Plot
In 1904, Enzo Favara and his friend Gaetano (Giancarlo Sabogal) are carusi working at the sulfur mine of 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. Seeking retribution 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 his territory. After being threatened by Torrisi for potentially breaking the truce between the Spadaro and Torrisi families, Il Merlo and L'Ombra leave. Enzo is introduced to the Torrisi family and begins to work for them, befriending underboss Luca Trapani (Alberto Frezza), [a] 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 hub business while meeting his consigliere Agostino "Tino" Russo (Anthony Skordi) — who dislikes and is distrustful of him, Luca's wife Valentina (Annika Pampel), the local parish priest Father Ciccone (Gabriel Burrafato), Don Niccolò Galante (Tony Amendola), and Galante’s grandson Leone aka Leo (Mark Whitten), friends of Torrisi. [b] When a visit from the Don's patron, Baron Raffaele Fontanella (Carlo Rota) and his son Gennaro (Davi Santos) and Isabella ends with the latter two 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. After Torrisi discovers the kidnapping was orchestrated by one of Fontanella's former business partners, Girolamo Ludovici (Michael Mazzeo), Enzo kidnaps and kills Ludovici on Torrisi and Tino's orders. 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 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 collaborates with the Torrisi family to bring their counterfeiting 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). Later, Tino reveals to Enzo that the family has a traitor, forcing them to stop the business. Following a raid led by Major D'Amico (Aaron Wilton) on their counterfeiting operation, 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, with Spadaro claiming L'Ombra acted on his own.
As the tensions between the Torrisi and Spadaro families escalate, Enzo is sent to investigate a strike at one of Fontanella's factories supposedly led by Vincenzo Lorenzetti, a former associate of the Torrisi family. Finding a dying Lorenzetti, Enzo falls into an ambush set up by Il Merlo, from which he barely escapes. Tino deduces the strike was a ruse and both him and Torrisi declare the Spadaros are trying to take over the entire valley and war is inevitable. Later, the Torrisi family is attacked by Il Merlo during the baptism of Luca's infant son. Enzo and Luca pursue and kill Il Merlo in retaliation.
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 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. 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 after discovering their plans 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.
