In this first episode of Cristoforo Columbo: Admiral of the Sea, we find Columbus in 1504, alone and retired in Valladolid. He walks with a limp through the stone streets, worn down by years at sea and a lifetime of battles, carrying the guilt of what he calls “sins of my hands.” Despite his prayers at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Sea, the silence there only sharpens his sense of failure. “God called you and you are justified,” he keeps hearing, but those words bring no peace, only a sort of dread.

He can’t quite let go of the titles people still give him: explorer, conqueror, Admiral of the Sea. They feel heavy, tangled up with regrets he can’t name. He tries to picture Jesus on the cross, hoping to find relief like others do, but instead he feels the voice of God growing louder, almost like a warning.

Looking back, he remembers being just fourteen, sailing from Genoa on his first voyage with Captain Colombo, a distant uncle and a rough teacher. Those early years were brutal, with piracy, storms, and endless fear. “I slept where I could,” he would say, “cold and wet, thinking of home.” The harsh sea hardened him, pushed him to survive, and gave him no choice but to fight.

Still, that voice kept coming to him, then and now: God called you and you are justified.