La Cabeza de Joaquín Murrieta follows the adventures of outlaw Joaquín Murrieta, who is traveling across Mexico, paying his debts, and killing people who would come for him. The series is now streaming on Prime Video.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
In 1852, outlaw Joaquín Murrieta, along with his Chinese associate, Adela Cheng, whom he saved years ago, travel across the new Mexican border to steal gold and give it back to the people who were loyal to him six years ago when Mexico lost to the US.
The Mexicans not only lost gold but also their own land back then as the Mexican government made a secret deal with the Americans. That day, Joaquín Murrieta and his friend, Leiva, deserted the Mexican army.
Now he is trying his best to give the gold back to people who actually deserve it. Along the way, bounties have been called upon his and Adela’s heads. Nevertheless, they move on and kill anyone who tries to cross them.
After paying many and killing many, only one name seems to be left on Murrieta’s list. Adela peeps into his book, where he has listed those names. She learns that she is the last person he is planning to kill.
Adela asks him why, her share of gold, and to be let go. Murrieta doesn’t give her anything and tells her that if he sees her again, he will shoot her in the middle of her eyes.
Meanwhile, Carillo and his family are being forced off their own land by the Americans. Carillo doesn’t really want to leave his land. There is a gold mine they have that rightfully belongs to them.
Carillo attempts to reason with Captain Harry Love, but to no avail. Love says the laws of the US are being implemented over here, and Carillo’s land now belongs to the US government.
Carillo’s wife pours out her frustration on one of the US Rangers, Oliver. Love then plans to punish her with 20 lashes. Carillo requests to punish him instead of his wife.
Love delivers 20 lashes to Carillo and hangs Blanca, the woman Carillo is selling gold to, in front of him. He warns that Carillo and his family will face the same fate if Carillo doesn’t leave the land.
Carillo’s family prepares to leave after blowing up the mine where the gold is so that they can come back one day, dig for the same, and rebuild their lives here.
The US rangers, led by Oliver, arrive a little early. A shootout takes place. Carillo watches his wife and kid die at the hands of Oliver and the US Rangers. They later leave Carillo there and burn his house down.
Carillo rides back to his wife’s father, who is the leader of the Chokonen, a clan that falls under the Nde community. Though he fails to receive the support of the community, his wife’s sister, Damace, agrees to help him avenge his family.
After parting ways with Adela, Murrieta reunites with his friend, Father Christopher Kelly. They spend a day at a brothel. Adela hasn’t left. She is following Murrieta around, hoping to retrieve the gold that belongs to her.
Unfortunately, Murrieta and Adela are brought to Captain Harry Love’s attention when one of the US Rangers loses his brother to Adela’s hands. He is determined to exact revenge, and Captain Harry Love wants to catch these outlaws too.
Murrieta isn’t scared of Love. He even sits down for a game of cards with him while he is drunk, and Love fails to recognize Murrieta. Things go south when the US Rangers manage to capture Adela after trying to arrest every other Chinese girl that resembles her.
While Murrieta and Kelly head out to rescue Adela, Carillo asks for help from his friend, Chepe, and his people. Chepe’s people capture Murrieta and Kelly while they were following Rose’s men, who have Adela in a cage.
Murrieta, though reluctant at first, agrees to join Carillo, as he needs more men to rescue Adela. Carillo needs more men too if he plans to go up against Oliver and his men. They attack Rose’s Rangers while they are close to reaching San Diego.
Adela gets out of the cage and moves far away. Rose arrives in time to defend his soldiers. He almost gets his hands on Murrieta, but Carillo comes to the rescue. He blows Rose’s ear off and gives everyone a chance to escape.
Damace and Chepe aid Adela, who gets sick after staying in a cage for a day or two. Murrieta is tasked to take part in a ritual to save Adela, in which he confronts his past.
Chepe’s people don’t like having an outlaw around them. Two of his people strike a deal with Oliver for gold. They offer Oliver Murrieta’s book to prove that they have him.
Sure that he will catch them, Oliver sends Love a message, but when he fails to accomplish the job, he and his associates abandon Love and go their own way before they could even meet him.
Carillo is willing to offer all the gold that Murrieta, Adela, and Kelly need if they help him avenge his family. They all agree to go along with Carillo through the forest of merciless warriors called the Chiwa. Kelly loses his life here.
Murrieta doesn’t believe that his friend is dead. He heads back to get him. Adela confronts him and asks him to tell her the truth about her parents before leaving.
Murrieta then reveals that Leiva killed them, and he didn’t do anything to stop him. Adela proceeds to shoot and injure Murrieta. From that point on, the whole group falls apart.
Damace goes her own way while Adela continues to accompany Carillo and get gold so that she can move on with her life.
La Cabeza de Joaquín Murrieta ending explained in detail:
Do Carillo and Adela manage to retrieve the gold?
Back in Villa Morena, where Carillo used to live, Carillo and Adela start working on their plan to extract the gold from the mine. Unfortunately, the place isn’t like it was before.
The tunnels now have people working there, with US Rangers guarding them. The duo devises a plan. Adela volunteers to be a person on the inside. She gets along with some of the Chinese people working in the mine.
In the meantime, Carillo meets the woman who has replaced Blanca to buy gunpowder. The woman later joins them in this mission. Adela poses as a boy, and with the help of the Chinese boy she has befriended, she goes inside the tunnel.
The group successfully executes its plan and gets gold on a wagon. Oliver’s men, who have noticed Adela in town, keep an eye on them.
They come at the last moment to battle it out with Carillo and Adela. The battle ended with Carillo killing Oliver, just like Oliver killed his wife.
With the help of a couple getting out of the city, the group escapes. They divide their shares and part ways with each other.
What happens to Damace?
Damace goes back home and sees the place in ruin. Damace’s father says she was right; war is the only way out for them. When Carillo returns, he tells her that her father is not coming back.
Carillo pitches that he will help her get revenge, but Damace isn’t looking for revenge; she is looking for justice. Damace then takes over the position of her father in her clan.
She informs the leaders of the other Nde clans that, unlike her father, she intends to defend their territory against anyone who comes to threaten them.
She believes Nde nation must come together and forge alliances with other nations to survive. Together, they will be able to defeat their enemies.
Where does Adela go?
Adela goes back to the city and gives gold to the mother of the Chinese boy who helped her get into the tunnel. The boy had fallen in love with Adela, and his mother had wholeheartedly accepted her into their house.
The boy died during the fight between Adela, Carillo, and Oliver’s men. In tears, Adela leaves the sack of gold on her doorstep. She nods and lets the boys’ mother, who comes out, know about her son’s death before leaving.
She further shares the gold with a group of kids and calls this a gift from Los Joaquines. The US Rangers called Murrieta’s group by this name while searching for them. They printed this name for them on their wanted posters.
Does Love kill Joaquín Murrieta?
Joaquín Murrieta is rescued by a Mormon family. He is forced to leave when they find out that he is an outlaw. He goes back to the church where he and Kelly used to meet. He mourns his friend’s death before going back to his lover, Conchita.
Harry Love comes looking for him at Conchita’s brothel. Murrieta shows up and agrees to come with him if Love beats him in the game of cards they left unfinished earlier.
Love beats Murrieta, and the latter doesn’t resist getting arrested. In the cell, Murrieta dreams of his head being separated from his body. Adela is carrying that head and is running away from Leiva.
Leiva had warned Murrieta to take care of Adela, as she will one day want to avenge her parents. Murrieta had opted to raise her instead. He watches Leiva kill Adela in his dreams.
When he wakes up, he finds an inmate beside him. This inmate tells him about an oncoming war.
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