Alice Henley

ROMES2, E10

About Your Father

(Series finale.) In the aftermath of the battle of Actium, Mark Antony returns to Alexandria, settling into a world of numbing debauchery with Cleopatra. Meanwhile, Octavian turns to Pullo to try to convince Vorenus to give up Cleopatra's palace in lieu of a fiery siege. Predictably, Vorenus refuses, but Cleopatra seems all too willing to dupe Mark Antony in order to save her life, if not her honor. With Octavian's army at the palace steps, Vorenus flees with Caesarion, Cleopatra's imperious son and Caesar's supposed heir, whom Octavian wants dead. As Vorenus exits the city with the boy, Pullo is ordered by Octavian to track them down. Their journeys lead Vorenus and Pullo back to Rome for an emotional reunion at the Collegium--just as Octavian's triumph is being held amidst bittersweet pomp and circumstance.
ROMES2, E9

No God Can Stop a Hungry Man

Rome is facing a dire shortage of grain, forcing Octavian to barter with Mark Antony to get new shipments sent from Egypt. But instead of agreeing to Octavian's price--money and territory--Mark Antony flatly turns him down, pointing towards an inevitable conflict between the two former allies and, perhaps, Vorenus and Pullo. As a last resort, Octavian sends Atia and Octavia to Alexandria, knowing their reception will most likely be a chilly one. At the Collegium, where Pullo is rationing out grain to increasingly restless Romans, Gaia saves her master from a caged animal's wrath, but can't save herself. After fleeing a deteriorating situation in Egypt, Posca gives Octavian the ammunition he needs to turn the people against Mark Antony, setting in motion the wheels of war.
ROMES2, E8

A Necessary Fiction

Octavian proclaims a new era of virtue in Rome, issuing a stern mandate that proves impossible for his family and subordinates to obey. A shipment of gold is mysteriously hijacked while en route to the Roman treasury, casting suspicion everywhere and sending Vorenus on a mission to learn who betrayed whom. In the wake of personal tragedy, Pullo turns his grief into fury at Memmio, Omnipor and their henchmen. After courting an "appropriate" bride named Livia, Octavian turns his attentions to more important matters, issuing to Mark Antony an ultimatum he knows he can't refuse.