Was Barbarians Season 2 Worth the Wait?

credit: Barbarians

The first season of Barbarians dealt with a great deal of exposition and even the burden of telling the truth from a historical standpoint, at least for a while. The fictional side of this story has come out in a big way, however, as the various tribes that were introduced in the first season have come forth to deal with the ongoing problem of Roman occupation in the second season.

Arminius and Thusnelda have become the underdogs yet again, with another chieftain, Marbod, entering the fray with a superior force and an affinity for peace with the Romans that Arminius knows is little more than another form of bondage to Rome that will not favor the tribes. As much of a hero as he was in the first season, though, Arminius had to start all over and gain the trust of the people once again in order to make them aware of the continued threat that Rome represents. Along with the leader of the Romans and his adopted son, Germanicus, and the weasely Flavus, Arminius’ brother, the Romans made life extremely difficult for the barbarian tribes. 

credit: Barbarians

This show makes one wonder if history would agree with the representations of each character. 

Without beating around the bush, each character comes off as very easy to enjoy and support or absolutely horrible and not worth giving a second thought to since they’re cowardly, treacherous, or both. The trick, however, is that none of them are perfect, and the understanding is that while Romans appear civilized and the barbarians are still bound to offer sacrifices to Wotan (Odin), it’s fair to say that the Romans are no more civilized for the manner in which they treat others.

But it’s very easy to state that Tiberius, the leader of the Romans, is a weakling that is treacherous to a fault and conniving without a doubt, while Arminius is resolute and out to save his people no matter what it takes. As for the others that are given prominence in this story, they range from being among the most devious and cowardly, such as Flavus, Arminius’ brother, to as supportive and resolute as they can be. But one does wonder how history truly paints these individuals. 

It’s not tough to hate the Romans in this show. 

The show doesn’t really give the Romans any redeeming qualities since Tiberius, Germanicus, and Flavus are absolutely horrible, no matter their motives and no matter that the barbarians aren’t much better at times. Taking a look at how the Romans operate and how often they’re helped by Segestes, Thusnelda’s devious and cowardly father who seeks to undermine her and Ari’s rule at every point, it’s easy to think that without their spies and paid informants that the Romans would be lost.

Following the loss at Teutoburg, the Romans would no doubt be far more cautious in attempting to bring civilization to the ‘savages’, but it’s also fair to think that they would seek to undermine the tribes with the promise of something that might sound like a good idea, but would be a giant smoke screen that many who desired riches would never see.  

credit: Barbarians

The matter between Folkwin, Thusnelda, and Arminius was finally given a bit of closure. 

It wasn’t hard to note that since they had ties dating back to childhood that Folkwin, Thusnelda, and Arminius would be bound for a long time to one another, even though Folkwin and Thusnelda were adamant about being together in the first season. Once Ari returned, however, and rejoined his people entirely, Folkwin’s desire to see Ari dead came from the intense love that he had for the man as a friend, as he admitted just before his death.

How Ari will feel now that he knows that Folkwin fathered the child he believed to be his is hard to say, but realizing that there was at least some closure to the story that existed between this trio is enough to make one think that Ari and Thusnelda will continue to present themselves as a true power couple. Of course, that leads to the next point and one of the biggest hurdles that Ari will need to deal with. 

There needs to be a season three with what has happened. 

Was anyone else even a bit sorry to see what happened to Segestes? It was sad that his wife would go along with his plan and reap the same fate, but what’s really tragic is the abduction of Thusnelda, her brother, and her son at the same time. To see a proud warrior taken down by the threat of her son’s death if she did not desist is enough to make anyone’s blood burn. But as for Segestes, oh well. One can only hope that a third season will get the green light so that things will be taken a bit further.