fernando!
diego! aren't you going to kiss your brother?
father, i am doing what i think is the best for him. and he has the teacher i would have chosen for myself.
god.  that's in a week!
how did you manage it?
to open a new route to asia. at the moment there are only two ways of reaching it.
by sea, sailing around the african continent -- the journey takes a year.
or by land.
 but the turks have closed this route to all christians. trading with the orient has become arduous, if not dangerous. there is a third way.
by sailing west across the ocean sea.
ignorance! i believe the indies are no more than 750 leagues west of the canary islands.
the calculations of toscanelli marin de tyr, esdras.
so was christ!
i'll try to remember that, marchena.
passion is something one cannot control!
i've been contradicted all my life.  eternity!
diego.
would you like to come and stay with us?
i'll do whatever makes you happy.
fernando!
fernando!
executions. in the square.
they've agreed to see me in a week.
i could be gone for years.
i haven't given you much of a life.
are we going to argue?
perhaps i was never meant to live with a woman.
fernando, don't you think we are lucky to live with such a beautiful woman?
yes, your eminence. the voyage should not take more than six or seven weeks.
i am, your eminence
your excellencies are aware of the statements of marin de tyr?
then you are also aware that his theories contradict ptolemeus.  de tyr believes the ocean to be only 750 leagues.
the florentine toscanelli and the french cardinal pierre d'ailly both think that marin de tyr is accurate in his calculations. and therefore, that the ocean can be crossed.
seven weeks. six, during the summer months.
we wouldn't have to turn back! we would find land at this point!
excellency, you are right.
i am a seaman, not a scholar.  but as a simple man craving for knowledge, i have read all the work of these renowned geographers and discovered that none of them could agree on the exact width of this ocean.
therefore, as a modest man, i wonder: who is right?
who is right? this question remains unanswered.
your eminence, there is only one way to settle the matter. and that is to make the journey. i am ready to risk my life to prove it possible.
if they agree to follow me, yes.
trade, your excellency. according to marco polo, the kingdom of china is one of the richest of the world. even the meanest buildings are roofed with gold.
no. the portuguese have already discovered black-skinned people. i, too, will find other populations -- and bring them to the word of god.
did he not choose a carpenter's son to reveal himself to the world?
blind faith is what i consider heresy!
asia can be found to the west -- and i will prove it.
they didn't listen. they didn't want to listen!
wait! i've waited seven years already! how much longer do you want me to wait?
damn god!
damn all of you! you all set up theories based on what? you never leave the safety of your studies! go out! find out what the world is about and then tell me something i can listen to!
these don't mean anything! they're full of assumptions! out of the heads of old men who've never been past the end of their gardens!
all of them! just lies!
where can i meet this man?
is this a good time to meet her?
no more than the woman who said she would take granada from the moors.
what did they say about granada before today?
surely you can do anything you want.
may i speak freely?
i know what i see. i see someone who doesn't accept the world as it is. who's not afraid. i see a women who thinks.  "what if?".
forgive me.  but you're the only queen i know.
thirty seven, your majesty.  and you?
actually, i thought you were younger than me!
i won't!
if i am right, my requests are fair!
no.
no! i have waited too long, fought too hard. now you expect me to take all the risks while you take the profit! no.  i will not be your servant!
i'm not bargaining!
and were you never ambitious, excellency? or is ambition only a virtue among the nobles, a fault for the rest of us?
if you can do that, excellency -- i'll become a monk!
yeeeeeees!
she said yes.
if i ever come back, i swear i will.
i don't want you to wait for me.
why not?
there aren't any monsters, fernando. the only monsters are in here.  watch!
there'll be a time.
yes.  yes, i do.  on all of them!
forgive me, father. for i have sinned.
father, i have betrayed my family. i betrayed my men. and i betrayed you.
i lied. the journey will be longer than i said.
i am not sure.  it could be twice the distance.
if i tell them, they won't follow me. you know that i am right, father. you trust me.
you are bound by an oath, father.
give me absolution.
give me absolution, father!
