Zorro - The Chronicles

After five years in Spain, Diego de la Vega sails home to his beloved California. Everything has changed. The citizens of Los Angeles are now under the thumb of the cruel Captain Monasterio. Squeezed by high taxes, the poorest wind up in debtors’ prison.

Diego rides out to the Chumash tribe to visit his grandmother, Tainah, only to find Captain Monasterio and his soldiers in the village rounding up all the men to take them to a mountain labor camp where they will break stones.

Monasterio sets a trap for Zorro. As bait, he arrests innocent Indians. Next, he pretends to ride out of Los Angeles with his troops, leaving behind only Sergeant Garcia and a few men. Zorro rushes in to free the prisoners.

Diego’s father is determined that his son will marry lovely Carmen, the daughter of his best friend, Don Luis de Villalonga, a fellow ranchero. Diego doesn’t want to get married because if they did, she might find out that he is actually Zorro.

To be rid of Zorro once and for all, Captain Monasterio hires Don Ramirez, an expert swordsman. A fencing contest will be held in Los Angeles. Monasterio feels certain Zorro won’t be able to resist the opportunity to take on Don Ramirez.

Captain Monasterio has brought two cannons from Monterey to force the Chumash out of their village and, thus, take their lands.

Don Rodrigo Malapensa, a new ranchero in the area, wants to purchase the ranch belonging to the de la Vega family. When Don Alejandro refuses to sell, Don Malapensa strikes a deal with Monasterio.

Don Malapensa suspects Diego de la Vega of being Zorro. He urges his son Antonio to engage Diego in duel, forcing the lad to defend himself with the unmistakable swordsmanship of Zorro.

Captain Monasterio rounds up all the braves in the Chumash tribe as needed laborers so that he can reopen the silver mine Zorro blocked up. Diego de la Vega tries to come up with a solution because nothing will keep the captain from returning.

Captain Monasterio collects a new tax to finance parties at the governor’s mansion in Monterey, even if it costs the poor peasants of Los Angeles their last peso.

Ines de la Vega and Bernardo drive cattle northward to Monterey with Sergeant Garcia as their escort. They are attacked by a band of Yaquis, Indian rebels who have just arrived in California.

Don Luis Verdugo, a rich ranchero, gives the Los Angeles church a new bell, hoping his gift will secure him the governor’s appointment as city alcade. Captain Monasterio will then have to obey him! Monasterio earnestly wants to be rid of him.

Captain Monasterio wants to send the governor a trunk full of gifts but a storm is brewing over Los Angeles. Yuma the Yaqui bandit disguises himself as Zorro, attacks the garrison, and nabs the trunk full of gifts.

Don Rodrigo Malapensa and Captain Monasterio want to build a harbor for Los Angeles on the very spot where the Chumash village stands. Sisquoc, a young warrior, impulsively tries to prevent the plan by kidnapping Captain Monasterio.

Bandits attack the seed salesmen who supply area farmers. It’s no fluke that Don Rodrigo Malapensa is the only one left with any seed, or that he is now selling it at a very high price. Diego de la Vega suspects wrongdoing.

Doña Isabella Verdugo and Don Rodrigo Malapensa conspire to make Captain Monasterio fall in disgrace. The scheme is for Doña Isabella to be carried off by a fake Zorro in broad daylight.

Los Angeles is suffering from a terrible drought. The rivers run dry. Cattle lack water. Captain Monasterio requisitions the city’s only well that still has water. He then builds an aqueduct diverting the well water to his garrison.

Antonio Malapensa asks Ines de la Vega to marry him. His father, Don Rodrigo Malapensa, realizes this is a golden opportunity to gain title to the de la Vega family’s lands.

Captain Monasterio has all the young men of the area arrested because one of them must be Zorro. Diego de la Vega and Bernardo wind up in jail with the others. Food is in short supply.

Ching, a cartographer sent by the Emperor of China, arrives in Los Angeles in hopes of locating the treasure of the famous corsair, Francis Drake. Ching owns a map coded in the Chumash language that just so happens to reveal Zorro’s secret cave.

Doña Isabella Verdugo has evidence that Don Rodrigo Malapensa is a bandit. It’s a cufflink that he lost during an attack on local farmers. But Malapensa is determined to get it back.

Doña Isabella Verdugo discovers a dark secret about Don Rodrigo Malapensa’s past. She blackmails him by demanding that he attack a stagecoach transporting fresh pesos. If he doesn’t do it, she’ll tell his secret to Captain Monasterio.

Sisquoc, the young Chumash warrior who kidnapped Captain Monasterio, is still hiding in the mountains in hopes of escaping his vengeance. But he falls into an ambush.

Doña Isabella Verdugo learns that Governor Parasol wishes to appoint Don Alejandro de la Vega as alcalde of Los Angeles. Enraged that her husband Don Luis Verdugo wasn’t chosen, she tries to find a way to get de la Vega out of the picture.