Robbers take the garrison's pay; Diego's father, don Alejandro de la Vega, witnesses that and tries to stop them, but gets knocked down, hard; Victoria finds him and brings him to the hacienda, where doctor Hernandez concludes he may never come out of his coma again. Don Diego is heartbroken, feels guilty he may never get a chance to tell his dad about his secret life as Zorro. The alcalde blames the crime on Zorro and the doctor sighs the only medicine that might give Alejandro a fighting chance was stolen with the gold.

Spanish royal army Colonel Mefisto Palomarez, the dreaded butcher of the Yucatan campaign, soon looses the alcalde's admiration when he announces he has come to eliminate Zorro but does so by drawing lots to execute daily one inhabitant of the pueblo until Zorro hangs, even though nobody knows his identity, and exempting nobody- the first victim is Sergeant Mendoza! Zorro makes a nocturnal visit offering the colonel a fair duel instead, but is arrested. Naturally he came prepared, and even the alcalde smiles when the sadist is duly humiliated at Mendoza's execution