.

He finds one in ferocious Achillia (Tenika Davis), whom he first encounters as she’s kicking some Roman soldiers’ butts in order to escape a slave market.

Although the show has received some criticism and divided critics and the audience, it has been a constant hit on the platform. As highlighted in the clip, women might not have fought, but she is proving why they're able to hold their own against a series of other experienced gladiators.

The official description for the upcoming Episode 4, "Blood and Bone," reads, "Ashur desperately maneuvers to secure a place in the upcoming games of the Ludi Apollinares before the imminent arrival of Marcus Crassus." Maha Vrvilo directed the episode from a script by Ihouma Ofordire.

Spartacus: House of Ashur marks a new entry in the long-running, violent franchise.

They’re sometimes joined by a third, demure Messia (Ivana Baquero), who has secret desires.

As Ashur steers his unruly gladiators toward success, he becomes enmeshed in Roman politics with Julius Caesar (Jackson Gallagher) and his wife Cornelia (Jaime Slater).

That’s what Achillia goes through when she realizes just how big a beast she’s about to fight.”

Ashur particularly wants her to impress the snobby Roman aristocrat Cossutia (Claudia Black) and her senator husband Gabinius (Andrew McFarlane), whose pure-hearted widowed daughter Viridia (India Shaw-Smith) takes Ashur’s breath away.

That act made him a friend to the Roman Republic. “Suddenly she can imagine a different life for herself, not as a gladiator but as an unconstrained woman,” Shaw-Smith says. Adds Slater, “We make Ashur’s life a living hell.”

No doubt Ashur’s used to that; “to hell and back” would be a suitable motto.

Spartacus: House of Ashur, Fridays, 9/8c, Starz