dustek

There is a scene in episode 10 of HBO's Rome.

Titus Pullo is in love with a slave girl.

And he thinks that she has some affection for him.

He frees her and wants to make her his wife.

When he tells her, she is overcome with gratitude and thanks him profusely.

And for a moment Titus is the happiest man in the world. He sits on a wall, in love, thinking of his bride to be.

And then a crippled slave comes up to him... and thanks him for freeing his wife (in their hearts).

And Titus' heart dies.

And he kills the slave, slamming his head on a wall until his brain spill out.

The scene is utterly beautiful, the sudden switch from joy to utter despair and madness.