Don Alejandro.
My father and I Would like you to join us at our table.
I would be delighted, senorita.
Don Alejandro, I'm so pleased you could join us.
Gentlemen, allow me to introduce Don Alejandro del Castillo y Garcia...
recently returned from Spain.
And this is Captain Harrison Love.
Not a don, but certainly a kindred spirit.
Are you not the man who was chasing a legendary bandit recently?
He was hardly legendary.
So you caught him?
It's only a matter of time.
Well, the bandit may have escaped...
but the rest of us will certainly think twice...
before going to confession.
Thank you.
With all due respect, Don Hector, I disagree.
Until these people are free to govern themselves...
we will see many more "Z"s carved into walls.
Don Alejandro, what do you think?
I think...
sheep will always need a shepherd...
but certainly not this Zorro creature.
He probably wears the mask to hide his bald head and unsightly features.
There are some who would call him heroic.
Heroism. A romantic illusion.
- Much like nobility. - Elena, that is enough.
Myself, I would think heroism is something to aspire to, not sneer at.
All that playing with swords...
shooting guns, racing around with horses...
gives me a frightful headache.
Such sweaty pursuits are hardly the work of a gentleman.
And what is? Climbing in and out of carriages?
No, my dear.
But increasing one's holdings so as to provide lavish comfort...
for young ladies... such as yourself.
A woman's grasp of politics. What can I say?
Well, we're at a party, aren't we?
Elena, may I have the honor of this dance?
I would be glad to.
Yes? Were you looking for something?
A sense of the miraculous in everyday life.
Oh, really. Well, why don't you try looking someplace else?
The lady and I were trying to dance.
You were trying.
She was succeeding.
Forgive me, Capitan.
A shameless joke at your expense...
and I hope it will not be the last.
Don Rafael wants you back at his table... now.
Would you care to try something more robust?
Or do you feel unequal to the task?
No, on the contrary, Don Alejandro.
I think only of your distaste for perspiration.
Maestro.
Well, that is the way they are dancing in Madrid these days.
Excuse me, Don Rafael. I need to catch my breath.
Your daughter is a very spirited dancer.
"Spirited." Thank you for putting it so delicately.
I apologize if you were offended.
Oh, no, no, no, no. Completely unnecessary, I assure you.
She is young and impulsive.
But her beauty is beyond compare...
and she has her father's commanding presence.
As an advisor to Her Royal Highness in matters of finance...
it would be my pleasure to introduce you both at court.
Join us in the courtyard. There's something I'd like to share with you.
What is that?
A vision.
Fellow dons of California...
all of us here can recall the golden years when we ruled this country.
We commanded respect as noblemen, and we amassed a great deal of wealth...
but there was something we never achieved.
We never determined our own destiny.
Well, the time has come.
Time to claim what always should have been ours.
My friends...
I give you the independent Republic of California.
Don Rafael, every man here owes you something.
The land you gave us made us all wealthy men.
However, we must question your motives.
The day you arrived on the beach you made us all look like fools.
That is absurd, Don Pedro. I was merely playing to the crowd.
And what are you doing now if not "playing to the crowd"?
Now you're inciting us to raise arms against Santa Anna...
when you know perfectly well we could never defeat his army.
I was not suggesting that we fight him for California.
I was suggesting that we buy it from him.
Santa Anna is waging a very expensive war with the United States...
and is increasingly short of money.
Even if we al! Combined our fortunes...
we could not come up with enough money to buy this country from Santa Anna.
I have already brokered a deal with him.
You're living in a dream, Montero.
And why don't we all live in the same dream together?
Meet me here tomorrow morning, gentlemen...
for a journey that will open your eyes and lay all your doubts to rest.
My friends, I give you...
Eldorado.
Technically, of course, all this gold belongs to Santa Anna...
but fortunately, for us, he's completely unaware of its existence.
For the deception to work, all these bars...
have been marked with the Spanish seal so he'll think they've come from Spain.
You see now, gentlemen? Is it becoming clearer to you?
Two days from now we will buy this country from Santa Anna...
and we will buy it with gold dug from his own land.
Where did you find all these people?
Anywhere we wanted.
Brilliant.
It's only part of the mining process.
At first we were just picking it up off the ground, but now we're blasting.
So, this is the future of California, huh?
This is my vision, yes.
Up here!
Well, now ain't you a sight for sore eyes.
Full-grown vultures walkin' around like real folk.
Welcome!
Welcome to hell's outhouse.
They call us "the disappeared ones."
But, as you can see, we ain't exactly disappeared.
- We just been a little hard to find. - Wait!
You. I know you.
You bet you do, peckerwood.
I'm the legendary Three-Fingered Jack...
and you are a bunch of murderin' trash...
dressed up in fancy, sweet-smellin' doodads.
Ignore him, gentlemen. He's a common thief.
As common as they come.
But I ain't nothin' compared to you gentlemen.
I steal gold. I steal money.
But you, you steal people's lives.
So damn ya...
and damn the horse that brung ya!
"Peckerwood"?
