In Iron Reign, a shipment of drugs disappears, leading to a desperate and bloody chase to find out what happened to it. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
Joaquin Manchado controls the port at Barcelona, where tonnes of drugs are shipped in and then transported all across Europe.
Helping him control his empire are his brother, Roman, his children, Rocio and Ricardo, his right-hand man, Flaco, his son-in-law, Nestor, and a corrupt cop, Miki.
Joaquin is especially stressed because he’s receiving a shipment of drugs from a Mexican drug lord nicknamed the Czar that is to be handed over to Massimmo Carfora and his right hand, the Frenchman.
Victor is an undercover cop currently investigating the Manchados and aims to catch them during the exchange.
He has a history with them as he was close friends with Nestor and Rocio when they were younger.
The drugs are referred to as the Czar’s mail, and they are escorted by the Czar’s children, Ariel and Lucia.
They eventually reach the port after running into some trouble with pirates, and the shipment is set to stay there for 24 hours before the exchange.
Joaquin is called to the port by himself in the middle of the night and someone attacks him. He survives, but falls into a coma, sending the entire plan into jeopardy.
The Frenchman and the Mexicans aren’t keen on delaying the exchange so Roman and Nestor take charge.
The police are waiting for their moment but the exchange fails when they realize that the drugs have been swapped out.
The police try to retreat but they are spotted and all of them are killed in a massacre. The pressure builds on Judge Pilar, who is working on the case with Victor.
Carfora and the Mexicans give the Manchados a couple of days to find the drugs or face punishment.
Carfora and the Frenchman have their problems when Javier, the man entrusted to take care of the payment to the Mexicans, lands in trouble.
He launders money for the Frenchman, but due to the delay, his account grabs attention and the government freezes it.
Lucia has to babysit her older brother Ariel, who is extremely superstitious and was told that he would die on the coast of the Mediterranean.
Miki begins searching for the mole who led the cops to the exchange, and Roman and Ricardo accuse each other of stealing the drugs.
Ricardo has a gambling problem and is in debt to some dangerous people, while Roman is an alcoholic who has an unhealthy obsession with a sex worker named Christina.
Ricardo convinces his debtors that Roman has the drugs and they can steal it for themselves. They attack Christina to lure him out.
Roman follows the clues and falls into Ricardo’s trap, but he kills everyone else and chases his nephew.
The two of them end up killing each other in a brutal struggle. The judge tells Victor that there is another undercover cop who has gone missing.
Her name is Nuria, and she was captured by Miki and his men after Miki got a tip about her identity.
Victor checks her apartment to ensure his name doesn’t get out and then finds out where she is being held.
He is not able to save her, but he does kill the men who are holding her. He manages to escape before Miki returns.
Nestor and Rocio have a daughter named Sandra together, but their marriage is on the rocks. Rocio believes Nestor is having an affair with Sonia, the babysitter.
In truth, he is sleeping with her brother, Alex, an underground fighter.
Joaquin and his brother arrived in Barcelona in 1981 and went about setting their legacy at the port with Joaquin’s ambition and Roman’s strength.
During Roman and Ricardo’s funeral, Lucia and Ariel kidnap Sandra to gain a bargaining chip.
Ending explained:
Forcing the issue
Lucia and Ariel manage to escape with Sandra and tell Nestor and Rocio that they better find the drugs within 24 hours if they want to get their daughter back.
Nestor says he’ll take care of it while Victor takes Rocio back home. On their way, Rocio sees a boy who had recently stolen her purse.
The purse contained the memory card from Joaquin’s phone which could lead them to whoever attacked him.
Victor knows the kid and they retrieve the memory card. They find a video sent to Joaquin to lure him to the port and notice a company logo in on the floor.
An inside job
Nestor goes to speak with Miki who shows up at the logistics company where the drugs are being kept.
Rocio and Victor show up soon after and realize that Miki is one of the traitors. Alex and Sonia arrive in masks to steal the drugs from Miki for their benefit.
They shoot him down and drive off while Rocio and Victor shoot the van to no avail. Nestor calls Miki’s phone and Rocio answers it.
He confirms his betrayal by asking about the drugs, and Rocio is heartbroken.
Ariel is tired of reporting to their father and tells Lucia that he’s making the decisions now. She agrees to listen to him after helping Sandra settle in at their safe house.
Javier begins selling his stuff to get the money that the Italians and the Frenchman want back.
His father-in-law agrees to lend it to him but tells him that he needs to drive to Andorra to get it.
A difficult choice
Alex and Sonia get away with the drugs, ready to sell them for a profit. In his dying breath, Miki calls Victor a rat and reveals that he knows Victor’s truth.
Victor takes Rocio back home to process what they’ve learned so far. Back when they were young, Victor and Nestor asked Rocio to choose between them and she made them race.
Nestor won the race, but Rocio had some regret because she was closer to Victor. On her wedding day, Nestor passes out from the alcohol and Rocio ends up sleeping with Victor.
He disappears soon after and Rocio asks him why. He says that he needed to be away from her family, and the port.
He then recalls how Joaquin and Roman got help from Victor’s father to take out Joaquin’s predecessor.
Then they killed him because they couldn’t trust him to be loyal.
Nestor waits outside the hospital with a gun, ready to kill Joaquin since he’s certain his betrayal is exposed.
Joaquin finally wakes up from his coma on a stormy night, unaware of the turmoil that took place without him.
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