The latter walks away, with Gorgo stating that he knew in his heart that he made a mistake not to kill Xerxes when he had the chance. Xerxes holds his father in his arms and locks eyes with Themistocles. He runs to his father's side but is too late to save him as the arrow pierces him. He releases the bow just in time for Darius's son, Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) to watch. Themistocles raises a bow and arrow, ready to commit the act that would make him known as a legend. The Greeks brutally and effortlessly take down the invading Persians one by one, paving the way for Themistocles to take aim at Darius, who is watching the massacre of his men from his ship offshore. The Athenian general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) led his own army against them at the shores. In the opening scene, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) narrates about King Darius (Igal Naor) leading his army of Persians into Greece in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece.

Note: this film is actually a prequel as well as a sequel to the original '300' film (with the events happening before, concurrently, and after the events of the previous film).

The synopsis below may give away important plot points. The Persian Empire seems on the verge of victory, though when Xerxes and Artemisia learn that Themistokles lives, they realize the fight won't be over until he takes his final breath.

In the aftermath of that skirmish, Themistokles is presumed dead and Athens falls. But later, after Artemisia's attempt to seduce Themistokles to her side proves unsuccessful, the spurned naval commander deals a devastating blow to her Greek opponents. When the Greeks enjoy an early victory over Artemisia and her soldiers, however, it appears that Themistokles' unconventional tactics are more effective than the Persian Empire's formidable brawn. Meanwhile, Leonidas' former advisor and wife Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) is reluctant to sacrifice any more Spartans in a fight that appears to be unwinnable. As the ruthless Artemisia (Eva Green) assembles a massive fleet of ships and sets sail for conquest, Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) strives to rally his countrymen to fight for freedom, and he manages to gain the upper hand over the invaders by confronting them at sea. In the wake of the Persians' victory over King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans, the God King Xerxes (Santoro) appears poised to conquer Greece.

300 rise of an empire movie cast