Gladiator 2 ending explained: Does Lucius become emperor? Full spoilers

Gladiator 2 is set 16 years after the events of the Oscar-winning first film and is no less epic in scale, this time following the story of Paul Mescal's Lucius – who appeared as a boy in the original film, then played by Spencer Treat Clark.

The son of Connie Nielsen's Lucilla, we first meet Lucius a long way from Rome, going by the name Hanno and living a far less luxurious life in the African kingdom of Numidia, where he has been living since he was sent away by his mother many years ago.

However, when his wife is killed and he's taken captive in an opening battle, it kicks off a desire for revenge at any cost – and soon he's back in Rome looking to follow in the footsteps of Maximus.

Cue all sorts of political grandstanding and epic fights – including battles with monkeys, rhinos and even sharks – as Lucius begins to climb the ranks, eventually leading to an explosive conclusion.

Seen the film and need a recap of those events? Read on to have the Gladiator 2 ending explained.

Gladiator 2 ending explained – Full spoilers for Ridley Scott's sequel

Before we dive headfirst into the events at the very end of the film, let's recap the important developments that happened on the way to the grand finale.

When we're first introduced to Lucius (Paul Mescal), he's one of a number of troops defending a city in Numidia from an onslaught led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), who has been sent by young, rash emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn) to capture the city as part of the ongoing Roman expansion effort.

In the battle, Lucius's wife is slain and he is taken prisoner – creating within him a burning desire for revenge against Acacius.

What complicates matters is that Acacius himself is not especially keen on the idea of further Roman expansion, and resents the demands of Caracalla and Geta, whom he deems irresponsible rulers.

He'd rather see a return to the dream of Rome as once put forward by Maximus and before that Marcus Aurelius, whose daughter Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) he is now in a relationship with.

Meanwhile, after his capture, Lucius is trained up as a gladiator – and proves himself to be an especially vicious and barbaric one when he bites a baboon in the middle of a fight.

This instantly enamours him to the influential, scheming Macrinus (Denzel Washington), who purchases him to join his stable of gladiators – with Lucius agreeing to fight for him on the condition that he can secure the chance to kill Acacius.

That chance arrives sooner than he might have expected. Increasingly at odds with the emperor's demands for more violence and bloodshed, Acacius has been plotting a coup along with Lucilla and other allies, and when Macrinus and the emperors catch wind of this, the former persuades the emperors to stage a duel at the Colosseum pitting Lucius against him (rather than killing him outright).

It's important to note that before this, Lucilla had gone to visit Lucius – after recognising him while watching an earlier fight involving rhinos – and tried to make amends with her long lost son (while also informing him of the identity of his father), but he isn't having any of it.

Anyway, when the time for the duel comes, the pair fight for a while before Acacius drops his weapons and explains his love for Lucilla and respect for Maximus.

Lucius appears to be won over and refuses to kill him, much to the dismay of Caracalla and Geta, who demand that their former general is shot multiple times with arrows by the guard, killing him.

This angers the crowd – who saw Acacius as a great hero – and a rift develops between the emperors, which soon culminates in Caracalla killing Geta with help from Macrinus, becoming the sole emperor in the process.

In a gesture befitting of his increasingly crazed state, he then makes his pet monkey his first counsel but appoints Macrinus next in command – giving him even greater power and control.

Does Lucius become the emperor at the end of Gladiator 2?

Caracalla and Macrinus still plan on having Lucilla killed for her role in the planned coup, but the night before this is supposed to happen, she visits Lucius again and gives him a ring that had belonged to her father. Lucius then asks an ally to take the ring to Acacius's old forces – who are still loyal to their old general – and ask them to come and help.

Anyway, when it comes to Lucilla's execution, she is placed on a boat inside the Colosseum, with Lucius tasked by the emperor with defending her from 10s of fighters – knowing that he stands little chance of victory.

But as he has proved time and time again, Lucius is not one to go down without a fight, and so calls on the other gladiators to help him – leading to a whole load of chaos, in which Caracalla appears to grow more and more depraved.

Noting just how much of a loose cannon he has become, Macrinus slays the emperor before shooting a bow at Lucilla and fleeing – clearly realising how incensed Lucius has become by this.

Lucius chases after him and is joined by Acacius's men setting the stage for an almighty battle at the gates of Rome between them and Macrinus, who can count on the support of Roman soldiers.

Before all-out war can break out, however, Lucius and Macrinus go head-to-head in a duel – with the former eventually gaining the upper hand and striking his opponent with a rock before killing him in a river.

Fresh from his victory, he gives a speech to the watching soldiers, promising to rebuild Rome in the image of his grandfather Marcus Aurelius and his father Maximus – presumably by giving control back to the Senate – while also honouring Acacius and Lucilla.

The film ends with him inside the Colosseum, taking some dirt from the ground and looking up at the heavens to his father for advice.

So, it seems that Lucius is essentially the emperor now, something which Ridley Scott has alluded could be the focus of his planned third film.

"The ending of Gladiator 2 is reminiscent of The Godfather, with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, 'Now, Father, what do I do?'," he told France’s Premiere magazine in September.

"So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is."

We can't wait to see what happens...

Gladiator 2 is now showing in UK cinemas.

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