be good to your mother, fernando. do you promise?
diego! here!
i have to tell you santangel. i don't know where on earth i am going!
due west, captain mendez. and may god be with us.
what is it mendez? speak!
and what do you think mendez?
come over here.
now, find the north star. do you have it?
steady yourself! keep the plumb line vertical.
don't move! a mistake of one degree and we'll be off 6,000 leagues!
what do you read?
that's it. the twenty eighth parallel. and we'll follow it until we reach land.
six hundred and twenty nine.
granted.
six days ago, yes.
we have to keep the hopes of these men alive!
you think i don't know that?
the land is there. i know it!
and then what? half of the water has gone, the rest is nearly putrid! you know that!
you never did. you did all the talking for both of us, remember?
pinzon, pinzon.  all we can do now is go forward! think about that!
you're right. let the men decide.
who gave you the order to come on board?
cursed?
this boy has the voice of an angel. what comes out of his mouth is blessed, alonso. what comes out of your is evil.
listen to me! every man is afraid who does something for the first time. but those who overcome their fears, will find their rewards. i do not know if it is god's will that we cross this ocean -- but i am certain it is the devil who puts fears into our hearts.
this jacket to the first man who sights land! i want a man up that mast day and night.
you start first.
pinzon, the more i sail, the luckier i get.
mendez! mendez!
land.
by the.  by the grace of.  god.
in the name of their gracious majesties of castille and aragon, and by all the powers vested in me, i claim this island and name it san salvador.
we have come here in peace, and we will behave with honor. they are not savages and neither will you be. treat these people as you would your own wives and your own children. neither are you free to take what you will; for a seashell you give a bandana. you will respect their beliefs. pillage will be punished by the whip. rape by the sword.
give it to him!
october 21st, 1492. i think we have returned to eden. surely this is how the world once was, before the beginning of time. i believe no man will ever see this land again as we do, for the first time.
what is it? a tribe? an island?
help him!
utapan! wait!
no. it's enough. what would you say to a drop of jerez, pinzon?
tell the chief we thank him.
tell him his country is very beautiful. tell him we are leaving men here -- to build a fort.
tell him we will return very soon. many of us.
thousands.
to bring the word of god.
 and also to bring medicine.
he has medicine. tell him we admire his people.
that's a beginning.
march 1493.  thirty nine of my men volunteered to stay behind. god willing we will be back in less than a year.
 several men are ill. we did not find signs of civilization. no cities, no temples.  nothing that resembles marco polo's descriptions. my ships are not filled with the spices and the gold that spain was hoping for. but this land intoxicates the senses like the strongest of perfumes.  and all i can think of, is to return to these untamed lands.
get below! all of you! go!
stay with me!
we may have to cut it!
i'll stay here -- to decide if we cut it. help me!
now go!
i said -- below deck, mendez!
one.  two.  three.  four.
damn you!
one.  two.  three.  four.  five.
you must not inhale, but simply allow the palate to enjoy the flavor of the tobacco.
the indians have no such word, don moxica.
they come and go as naked as the day god created them.
they don't see sin in their nakedness. they live according to nature, in a never ending summer. the islands are covered with trees, filled with blossoms and fruits. and.
these are gifts for your majesty.
 for a commoner?
forgive me, don bobadilla -- those positions have already been taken.
bartolome and giacomo colon.
but we do have a lack of notaries. you should contact my administration.
good! we are also in need of judges. except there are no thieves!
what? do i have so many already?
i need both of you. what are you afraid of? we are living what we always dreamt of.
are you saying you refuse to help?
let me show you something.
of course.  of course.  we'll see to it.  yes.  thank you.  soon.  soon.
now -- you tell me. who can i trust? we're brothers! we must be a house. a bloodline! in this country one can't exist alone! i need you! both of you!
he is here! what is it?
i know. i saw them! who did we hire today?
the royal surgeon? then we can count on royal health!
he's growing up!
beatrix, i want to ask you something.
i can arrange for the queen to take fernando and diego into her service.
it is a great honor. we could not hope for anything better.
