that scene would have been so shit if tiberius hacked at crixus like five or six times.
the ending was beautiful and was one of their best moments.
True, but it just cheapened the whole big deal that Crixus made of it in a prior season. After Naevia failed to behead Ashur, she even reiterated what Crixus said about it being a tough feat to perform, as if only the most skilled swordsmen could perform it. Up until Tiberius, only the likes of Spartacus and Gannicus had performed such feats in the series. Not sure if Crixus ever did. Someone mentioned that Tiberius took a baseball bat-like swing, but that wouldn't make the feat any easier. Ask most people who've tried splitting logs with an axe for the first time. Someone else said you could chalk it up to Crixus sharpening the blade himself. Maybe. But again, it still cheapened a feat that the show specifically made a big deal about earlier in the series. That it happened to Crixus himself makes it appear that they foreshadowed how he would die long in advance. So, are we now to believe that Tiberius has suddenly transformed into this super solider, capable of ass-raping the mighty Caesar, killing two previously invincible characters, and beheading the thick-necked Crixus in a single blow? Fine, but it's comical.
Regarding Naevia, even though it's understandable why she became the way that she is, I think it's hard to appreciate the character change, because she was literally a different woman from the original actress. And the actress change coincided exactly with the character change, so we never got to see the original Naevia, who we've formed a connection with, go through those changes. It was just a completely new actress, who acted nothing like the old Naevia, so to the audience it was like there was never a character development change. We just got this new girl who kept compromising the rebellion with her stupidity. There's no sympathy for what she went through, because the complete disparity in demeanor and appearance from the old Naevia won't allow our brains to accept the two as the same character.
