Queen Gorgo of Sparta tells her men about the Battle of Marathon, in which King Darius I of Persia was killed by General Themistocles of Athens. Darius' son, Xerxes,
witnesses his father's death, and is advised to not continue the war,
since "only the gods could defeat the Greeks". Darius' naval commander, Artemisia,
claims that Darius' last words were in fact a challenge and sends
Xerxes on a journey through the desert. Xerxes finally reaches a cave
and bathes in an otherworldly liquid, emerging as the "God-King". He
returns to Persia and declares war on Greece.
As Xerxes' forces advance towards Thermopylae,
Themistocles meets with the council and convinces them to provide him
with a fleet to engage the Persians at sea. Themistocles then travels to
Sparta to ask King Leonidas for help, but is informed by Dilios that
Leonidas is consulting the Oracle, and Gorgo is reluctant to side with
Athens. Themistocles later reunites with his old friend Scyllas, who
infiltrated the Persian troops and learned Artemisia was born Greek, but
defected to Persia as her family was raped and murdered by Greek hoplites
and she was taken as a sex slave to the Greeks, who left her for dead
in the streets. She was rescued and adopted by the Persians. Her lust
for vengeance gained the attention of King Darius and he made her a
naval commander after she killed many of his enemies.
Themistocles leads his men, which include Scyllas, Scyllas' son Calisto and Themistocles' right-hand man Aesyklos to the Aegean Sea.
They ram their ships into the Persian ships, charge them, slaughtering
several soldiers before retreating from the sinking Persian ships. The
following day, the Greeks feign a retreat and lead a group of Persian
ships into a crevice, where they become stuck. The Greeks charge the
Persian ships from the cliffs above and kill more Persians. Impressed
with Themistocles' skills, Artemisia brings him onto her ship where she
attempts to use sex to seduce him to join the Persians as her
second-in-command. He refuses, causing her to push him aside and swear
revenge.
The Persians spill tar into the sea and send suicide bombers to swim
to and board the Greek ships with their flame bombs. Artemisia and her
men fire flaming arrows and torches to ignite the tar, but Themistocles
manages to kill one of the soldiers, who falls into the tar carrying a
torch, causing ships from both sides to explode. Themistocles is thrown
into the sea by an explosion and nearly drowns before being rescued by
Calisto, and stands by Scyllas' side as he succumbs to his injuries.
Believing Themistocles to be dead, Artemisia and her forces withdraw.
Themistocles learns that Leonidas and the 300 have been killed by Xerxes and returns to Athens to confront Ephialtes,
the deformed Spartan traitor, who reveals that Xerxes plans to attack
Athens, and is regretful of his actions, welcoming death. Themistocles
spares him instead, so he can warn Xerxes that the Greek forces are
gathering at Salamis,
and then visits Gorgo in Sparta while she is mourning Leonidas to ask
for her help, but she is too overcome with grief. Before leaving,
Themistocles returns Leonidas' sword, which he took from Ephialtes, that had earlier stolen it, and urges Gorgo to avenge Leonidas.
In Athens, Xerxes' army is laying waste when Ephialtes arrives to
deliver Themistocles' message. Upon learning he is alive, Artemisia
leaves to ready her troops for battle, against Xerxes' wishes. The Greek
ships crash into the Persians ships, and the two armies battle,
beginning the decisive Battle of Salamis. Themistocles and Artemisia fight, which ends in a stalemate with both receiving injuries.
Gorgo had been narrating the tale to her Spartan army, and leads them
to assist in the battle alongside other allied Greeks, outnumbering the
Persians. Themistocles urges Artemisia to surrender, but she tries to
kill him and is stabbed through the stomach. With her dying breath, she
sees Xerxes turning his back on her as he retreats. Themistocles and
Gorgo take a moment to silently acknowledge one another's alliance as
the rest of Artemisia's army charges with Dilios beginning to attack
them. The three then charge at the opposing Persians with the rest of
the Spartans behind them.
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