IGN recently hosted a special screening of the first two episodes of Spartacus: House of Ashur in Los Angeles before its two-episode premiere on December 5. Series creator Steven S. DeKnight and star Nick E. Tarabay were on hand for the event and took part in a Q&A after the screening where they discussed the series, how it came to be, and what we can look forward to seeing.

For those who don’t know, Spartacus: House of Ashur is an alternate history that returns to the world of Spartacus and follows previous series antagonist Ashur. In this version, he lives through the events on Mount Vesuvius and becomes owner of the ludus (a gladiator training ground) that once owned him when he was an enslaved gladiator.

It’s been 12 years since the original run of Spartacus ended, and DeKnight said getting to work with Tarabay again and expanding on the groundwork they laid for Ashur were two of the major reasons he wanted to return for the show.

“The Ashur character, to me, is so intriguing,” he said. “Here’s a guy, when he first got to the ludus as a gladiator, he just wanted to be part of the brotherhood. I always say if Ashur had gotten a hug back then, he would’ve been a different person. But he was mocked and ridiculed and humiliated, and it turned him bitter. So I love the idea of taking this man and giving him a chance to be a better person. Can he be a better person? Or will his demons keep dragging him down?”

Tarabay expanded on that, saying that now that the story is told from his perspective, we’ll see new facets to him that we haven’t before.

“In this season, you’ll see a softer side of Ashur,” he said. “A loving side, a kind of vulnerable side to Ashur. And because of this, because of his feelings now, he’ll do things that you won’t think that he would do. And that’s all I can say about that.”

Through the original run of Spartacus, Ashur was the character the audience loved to hate. Now he’s the protagonist and given a chance at redemption, but Tarabay isn’t worried about how the audience will receive him.

“My job as an actor is to honor the writing, that’s all I do,” he said. “How you guys perceive it, that’s up to you. I leave that to your imagination. I wouldn’t dare to tell you how you should feel or shouldn’t feel. Whatever you feel is how you feel. I do my job, and the rest is up to the gods.”

The original run of Spartacus included real historical events, but telling this new story that takes place in an alternate timeline has allowed the show to stray from history in a way that DeKnight called “very freeing.”

“We have some historical guideposts, but after that… In the first episode, you see Ashur breaks from history by introducing the first female gladiator,” DeKnight said. “Historically, that actually came about 80 years later. But now that Ashur’s alive, he upsets history, and that’s just the first ripple. There are many more surprises coming.”

While Spartacus: House of Ashur is obviously focused on an existing character, DeKnight made it clear he intends for the show to be approachable for newcomers too. Episode 1 begins with a segment meant to introduce new fans to the show’s world.

“We really wanted that opening to be an homage to the original fans and a primer for the new fans,” DeKnight said. “To really set the world, reset the stage, and then we’re just diving right into it and we figure everybody will catch up.”

The show will debut with a two-episode premier on December 5 on STARZ and the STARZ app, with subsequent episodes airing each Friday afterward. The screening IGN hosted also showed those first two episodes, and DeKnight and Tarabay said they’re just the tip of the iceberg of what this season has to offer.

“Seriously, it’s a roller coaster,” Tarabay said. “I always said by the time we get to Episode 5 and from 5–10, I don’t know what the hell’s going on. Really, it’s so good. There’s a couple of episodes that I truly felt that we are in a Greek tragedy, it was so good. And the very last scene of the first season in Episode 10, all of you are gonna be like, ‘What the fuck just happened? Did they really go there?’ I cannot wait.”