Is there something amusing, Captain?
Strange, I'd say.
That's the second time I've shot him while he was flying through the air.
I need to speak with you at the hacienda... alone.
Some other time, perhaps.
Today.
Alone.
Good afternoon, Bernardo.
Good afternoon, senorita.
Your voice is so calming.
He's high-spirited. He needs to hear something soothing.
Yes, I understand.
How long have you served Don Alejandro?
Sometimes it seems interminable.
- I'm sorry. I speak out of place. - Do not worry, Bernardo.
He will not hear it from me.
Don Alejandro confuses me.
Sometimes he seems so arrogant, so superior.
And yet the way that he looks at me...
the way that he dances with me...
as if he were two completely different men.
Yes.
You look so much like your mother.
How would you know that?
Well...
I don't see much of Don Rafael in you.
I know my father wishes I acted more like her.
She was very proper, my mother. Always appropriate.
Is that how he describes her?
Yes. But sometimes I do not believe him.
She was more like you.
Perhaps.
It would be a way of knowing her.
My ninera once told me...
that the departed can see you in the moonlight.
So when I was young I used to sneak out at night...
and ride my horse across Andalusia...
and wave at the sky so she would know it was me.
How did she die?
Giving birth to me.
My father rarely speaks of her. I think he finds it too painful.
Yes.
I know what it is like to lose a loved one.
You?
Yes. A daughter.
Long ago.
When I see you I remember what it felt like to be a father.
I'm sure your mother would be very proud of you, senorita.
Thank you.
Bernardo, I have to ask you: Have we ever met before?
Why would you think that?
I don't know. It's strange.
Your voice seems so familiar, somehow.
Well, I haven't been to Spain since before you were born.
Of course.
Well, it's a very pleasant voice.
Thank you.
Good day, Bernardo.
Good day...
Elena.
Did you know that the Compa Indians of Central Peru...
used to cannibalize their slain enemies in order to absorb their power?
The eyes, in particular, were most sought-after.
To be able to see through the eyes of an enemy...
is a valuable thing.
Where are my manners?
Care for something to drink?
No?
A different vintage, perhaps.
You're a very sick person, Capitan Love.
Heads in water jars, hands in wine pitchers...
must strike you as odd, Isuppose.
Well, for one thing, I think you ought to fire your housekeeper.
Who is he?
An enemy.
He has a brother out there who will share the same fate.
I wish you luck.
To your health.
Murrieta's brother or not...
you are more than you pretend to be.
Maybe someday...
I will see what I look like through your eyes...
Capitan Love.
Oh, it is beautiful.
Excuse me. How much does it cost?
It is a gift, she says, in honor of your mother.
My mother?
She loved your mother.
Tell her she must be mistaken. My mother died long ago in Spain.
She says there is no mistaking the daughter...
of Esperanza and Diego de la Vega.
She says she was your nanny.
She hung flowers on your crib when you were little.
I'm sorry. I cannot accept it.
Alejandro, listen to me.
Can you find your way back to the mine?
The carriage windows were all covered.
- He didn't even trust his own dons. - Nor would I.
You must go to Montero's house tonight...
break into his study, find anything that will tell us what his plans are.
People at the mine are dying...
and all I can think of is...
Capitan Love.
He will come into your circle soon enough. You need not chase him.
- I miss my brother. - Your brother is dead.
We lose the ones we love. We cannot change it. Put it aside.
How?
How can I do what is needed...
when all I feel is...
hate?
You hide it...
with this.
Santa Anna has agreed to the transfer at noon, the day after tomorrow...
but he insists we deliver the gold five miles north of town.
Captain Love?
It's a safe distance from the mine. The bars are stamped and ready.
I don't foresee a problem.
Tell him we agree.
You've done well, Luiz. Very well.
To the independent Republic of California.
Don Rafael!
Did you send men to the hills? Double the guard at the wal!?
Yes, yes, of course.
- After all If it's only one man... - It isn't just one man.
It's Zorro.
And he knows about the mine.
Otherwise he wouldn't be here tonight.
- How could he possibly... - It doesn't matter how.
You don't seem to grasp the situation.
If Santa Anna finds out we've paid him in gold stolen from his own land...
he will have us butchered like cattle.
Do you understand?
Then we should destroy the evidence.
Set explosives, bury the mine.
And the workers?
We destroy all the evidence, Don Rafael.
No witnesses.
Make sure those papers are locked up.
Guards!
The much-debated Zorro.
No.
The legendary Zorro.
Put down your weapons!
Tell them.
Do as he says.
Allow me.
Come.
Stop.
Face the window.
Now bend down and touch your toes.
Bend over.
Would you excuse me, Capitan Love?
Thank you.
Kill him.
Good morning, senor.
Good morning, senorita.
- Give it back. - What?
Whatever you have stolen from my father, I want it back. Give it to me!
Come on now.
I don't have the time to give you the proper instruction.
I have had the proper instruction since I was four.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
This will make it more difficult.
Senorita...
Don't move.
Do you surrender?
Never.
