I tell others that this is both a prequel and sequel because that is exactly what it is. It started off with Queen Gorgo, who narrated to her men about the battle of marathon where the General Themistocles of Athens killed King Darius I of Persia and started off a war that reverberated throughout Greece. Xerxes, son of King Darius, witnessed the death of his father and his pain changed him completely. It drove him to seek out the dark forces which turned him into a god-king so that he can avenge his late father's death.
While the battles ravaged across Greece and King Leonidas led his strong army of 300 spartans to ward off Xerxes from invading Sparta, Themisotcles tried to unite the rest of Greece to form an army strong enough to defeat Xerxes but failed because of the majority's fear and self-denial. Soon, news of the death of King Leonidas traveled to Athens and by then, Themistocles had already formed a small army in preparation of the impending battles. His battle rival was Artemisia, a ruthless and brutal naval commander, who was born Greek but deflected to Persia after her family was killed, she was raped by Greek soldiers and she was saved by the late King Darius when she was left to die on the streets.
There was a lot of gore and violence, in slow motion, which was consistent with the first "300". Eventually, Xerxes' strong army was defeated by the combined forces of Themistocles and Queen Gorgo who led her army, after Artemisia was finally killed by Themistocles and the movie ended with Xerxes retreat.
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| death of spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) in the previous movie |
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| the heroic Themistocles |
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| small army of Themistocles |
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| Queen Gorgo and Themistocles |
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| the young Artemisia who witnessed the brutal killing of her family |
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| the now grown-up anti-Greek Artemisia |
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| King Xerxes |
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| Dilios, one of the soldiers and narrators of the original "300" |
