In the spring of 1518, near Jaén, Spain, Pedro De Vargas, Tyrone Power, a Castilian caballero, helps a runaway Aztec slave, Coatl, Jay Silverheels, escape the brutal grasp of Diego de Silva, the Santa Hermandad’s iron-fisted ruler who also competes for the affections of the captivating Luisa De Carvajal, Barbara Lawrence. On the road to safety, Pedro crosses paths with Catana Perez, Jean Peters, a barmaid at a bustling inn, and with Juan García, Lee J. Cobb, a seasoned adventurer who has just returned from the New World to visit his mother.
Suspecting Pedro’s aid to Coatl and aware that Pedro’s influential father, Don Francisco De Vargas, Antonio Moreno, opposes the Santa Hermandad’s abuses, de Silva imprisons Pedro and his family on charges of heresy. The family endures a harrowing ordeal: Pedro’s younger sister dies under torture, and Juan, now a prison guard placed to watch over their mother, is compelled to kill her to spare further torment. In a desperate turn, Juan frees Pedro’s bound hands and hands him a sword.
When de Silva enters Pedro’s cell, a tense, expertly fought duel unfolds; Pedro disarms his rival and compels him to renounce God before stabbing him. With de Silva slain, the trio—Catana’s brother, the sympathetic jailer Manuel, Robert Karnes—frees Pedro’s parents and flees. They must split up to avoid pursuit: instead of heading to Italy as initially planned, Pedro, Juan, and Catana decide to seek fortune in Cuba, guided by a shared sense of family loyalty.
The three ship out with Hernán Cortés’s expedition to Mexico. Pedro pours out the truth of the Spain ordeal to Father Bartolomé, the expedition’s spiritual adviser, Thomas Gomez, who tears up an arrest order and offers Pedro a penance—neither of them realizing that de Silva may have survived. The voyage lands at Villa Rica in Mexico, where Cortés is welcomed by Aztec emissaries bearing a bribe to abandon the mission. Cortés, however, is driven by a larger dream of conquest and riches, and he convinces his men to press on, undeterred.
Back in the camp, Catana seeks the aid of Prof. Botello, Alan Mowbray, a con man-turned-doctor who reluctantly provides a ring supposedly capable of making Pedro fall in love with her, despite their stark social differences. Pedro’s steadfast nature wins Catana’s heart before the ring can truly influence him, and the couple weds the same night, sealing a bond that will endure the trials ahead.
Cortés presses inland to Cempoala, where Aztec delegates offer gems as a glimmering bribe. Pedro is placed in charge of guarding the gems inside a teocalli, yet he slips away to calm down drunken soldiers and inadvertently allows a theft to occur. Cortés accuses Pedro of complicity, forcing him to prove his loyalty. Pedro tracks the thieves back to Villa Rica, where mutiny brews; with the help of Corio, Marc Lawrence a loyal crewman, he recovers the gems but sustains a serious head wound from a crossbow bolt.
Cortés promotes Pedro to captain and, to prevent retreat, has the ships burned. The expedition marches toward Cholula, where a delegation led by Montezuma’s envoy threatens annihilation unless the Spaniards retreat. Cortés learns that Velázquez—the Cuban governor—has sent reinforcements to challenge him, forcing Cortés to split his forces: Pedro remains in command of the loyalists left behind while Cortés takes the others to confront the renewed opposition.
When Cortés returns with reinforcements and brings Diego de Silva, John Sutton, the king’s emissary, the stakes rise dramatically. De Silva is there to impose the Santa Hermandad’s authority on Mexico, triggering a clash in loyalties. Juan confronts de Silva but is restrained by Cortés’s soldiers; Father Bartolomé reminds Pedro of his vow, and Cortés holds de Silva responsible for his safety. In a final night of reckoning, de Silva is strangled, and Coatl confesses to Father Bartolomé that he killed him. Catana strikes Coatl to spare him the indignity of hanging, after which Pedro—slightly wounded but restored in resolve—prepares for the next chapter as Cortés and his followers press onward toward the Aztec capital. The journey thus binds themes of faith, duty, love, and ambition into a sweeping tale of conquest and consequence.
