heel. David Gyasi has been an interesting Achilles, doubt-ridden and pride-filled and his death was the perfect mix of glory and disillusionment, stained by the blood of past sins, yet oddly noble in its way.
For the increasingly weary Odysseus, the betrayal of Achilles was one terrible act too far. “I loved him,” he noted sadly of the fallen warrior. “Tell the king it’s over. We’re done here,” he said staring out at the waves. It was a beautifully shot scene, containing just the right amount of sorrow and despair. Joseph Mawle has given probably the most consistent performance on this show and he did his best to make us feel what has been sacrificed here, but it could and should have been so much more.
The Gods
So, as suspected, Aphrodite’s “the curse has been lifted” line was so much wishful thinking. Instead, as Zeus again reiterated, the Gods are, to an extent, passive bystanders. They can aid those they support, but they can’t change the course of fate. Paris is alive and Troy, as we have always known, will fall.
Additional omens
- The framing of Hector’s mourning feast looked a lot like a Renaissance painting.
- I liked the little scene with Penthesilea burying her dead and the recognition that she has forgotten what it was like for people to die out of combat.
- While the scenes where Achilles triumphed over the Amazons were well shot, they were also a little close to something out of Assassin’s Creed for my liking.
Worrying omen of the week
Not an omen as such, but I liked the way that Briseis’s message to Agamemnon served as a warning that his time will come.
Epic declaration of the week
“Tell Odysseus to him the glory. This always was a shabby war.” – Achilles lays down a suitably grubby benediction to a dubious conflict.
So, what did you think? Was this a good episode or is it too little too late? As always all speculation welcome below.