But I may scream.
I understand.
Sometimes I have that effect.
Excuse me.
Good-bye, senorita.
What are you doing here? What happened?
Zorro. Zorro was here.
I fought him, and he left. He left!
Do you recognize him?
But he was young and vigorous.
He was very vigorous, Father.
- Vigorous. - Yes.
Let's go.
Go!
Here. This is the canyon.
That is where the mine is.
They have...
25, 30 guards at most.
- Nothing that Zorro can't overcome. - I'm not going with you.
What?
I'm not going with you.
There's something I must do. It's a personal matter.
What about the prisoners?
There's nothing more I can do for them.
Nothing you will do.
I gave my life to them.
In return, I lost everything.
My wife was murdered before my eyes and my child was stolen...
to be raised by my mortal enemy.
Montero?
Elena.
She's your daughter.
Yes. She was.
So...
you will simply take your revenge.
No, I will take my daughter.
And don't pretend she means nothing to you.
Well she does.
But you taught me to see beyond personal feelings. Remember?
Was that all a lie?
- You're too young to understand. - To understand what?
Betrayal?
All the work, all the training, all the wise words, for what?
To smile in the face of my brother's killer while you make your own plans?
Alejandro, I taught you everything you need to survive.
Now I must look to my own heart.
Elena is all I have left. I'm not going to lose her again.
What about California?
What about the people?
They still have Zorro.
I have every inch of the countryside covered.
If he shows himself...
Are you all right?
- Do you have the map? - We'll find it.
Is your army ready to fight Santa Anna's?
- No, sir. - Then of course, I'm not all right.
I'm really beginning to wonder if you want this operation to succeed at all.
- Just what are you saying, Don Rafael? - What I'm saying, Captain...
is that I think my horse could run this army better than you.
I said I'll find him.
That means I will.
Perhaps I can save you the trouble.
Go on. Reach for it, Captain.
Who are you?
I warned you long ago, Rafael...
that you would never be rid of me.
De la Vega.
Rafael.
You were not the Zorro I saw last night.
That was your master, Don Alejandro.
Yes.
But there are many who would proudly wear the mask of Zorro.
Either way, it's of little consequence.
Events have been set in motion that you cannot stop.
I'm not here to stop you.
Call for Elena.
Call her.
Captain...
bring my daughter.
Bring her to me!
You cannot imagine, Rafael...
how I have dreamed of this moment.
Night and day, 20 long years.
Really?
I haven't given you a second thought.
If I die, Dela Vega, the truth dies with me.
We shall see.
Father!
Bernardo, what are you doing?
Tell her, Rafael.
Tell me what? What is going on?
Tell her who her real father is.
What is he saying?
This...
unfortunate man lost a daughter once.
It has driven him mad, and now he seeks to claim you for his own.
Tell her...
how her mother died.
Your daughter is lost, de la Vega.
You cannot have mine.
De la Vega?
A woman in town, she told me.
Diego de la Vega?
Father?
His name is of no consequence...
I was told my ninera used to hang something on my crib.
Yes.
She had her hang fresh flowers...
No!
Let us finish it, Rafael.
Let us finish what we started the night Esperanza died.
Drop your sword...
or I will have you shot...
even in the presence of my daughter.
Please.
They were flowers.
Romneya.
She knows.
Water!
Lock 'em up!
The fuses are burning. Hurry it up.
Let's go!
Wait here!
Secure the wagon. Stay alert.
Only one question.
Really? What is that?
How would you like your remains displayed?
Now I am free...
to kill you.
Drop the sword.
Drop it.
You really think I would have killed my own child?
Did you miss me?
Elena! Get them out!
"M"...
for Murrieta.
Two men.
One dead!
You're doing well.
Your brother would have shot himself by now.
Is it finished?
Yes, Don Diego.
It's finished.
Not for Zorro.
There will be other days, other battles to fight.
It is your curse and destiny.
My beautiful Elena.
The world is a strange place.
To have found you at last, only to lose you again.
You will never lose me...
Father.
You are like your mother.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
Same spirit.
My child.
And so it was.
Lightning split the sky.
Thunder shook the earth.
Then all was quiet.
The great warrior known as Zorro...
was gone.
The people of the land gave him a hero's funeral.
The largest anyone had ever seen.
They came from far and wide...
to say farewell to the brave and noble champion.
But don't worry, little Joaquin.
Whenever great deeds are remembered...
your grandfather will live on.
For there must always, always be a Zorro.
And someday, when he's needed...
we will see him again...
on his fearsome steed Tornado...
riding like the wind...
his sword blazing in the sun.
Leaping, jumping, swinging through the air.
Fighting like a lion. Fighting like a tiger.
Fighting...
As safely as possible.
Is this your idea of putting the baby to sleep?
Sleep tight, my son.
When I sleep I will dream of this dashing rogue Zorro.
But what face shall I give him?
He has been many different men...
but he has loved you as all of them.
How can I refuse such a man?
Do you know where I might find him?
You know Zorro.
He could be anywhere.
There, there, my darling.