From The Rest Is History: The Fall of the Aztecs: War to the Death (Part 7) Podcast
"And really, the one thing I remember is this guy who gets dressed up as an owl. And as I remember it, it's kind of the equivalent of launching a nuclear attack.
Yeah, it's the ultimate weapon.
It's the ultimate weapon that they've been keeping it in reserve. They don't want to use it because they know that it basically will end the world. This bloke dresses up as an owl and they think this is whatever.
We're all going to go down together. And he goes out and then it's like Indiana Jones, Spanish, just shoot him. Is that right?”
—
"The Quetzal-Owl warrior. So what the Aztecs would do is when they were fighting their battles, normally, they would bring him out at the end, and this is a ritualistic element. That a man suddenly appears dressed as an owl.
And this is sort of, if you do this when you're winning, your enemies throw down their weapons and terror, hurrah, with one. And actually, this figure that appears to be like a superhero from the annals of legend, is actually a man in a suit called Opochzin, who's been chosen for his strength and courage. So he's crammed into this owl suit."
"And I mean, seriously, this embodies for me, a sense of the tragedy of the collapse of the Aztec Empire, because of course, there's all kinds of darkness to it. But there is also, I mean, a kind of beauty and poetry to its culture.
And the inadequacy of its customs to deal with this terrifying invasion force is, I think, very, very painfully embodied by this episode."
—
“So anyway, the Quetzal-Owl, he doesn't last very long. He sort of dances on the roofs and the Spaniards are stunned at first, but in the account that we have, they close in around him eventually.
Then he's sort of seen to fall or drop or something, and then he's never seen again. And you can well imagine that basically the Spanish have just butchered him. So that's the end of him.
I think with that, in a weird way, that really is the sort of emotional climax for the Aztecs, for the defenders of the siege. So they fight on for only a few more days.”
by bruskadoosh
7 Comments
The Spaniards suddenly had a new cosy feather filling
The fuck did i just read
>We’re all going to go down together. And he goes out and then it’s like Indiana Jones, Spanish, just shoot him. Is that right?
This reads like a Joe Rogan podcast.
>And I mean, seriously, this embodies for me, a sense of the tragedy of the collapse of the Aztec Empire, because of course, there’s all kinds of darkness to it. But there is also, I mean, a kind of beauty and poetry to its culture.
Do they at least eventually acknowledge that the Aztec Empire was a multi-cultural state from which many groups actually helped the Spaniards end (in their eyes) their occupation? Because the above passages don’t instill any confidence that these people know anything about which theyre trying to educate their audience. They talk about the Aztecs as having a single culture and fighting the Spaniards alone when that was **far** from reality.
Didn’t the Aztecs send a warrior armed with Huitzipotchli’s own atlatl? Like, they pulled it from a temple and gave it to a champion, expecting it to blast the Spaniards away? (the Spaniards shot the guy).
Ah, yes. The terrifying invasion force of *checks notes* 3,000 spaniards and 200,000 tlaxcaltecs and other natives.
By the middle of the war there were more natives fighting for Spain than for the Aztec empire.
You completely omitted the best part. So to “prepare” someone for a roll like this, you know what they do? They put him on essentially a shitton of drugs. So this completely shitfaced, half naked owl cosplayer goes on the battlefield and that’s the superweapon.
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side kid.”