no guevara. there will be no revenge.
if you want to keep your head on your shoulders, you'll do as i say.
moxica, i lost friends too.  thirty nine brave men who trusted me.
you want a war? fine. we are a thousand. they outnumber us by ten! who will you kill? which tribe?
we came here to stay! to build! not to start a crusade. in this forest, there is enough danger to sweep us away in days! so we will be brave and swallow our grief. and in the name of those who died, we will accomplish what we came for.
ask the chief what happened to my men?
no! you'll do it my way. tell the chief we will not harm his people, even though we have the power to do it.
we will work with his people. we want peace. ask the chief if he understands?
ask him if he will help.
don moxica -- we need your horse.
we can't raise the wheel without it.
don moxica -- we all have to work.
forgive me, don moxica. but it was your horse i was talking about.
thank you, don moxica.
eat! i'll tell you later.
iguana.
what wrong with it? the indians eat it!
we've got to learn to live like the indians. eat your iguana!
how much gold have we found?
perhaps it doesn't exist anywhere but in my imagination.
then i'm governor of the mosquitoes.
in one act of brutality, you have created chaos. tribes who were fighting each other are now joining forces against us! all that because of your criminal savagery!
you'll be held in detention, deprived of your privileges and possessions. until you are returned to spain where you will be judged. have you anything to say?
you have to find them, utapan. look what they did!
we have to stop this war.
do you know them?
stop! stop this!
you may do as you please, brother buyl -- though your departure will not help me to make it more godly.
a new world, brother buyl.
perhaps hope only exists in the journey. when it begins, everything is still possible -- every expectation; every dream.
this is not how i imagined it to be.
utapan!
utapan, won't you speak to me? you used to know how to speak to me.
let it go! let it go!
yes.  i remember.
appointment to what?
congratulations. then i am free to search for the mainland.
how far from here?
how could i be? the mainland has been found. exactly as i said it would.
fernando! my god!
a man! diego, how did this happen?
good! i have to go back!
i have to explore the mainland.
i am happy for you, diego.
now i do look older than you.
thank you.
your majesty -- some men are content to read about things. i must see them with my own eyes. i cannot be other than i am.
call them.
look out of that window.
what do you see?
all of them created by people like me.
no matter how long you live, sanchez, there's something that will never change between us. i did it! you didn't!
god.  you're so beautiful! i can't believe no other man has ever taken you away from me.
not everything.  do you think i care? i'm a free man again. riches don't make a man rich, they only make him busier.
god, how much i've missed you!
i owe you everything, santangel.  but as you see, i can't repay you.
but as least we haven't been bored, have we?
how are you feeling, fernando?
you know what i always used to do?
swallow a piece of pork fat on a string. it always worked.
the mainland.
he's drawing an isthmus.  he's saying we're on an isthmus.
tell me what he's saying.
ask him if he means a lake. a big lake.
an ocean? he's says it's an ocean?
here is europe.  and over here, the continent of asia. but there's something in between! another continent! we've found.  another continent!
there must be a passage to that other ocean.
what is?
out! get out!
take it. come on. drink.
i.  i have to see mendez.
your brother was right. i should have never taken you with me. i'll never forgive myself. never!
will you ever forgive me?
captain mendez!
i came to your highness with honest purpose and sincere zeal. i did not undertake these voyages for honor or wealth -- that is certain. after years of service to the crown, i do not have a roof to put over my head.  your majesty allowed me to explore the continent, believed to be asia. i now believe that it is an new land, of unknown proportions and wealth.  life has more imagination than we carry in our dreams.
you'll always be older than me, father.
have you ever forgiven me?
i have to disagree.
new worlds create new people.
i don't know.  i have the impression that i didn't change that much. i still can't accept the world as it is!
can't you stay with us a little?
i can't keep my eyes off you. i would like to catch up with all the moments i didn't spend with you.
what are you listening to?
but how is he? and dona maria?
what does he say?
he never had one.  except aboard my ships!
really? god.  i wouldn't know where to start.  and yet.
i remember.