#mcogesteban

DO NOT tell me they’re not father and son/daughter just LOOK AT them. NOT TO MENTION Tao making the signature Mendoza eyebrows of incredulity

A single tweet but a long one

never forget how he wanted to go after them but he couldn't so he just had to let them die 😭 that scene where Esteban and Zias silhouettes fade behind the water is crazyyy the way he stood there watching it. I can't 😭

He couldn't get to them so he called their name as loud as he could 😭 crying 😭 he's just a dad 💔

Because look, it’s not like Esteban and Zia died and then the others left the city. It’s not the same as when Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho died. The kids saw it happen (which is why them surviving was surprising). In sundagatt, Zia and Esteban weren’t dead yet. Mendoza just couldn’t go after them. They essentially had no choice but to LET them die. Which is even worse in a way. The entire time they spent in the thallios driving to the surface of the ocean, they knew Esteban and Zia were in the process of dying

Which is maybe why Mendoza sees their silhouette fade away. Cause he probably stood there for as long as he could. Cause he didn’t want to leave them

And another thing. If the only people there were Esteban, Zia and Mendoza, then he surely would not have left them. He would’ve died there with them I think. The only problem is that he’s not alone. He also has Tao and Pedro and sancho. And he’s unfortunately the only person that can bring them to safety. So he has to try to save the people he still has instead of try to save the people he’s lost. Which is a crazy dilemma to give a dude

Do any of yall think about the fact that Mendoza was with Esteban for like 2 years or something after he saved him from drowning.

Because we know that Mendoza saved Esteban in 1520, in the Pacific Ocean (id say around December). Esteban probably isn’t a newborn but he is a baby. So not more than a year old I’d say. Esteban’s father asked Mendoza to “bring him [Esteban] home with him”. The expedition reached Spain on September 6 1522. That’s like a year and nine months. By the time he was brought to the monastery, he was a toddler.

Meaning. Mendoza kept Esteban for ALL that time. Which is. A LOT.

Babies start walking at around 12 months. So it’s highly probable his first steps were taken on the ship. They also start talking at a year old (first word is usually “mama” but I think it might be different for Esteban cause he doesn’t have one).

So like. Someone had to raise Esteban. We have no evidence that it was Mendoza himself but it’s not wrong to think that either?? Cause we have no other info 😭

There were no women on the ship cause obviously. And raising babies is usually a woman’s task. So naturally you would think that Mendoza would leave the baby at the first country they reached (like the Philippines) but he didn’t do that, cause Esteban’s father really wanted him to be brought to “his (Mendoza’s)” home.

Now I wanna know. How was it for him to take care of such a young kid? We gotta remember he was also young too. I doubt he had any experience with babies. Did he even want to? Or was he kinda forced to cause uhh who else would do it. Not to mention, it’s not a particularly easy trip they’re on. Lots of people died from disease and stuff during voyages like that, and yet Esteban, a small baby, somehow survived? Probably explains why everyone thought he had special powers and stuff.

Esteban obviously does not remember all that but Mendoza would. So like. New opportunity for bonding ???

This also brings me to an adjacent point I thought of when I was looking at a map.

The Magellan expedition left from and returned to san lucar de barrameda. It’s close to Seville (1-2 hours by car) and very far from Barcelona (10 hours by car).

If we want to go by boat and not land (cause no cars back then) it would be relatively easy to get to Seville, since all you’d have to do is go up the Guadalquivir river. But going to Barcelona would still be long (through the strait of Gibraltar and into the balearic sea). But idk how long it would take exactly cause there’s no modern ferry that can make that journey.

Now listen. Mendoza returned with baby Esteban from the voyage and they arrived in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. But Mendoza doesn’t leave him there! He makes the extra journey of going to Barcelona and leaves him in a monastery over there.

Spain has a lot of churches, he could have left him in any of them close to Sanlúcar de Barrameda. He could’ve gone to Seville if he wanted to leave him in a big city.

So why on earth didn’t he do that? What’s so special about Barcelona?

The only thing I can think of is that’s where Mendoza is from. Because Athanaos says “bring him home with you”. So Mendoza took that to mean, not just his home country, but his home town.

I know this is dumb but it’s the only explanation I can come up with without making too many leaps and without assuming things we have no knowledge of.

what Olympic sport would every Mcog character do?

Here’s the list of all the sports in the summer Olympics (I’m not gonna include the Winter ones cause I don’t think they would do them)

Esteban: gymnastics

So in the first episodes of season 1 especially, we see Esteban do a bunch of gymnastic-y stuff, like balancing on his hands while on a moving ship, walking on his hands, climbing walls, etc, so I think he’d be good at it

Zia: Beach volleyball

Okay hear me out. I think she’d like sports that are kinda beach related, like volleyball or surfing. I know it would technically be cheating, but her telekinesis powers would really come in handy in this this of sport, so like it could make sense

Tao: Archery or triathlon

So we know what Tao has a crossbow, which he’s even able to use with his feet. So I think he’d be good at archery. I also think he’d be good at the triathlon cause he grew up having to fend off for himself on an archipelago, so he’d be good at running and swimming, obviously. We also know he can bike since he had one in his old village + he rides one at chambord (and he’s pretty quick too, since Nostradamus can’t keep up)

Mendoza: swimming

I think this might be obvious. That scene where he faces off against a shark demonstrates how great of a swimmer he is, so I think he’s getting gold for sure

Pedro and Sancho: sailing

I don’t think they’d be good at any sports, given how they’re kinda lazy. However, I think they’d be good at sailing cause it’s literally their job and they enjoy it. But I could also see them doing rowing cause that’s essentially what Mendoza is always making them do

Isabella: fencing

This one is also pretty obvious. She’s great at fencing and fighting in general, and she also enjoys it a lot

Gaspard: shooting

Some Mcog headcanons for yall: what movie would they pick for family night???

