Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s adventure series ‘Bandidos’ ends with Miguel leading his group of thieves to find the treasure of Aj Took after figuring out its location using the map of Luis. Even though the team loses Wilson towards the end of their pursuit to discover Kaan Balam or the Golden Jaguar, they display resilience and determination to push themselves once again to complete their expedition. Meanwhile, the unnamed man with the cane continues to jeopardize the plans of Miguel by showing up in front of him and his group unexpectedly to snatch whatever they find to get closer to the treasure. The first season of the show then concludes with narrative twists one after the other! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Bandidos Season 1 Recap
‘Bandidos’ begins with Miguel, who works in a high-end hotel in Yucatan, meeting a treasure hunter named Luis. Over drinks, they talk about the hidden treasure of Aj Took, which includes Kaan Balam or the Golden Jaguar. Luis shows Miguel a map to find the treasure tattooed on his body, inspiring the latter to form a group to locate the same. He teams up with Lucas, the son of the owner of his hotel, his uncle Wilson, and ex-girlfriend Lilí to lay hands on the treasure. However, Luis is found dead the next day with the map removed from his body.
Miguel, Wilson, and Lilí go to the newly-opened museum of Ariel Tavitian, the protégé of the former’s father Juan, a renowned archaeologist. From an ancient book stored in the museum, Miguel finds a map, which leads the group to a cenote. Since they need a diver to go deep into the natural reservoir, they seek the service of Citlali, who discovers a moonstone. Meanwhile, the man with the cane shows up to snatch the moonstone from Miguel, only for the latter to swallow it. The man, referred to as just “Boss,” then abducts him to retrieve the stone from him.
Lilí then asks Octavio whether he could join her team and rescue the leader, Miguel. For a fee of $1 million, he accepts the assignment and goes to the man with the cane’s mansion to save Miguel. From Juan, Miguel learns that the moonstone is one among the three stones required to open the hidden treasure box of Aj Took. To find the rest of the two stones, connected to the Sun and Earth, the group makes elaborate plans. Miguel and Wilson find the stone belonged to Pedro de Alvarado and Lilí pretends to be a nun and leads Citlali, Octavio, and Lucas to the tomb of Alonso de Ávila to garner his stone.
Even though Miguel and Wilson lay their hands on one more stone, they get arrested, only for Inés to save them. The cop becomes a part of the group for a share of the treasure as well. But the man with the cane abducts Miguel’s father Juan and demands the three stones to return the archeologist to Miguel. It is also revealed that Ariel is a partner of the unnamed man as he is seeking the golden jaguar statue to display in his museum. Miguel gets forced to give two of the three stones to the man for his father’s sake but keeps the moonstone to himself.
Lilí pretends to be a traitor and joins the side of Ariel to figure out what really happened to the treasure. The two of them figure out that Francisco de Montejo, who discovered the treasure with Alonso and Pedro in the 16th century, left Yucatan for Santiago de Cuba with a couple of ships, only for one of the two to reach the city. After realizing that the treasure is hidden somewhere between Yucatan and Santiago de Cuba, Miguel and his team leave on a boat to find it but get forced to bid adieu to Wilson, who previously got shot by the man with the cane.
Bandidos Season 1 Ending: Do Miguel and His Group Find the Treasure?
Miguel and his group’s expedition to find the legendary treasure of Aj Took starts with his encounter with Luis de Montejo. The map Luis tattooed on his body belonged to Francisco, who hid the treasure. Even though Miguel and his companions try several methods and travel on numerous pathways, none of them are connected to Francisco’s map. He has been wondering why Francisco passed on a map of no use to his descendants. During the final journey to find the treasure, Miguel gets tired of trying to decode the map, which convinces him to burn it down for good. That’s when he remembers the apparent holes in the map as Luis mentioned.
Miguel makes those holes in the map after remembering how the Phoenicians traveled across the oceans without any compass or navigational instrument. It doesn’t take him long to understand that Francisco, like the Phoenicians, relied on stars in the 16th century. Through the holes made in the map, Miguel identifies a constellation and Lucas converts the position of the stars into the degrees of navigation. The knowledge Miguel garnered from his archeologist father helps him unravel the mystery behind the map, which leads the group to the location of the treasure. They find the hidden box of treasure but wonder how they can open the box without the two stones which are in the hands of the man with the cane.
