- The scene opens with the Spanish king, a general, the Duke of Castile, and Hieronimo discussing the outcome of the deciding battle in the war between Spain and Portugal.
- The general tells everyone that Spain has won the war. In the process, he gives some great detail on a bunch of bloody limbs that were all over the ground and who fought most valiantly in the war. Thanks for the visual.
- The general tells the king and his courtiers that Andrea was super bad in the war, but that he unfortunately died in the process (which we of course already knew).
- Apparently, Andrea had courageously beaten the Portuguese forces back, causing them to retreat and regroup.
- Nevertheless, Balthazar (the prince and heir apparent to the Portuguese throne) manages to rally the Portuguese army to attack Andrea again.
- Next, the general tells the Spanish king that Balthazar killed Andrea. But he leaves out the details of how it all went down (the murky manner of his death will have future significance).
- The general then relays that Don Horatio, Andrea's best buddy, furiously confronted Balthazar, beat him off his horse, and took him as a prisoner.
- After Prince Balthazar is captured, the rest of the Portuguese army runs away and Spain wins the war. Bravo zulu.
- The king is super pleased about winning the war. He then turns to Hieronimo (Horatio's father and the Knight Marshall of Spain) to thank him for having such an awesome son.
- The Spanish king promises Hieronimo's family great rewards for their special war effort as trumpets sound the arrival of the victorious war party.
- Horatio and Lorenzo (the son of the Duke of Castile and a brother to Bel-Imperia) then march into the scene with Balthazar between them.
- Balthazar is in pretty high spirits for a prisoner. Why? Mainly because he knows his baller status will make sure his captors treat him right.
- But for now, his captors are already squabbling, because Horatio and Lorenzo both want credit for beating down the prince.
- Lorenzo's like, "hey, I grabbed his horse!" But Horatio responds with something like, "yeah, after I did all the hard work." Lorenzo's a hard guy to trust.
- Hieronimo is about to get all protective dad, but the king cuts him off saying something like, "fine, let Lorenzo have Balthazar's horse and give Horatio the ransom money as reward."
- The King says that Lorenzo will also have the honor of housing his prisoner since he has the bigger estate. Did we mention that being a royal prisoner of war was a pretty cushy gig?