Esteban : He chooses Mamma Mia! and everyone gets ABBA songs stuck in their heads for weeks. Zia is stuck on “our last summer”. Tao has “lay all your love on me”. Pedro won’t stop yelling “the winner takes it all”. Mendoza was found absentmindedly humming “money money money” etc

Zia : When it’s Zia’s turn, she picks a Disney movie. At the start, no one really wants to watch it but they end up being way too invested. It probably leaves everyone crying at the end. She might also pick stuff like Bridge to Terabithia or Labyrinth.

Tao : He chooses Star Trek. It ends up not being popular with the fam, which makes him really upset with them. He might also make them watch Doctor Who, which they appreciate a little more.

Mendoza : He is banned from picking movies for movie night cause one time he put Oppenheimer and everyone was so angry at how boring it was. After apologizing, they grant him one last chance at picking a good movie. He chooses a documentary and they banned him again.

Pedro : he picks the Pirates of the Caribbean. Mendoza thinks it’s historically inaccurate. Pedro swears it’s all real and he knows Jack Sparrow personally. He also makes them watch The Road to el Dorado. They had a long post movie debrief after that one.

Sancho : I think he’d rather put a sitcom instead of a movie. So they binge a few episodes of Friends or Modern Family instead. Everyone gets hooked either way.

Gaspard : He makes them watch Fast and Furious and Mendoza falls asleep. The kids seemed to like it. I guess the family part got to them. He’d also get really excited to show them Die Hard.

Isabella : She makes them watch horror movies, only because she wants to see who’ll get scared. Everyone gets mad at her cause now they can’t sleep. But if she’s feeling nice, she’ll put on the Matrix or something.

Esteban and Zia: They do an activity together. They go on picnics. They paint. They swim. They play a new sport together. They go from one thing to another, never stopping, always trying something new

Esteban and Tao: Tao mostly teaches him stuff, cause he loves explaining things to people. He probably teaches him Atlantean, and then stuff about Muan culture. And Esteban ends up getting really interested

Zia and Tao: They talk. They stay up late, for hours, just talking and talking. That’s what I do with my sisters when we don’t have to wake up early. Talking and talking and laughing. Usually, Zia ends up laughing the most and the loudest

Mendoza and Esteban: Esteban just lowkey follows him around everywhere, begging him to tell him a cool story about previous adventures. Unlike Pedro and sancho, Mendoza doesn’t embellish stories with extravagant details that didn’t happen. He just tells it as realistically as possible. And sometimes that’s a lot more cool than listening to a fun made up story

Mendoza and Zia: They enjoy each other’s company in silence. Sometimes Mendoza likes to be alone, or at least be somewhere quiet. And Zia understands that, and sits with him. They like to just breathe and absorb their surroundings. Zia likes having with Tao and Esteban, but sometimes it’s nice to just relax and not do much

Mendoza and Tao: Tao loves talking about science and exchanging ideas with others, which is something he used to do with Ambrosius. Now that he’s gone, he’s kinda got no one to talk to. Good thing Mendoza is here. Sure he’s not really a scientist, but he’s knowledgeable on a lot of things, like astronomy, and the two are able to have lots of interesting conversations about it

Pedro and Sancho: well we know they spend every second of their waking lives together, but I think their most favourite activity ends up being fishing. They’re really bad at it. But they like to challenge the other in a fishing contest

Mendoza and Pedro: Yeah so they go commit petty crimes together. Even though they’re “good guys” now, they still miss the high of doing illegal stuff. So every so often Mendoza is like “hey do you wanna rob this guy” and Pedro’s like “whatever, sure”. Do they get arrested. Yes. But escaping jail is even more fun then getting in in the first place

Mendoza and Sancho: whenever the team is staying in a new place for some time and they need to restock on supplies for the condor, they go shopping together. Idk it’s just their thing. Mendoza’s got the money and Sancho tells him what they need to get

Pedro and Esteban: they pretend to fight each other. With wooden swords or just plain wrestling. They’re not very good at it but it’s very fun. Esteban wins mostly cause Pedro is too confident. They also have a lot of inside jokes that everyone else is tired of

Pedro and Zia: whenever a new episode of a show comes out, one that they’re interested in, they have a watch party together, full with snacks and everything. Then they have an obligatory post episode debrief and prediction session

Pedro and Tao: ultimate therapy session. Tao often goes to him when he wants to complain about something (or someone). Pedro is there to listen and give him advice better than a therapist could. He’s just a lot more chill and laid back and Tao lowkey wishes he could be like that sometimes, to be less of an over thinker

Sancho and Esteban: they’re both bad at singing but for some reason, they’re the most excited when it’s karaoke night. They get half the lyrics wrong, they’re out of sync, but they ARE having a lot of fun so it balances out

Sancho and Zia: they’d have tea parties. Sancho likes the food and Zia likes the company and the fake gossip. It’s perfect

Sancho and Tao: I like how in season 1 you can see Sancho really looks after Zia and Esteban on the Esperanza, like a mom. For example, he brings them their food, and also tells Esteban to be careful when he’s playing on the ship. So what I’m saying is. When Tao is busy working on his latest invention, Sancho comes in with some freshly cut up fruit, like a mom. Tao is like “ugh no I’m busy” but he eats it anyway

BONUS:

Isabella and Mendoza: fighting. Not just sword fighting, but arguing. A lot of arguing. And shouting. But they really enjoy it, for some reason

Isabella and Gaspard: They go to the gym together. Yeah that’s it. They for sure helped each other create their workout routines

Mendoza and Gaspard: rage bait each other and make their lives a living hell. And they have fun doing it