The Persian King Xerxes leads his army of millions across the known world destroying any army that dares to stand in his way - killing their men and forcing their women and children to becomes his slaves. Ignoring advice from an oracle, King Leonidas leads a select group of 300 Spartan men to confront their enemy and guard a narrow mountain pass the enemy must push through to reach Sparta. Can these 300 men hold out against an army whose arrows could turn the day to night as they blot out the sun? Or will they fulfill their destiny as they seek to fight in the shade?

Betrayed by Ephialtes, the hunchback who has shown Xerxes a shepherd's path to outflank the Spartans, Leonidas loses his allies and, sensing for the first time that they'll lose the battle, sends some of his men back to Sparta to gather an army and to spread the word of what they did for the free world.
  An emissary approaches Leonidas and his men and asks one last time that they surrender and Xerxes will not attack their land, but will even promote them to be leaders of Greece as long as they serve him.  Leonidas removes his helmet, drops his weapons and kneels - contemplating the offer - but then shouts a command as one of his men, Stelios, jumps out from the defensive formation to kill the emissary. Xerxes then commands his archers to open fire.
  Leonidas picks up his spear and hurls it at the King - catching his cheek and causing him to bleed. More arrows reign down and the remaining Spartans are killed.
  Dilios, the narrator with the eyepatch, then motivates the united armies of Greece almost a year after the battle at Thermopylae comprising 10,000 Spartans and 30,000 Greeks - and although still outnumbered, it is just by 3 to 1 this time and the Persians are in for one mighty battle!