SYNOPSIS:

1519–1521. Cortés enters Tenochtitlan and meets the enigmatic Emperor Moctezuma II. The Spaniards are honored yet feared—residing as “guests” in a palace that is also their cage. Religious tension, greed, and disease spread faster than war. Malinche mediates between gods and generals, realizing her words can spark slaughter. Moctezuma, tormented by omens, hesitates; Cortés seizes him as hostage, claiming divine mandate. When Spanish reinforcements arrive to arrest Cortés for rebellion, he turns his cannon on his own countrymen. The city rises—the infamous Noche Triste: rain, chaos, hundreds drown beneath their gold. Reinforced by tens of thousands of Indigenous allies, Cortés returns to besiege the city. Starvation, smallpox, and betrayal consume both conquerors and conquered until Tenochtitlan falls in ashes. From the eastern jungles, Gonzalo Guerrero and the Maya watch the smoke on the horizon. Theme – Faith devours its children; the empire of the sun dies in darkness.