Plot
In 1904, Enzo Favara and his friend Gaetano (Giancarlo Sabogal) are carusi working at the sulfur mine of the cruel Don Ruggero Spadaro (Lane Townsend), overseen by his abusive underboss Damiano "Il Merlo" Bastoni and his brother Corrado "L'Ombra" Bastoni (both Raphael Corkhill). Enzo and Gaetano prepare to flee the mine in hope for a better future, but their plan goes awry when a gas leak causes part of the mine to collapse, killing Gaetano. Furious after Spadaro and the Bastonis ignored previous warnings about the mine tremors, Enzo scars Il Merlo and a pursuit ensues. Enzo finds shelter but is later cornered in a stable by Il Merlo and L'Ombra and is rescued by Don Bernardo Torrisi, not realizing he has trespassed on Torrisi territory. After being threatened by Torrisi for potentially breaking the truce between the Spadaro and Torrisi families, Il Merlo and L'Ombra leave. Enzo begins to work for Torrisi under the guidance of underboss Luca Trapani (Alberto Frezza), [a] He also meets the Don's nephew Cesare Massaro (Christian Antidormi), and the Don's daughter Isabella (Carina Conti), who becomes attracted to him.
Enzo assists Don Torrisi in his vineyard business and shows his willingness to uphold the Don's reputation, including by subbing in for a jockey in a prestigious horse race. Along the way, Enzo meets Torrisi's consigliere Agostino "Tino" Russo (Anthony Skordi) — who dislikes and is distrustful of him; Luca's wife Valentina (Monique Hafen Adams); the local parish priest Father Ciccone (Gabriel Burrafato); shopkeeper and mechanic Pasquale (Brian Stivale); Don Niccolò Galante (Tony Amendola); and Galante’s grandson Leone "Leo" (Mark Whitten), Torrisi's main ally. [b]
In 1905, a visit from the Don's landlord Baron Raffaele Fontanella (Carlo Rota) and his son Gennaro (Davi Santos) ends with Isabella and Gennaro getting kidnapped by a group of bandits led by Paulo Messina (Mateo d'Amato). Enzo and Cesare save Isabella but lose Gennaro. Enzo finds Messina's camp, kills him and the bandits and rescues Gennaro. Later, Torrisi reveals to Enzo the kidnapping was orchestrated by one of Fontanella's former business partners, Girolamo Ludovici (Michael Mazzeo), in an attempt to blackmail the baron into selling his shares of Spadaro's mines. Enzo agrees to kidnap Ludovici and kills him on Tino's orders (while discovering Spadaro demanded a share of Ludovici's presumed fortunes). Admiring Enzo's bravery and loyalty, the Don officially inducts him into the Torrisi family as a soldato by having him swear an oath. Despite being previously warned by Luca that the Don — who plans to have Isabella marry Gennaro — will likely not approve, Enzo begins a secret relationship with Isabella with hopes that he can gain the Don's permission to marry her through hard work and loyalty.
In 1906, Don Galante and Torrisi collaborate to bring their counterfeiting currency practices to America, but reveals one of their employees, Giuseppe, has been incarcerated. Enzo, Cesare and Leo sneak into the guardie station and rescue Giuseppe, with Enzo discovering L'Ombra has also been jailed. Following their success, Leo purchases a car from their American partners and Enzo and Cesare win a race with it. Later, Tino reveals to Enzo that the family has a traitor that reported them to the guardie, forcing them to stop the counterfeiting business. Following a raid led by Major D'Amico (Aaron Wilton), Enzo and Cesare discover L'Ombra was the one who colluded with the authorities and has been released from prison. After saving the counterfeiting operation workers from getting arrested, Enzo and Cesare chase and kill L'Ombra and cover it as a drunken car accident. Torrisi and Galante then confront Don Spadaro and Il Merlo over L'Ombra breaking omertà . Spadaro claims L'Ombra acted on his own and his death would be a cause for war but has no actual proof Torrisi murdered the latter.
As the tensions between the Torrisi and Spadaro families continue, Enzo is sent to investigate a strike at Fontanella's foundry supposedly led by Vincenzo Lorenzetti, a friend of the Torrisi family. Enzo discovers Lorenzetti is in debt to Spadaro and finds Lorenzetti beaten to death. Enzo is caught in an ambush by Il Merlo and barely escapes. Tino deduces the strike was a ruse to draw the Torrisi family out; both him and Torrisi declare Fontenella that is financially ruined and war with the Spadaro family is inevitable. Later, the Torrisi family is attacked by Il Merlo during the baptism of Luca's infant son. Enzo, Cesare and Luca pursue Il Merlo in retaliation, with Luca delivering the fatal shot.
By 1907, following the chaos and carnage brought on by recent events, Isabella confesses Enzo her desire to leave the family behind and move to America with Enzo, who is conflicted between his love for her and his loyalty to Torrisi. Meanwhile, Torrisi is pushed into peace talks with Spadaro by Galante and Fontanella. During the negotiations, Fontanella reveals his intentions to sell his assets, including Torrisi's vineyard, to Spadaro. Torrisi refuses to accept these one-sided terms, and the family is ambushed by Spadaro's men, resulting in the deaths of Galante and Luca. In retaliation, a furious Torrisi sends Enzo to Palermo to assassinate both Fontanella and Spadaro at the Teatro Massimo. Enzo is successful in his mission, allowing the Torrisi family to seize Spadaro's holdings, including the mine, which is bequeathed to Enzo as a reward for his service. However, Enzo is disgusted at the arrangement as he is forced to be as ruthless as Il Merlo in running the mine. In addition, Torrisi is growing mad with power as he starts purging anyone who he suspects was loyal to Spadaro.
Having become disillusioned with Torrisi and the criminal lifestyle, Enzo decides to disappear with Isabella, who is pregnant. Leo, who also plans to leave for America, provides Enzo with boat tickets for Empire Bay. However, Tino confronts the couple, having discoveed their plans by forcing Father Ciccone to reveal Isabella's confessions and brings Enzo to a disheartened Torrisi, who believes Isabella's pregnancy to be an offense to the oath. Torrisi flees when Mount Etna erupts, and Enzo defeats Cesare in a knife fight but spares him. Escaping from both Torrisi's men and the volcano eruption, Enzo is confronted by the Don and mortally wounds him in a fight. After reminding Enzo that he cannot change what he is, Torrisi dies while an injured Enzo is fatally stabbed by a remorseful Cesare. Meanwhile, Isabella escapes her captivity after the eruption reaches the vineyard, being forced to kill Tino in the process. As Cesare arrives at the burning vineyard, he informs Isabella of Enzo's death, devastating her, and, realizing everything is lost, tells his cousin to leave and start a new life while he looks depressingly at the destruction of the crime family. Isabella later boards a ship to Empire Bay, where she tearfully reads a letter written by Enzo, which he handed to her before they were separated.
