Tom Holland

And that sounds like the official in Panama is an idiot, but no, he's actually quite right.

So Alvarado kicks off in absolutely textbook Pedro fashion.

He indulges in what John Hemming calls some unnecessary cruelty to the coastal tribes.

So even by Spanish standards, he is so cruel that the other conquistadors later hold a judicial inquiry.

I mean, how bad do you have to be?

Yeah, for all the other guys, Pizarro, Macro, all these people saying you've crossed the line.

So to give you an indication, he starts enslaving women and children in sledge chain gangs.

He hangs some village chiefs.

He has people burned alive.

He has one local chief fed to some dogs.

Because he's brought a whole load of war dogs, hasn't he?

Bloody love a dog.

A hound.

And then once he's had some fun there, he heads inland into the forest towards Quito, having enslaved hundreds of local people to act as his porters.

Big spoiler alert, this is not going to end well for the porters or indeed for anybody else associated with Pedro de Alvarado's expedition.

And the other Spaniards, the other conquistador leaders...

When Alvarado turns up, it's a bloody massacre, right?

I mean, you kind of go, oh, no.

They're shocked, actually.

And immediately, two other rival armies shoot off.