Miguel succeeds in opening the treasure box with just the moonstone despite the group believing that all three stones are required to do the same. After learning about Francisco, Miguel notes that he was an avid gambler who left for Santiago de Cuba after discovering the treasure. He also learns more about Francisco’s two partners, Pedro and Alonso, who died soon after the discovery of the fortunes. Even though Francisco could have collected their stones to garner the treasure, he didn’t, which convinces Miguel that those keys were not needed to open the box. That’s also the reason why he gave Pedro and Alonso’s original keys to the man with the cane and held onto Francisco’s.
Even though Miguel and his group find the treasure, they are forced to admit defeat to Ariel, who comes their way once again. Despite the treasure hunters saving his life, Ariel repays the kindness by calling the cops to the location of the treasure to scare the former team. He makes it clear that he needs the Golden Jaguar to make his museum a popular destination. Miguel is forced to accept the demand since it lets him and his team disappear with the rest of the treasure.
How is Lilí Alive? Is She a Traitor?
After discovering the treasure of Aj Took, Miguel and his group confront the threat of the man with the cane and Ariel. As the team tries to find a way out of the predicament, Lilí sets out to elope with the Golden Jaguar. She holds a gun pointed at Miguel and proclaims that she knows that he won’t kill her since he loves her, only for him to prioritize his group and shoot her down. Her body later gets discovered and her share of the treasure is distributed among the surviving members of the group. However, Lilí then mysteriously shows up alive before Miguel, only for them to seemingly get together as a couple.
Lilí never wanted to be a traitor and disappear with the Golden Jaguar. Her death turns out to be something she framed with the help of Miguel. After ending their relationship, Lilí returned to Miguel’s life unexpectedly. She showed up in his life to seek the help of Wilson. During the time she was away from Miguel, Lilí got into trouble, making a severe enemy. That’s the reason why someone attacks her the day she prepares to board an aircraft to find the treasure. Lilí realizes that it is pointless to garner a treasure when someone is trying to hunt her down.
Lilí may know that if she lays her hands on the treasure without disappearing from the radar of her enemy, it may not take long for her to lose her fortunes. After putting her life on the line to find the treasure, the last thing she wants is to part ways with the same. That’s why she plots her fake death. Using a corpse, she tries to convince her enemy that she is dead for good, hoping that the latter will stop looking for her. With the mysterious enemy likely not pursuing her anymore, Lilí can now peacefully cherish her life with Miguel, which explains their reunion at the very end of the show’s first season.
Lilí thinks that the truth about her fake death will jeopardize the lives of her companions. Her enemy can be an extremely powerful individual and any potential slip-up from any of her fellow treasure hunters may put her life on the line again. Thus, she decides against taking such a risk. Although the fake death costs Lilí her reputation, she succeeds in protecting her with it. Even though her share of the treasure is distributed among the group members, Miguel has an additional share that belongs to Wilson, which he may give to Lilí.
Who is the Boss/Man With the Cane? What Happened to His Face?
The identity of the man with the cane has been puzzling Miguel ever since their first encounter. Even though the former claims that the head bandit knows him, Miguel fails to identify him. In the middle of their showdown, the man with the cane reveals his real identity. In the first episode, while Miguel recollects the days he joined his father on the latter’s expeditions, he remembers a particular occasion. As a child, Miguel accompanied Juan to a protected archeological site, where a group had been trying to find an artifact. Juan tried to confront the thieves, only for them to threaten to kill the archeologist and his son.
The head of the treasure hunters attempted to shoot down Juan and Miguel and a bullet hit the tank of a motorbike. The father-son duo escaped in their vehicle but only after Miguel left a lighter near the motorbike. The fire from the lighter caused an explosion, gravely affecting the leader of the treasure hunters. The leader is none other than the man with the cane. Miguel’s actions led the man to immense pain as he sustained severe injuries. The explosion also gave him burn marks on his face. For the man with the cane, following Miguel and trying to snatch the treasure the latter discovers are acts of revenge as well.
Read More: Bandidos: Deep Dive Into Filming Locations of the Netflix Show
