This screenshot shows an up close picture of Maximus right before he is going to kill the other gladiator. At least that is what the crowd and viewers think, but instead he lets the other go to chants of "Maximus the merciful!!!" looking back on this shot we could have guessed that he was about to do something good because of the light shining in behind him. Light like this shining down upon someone in a movie is always a sign that the person is good or will do something good. The way Maximus is looking down, with a look of part pity and part sadness, shows really well the conflict in Maximus' mind between killing to be set free, or not killing out of morality. Just after this shot, Maximus drops his axe and wins the crowd over further, setting up his final duel with Commodus by angering him further.
I think Maximus might have chosen to spare Tigris because he felt that by killing the Tigris he would be disgracing Marcus Aurelius's memory by not showing mercy and stooping to Commodus's level.
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