Sans limites

After attending others spanish history-based productions, like the ones based on I. Falcones's books or the terribile Isabel, I was pretty much scared that Sin Limites would be another soap opera. And indeed this kind of production seems to not be fully capable of let go some of the genre tropes or putting the necessary care were needed (like when representing the great court of the king of Spain as a empty room with a table and some candles). But, letting aside the various "artistic liberties" the authors took on the real historical journey of Magellan, I was pleasantly surprised to see how they were capable of creating an entertaining and visually pleasing story. The Show is well written and directed, the photography does it's job, and the characters are generally well rounded, even if they couldnt' avoid some classic tropes, expecially on the first episode, but you get the feeling of emprovement as the show progress. In conclusion, even if not completely historically accurate and with some ingenuity, the Show is capable of delivering an engaging story, characters with positive valours of loyalty and strenth, and portrays the ambition, the will power and the dedication that drove the famous voyage. In this time of wokeness, baseness and stupidity it's even more important.

Actors with very good performance and the main caracthers well presented. The main facts have been developed mostly with historic accuracy. I do not why someone says the are going to East this is not pictured in the series. They sail South sometimes just to escape the Armada attacks. The lack of some insights to the main audience,like quick geographic references,makes the series a little complex to understand. The Director is not the best one by sure and the series lacks a sense of continuity by cutting key passages in the trip. But in general good action, well designed costums and sequence of events.

This will entertain anyone who has never read anything on the subject. That's why it doesn't get the lowest score.

There was no need for "artistic freedom" to change so much of what happened in reality. I guarantee the real story is much more interesting. Read Zweig or Bergreen. The best thing about this time of culture clash of civilizations and exploration, is that there is no script that can be better than reality. The best bet is to be faithful to the events, because they are very well documented.

I'll just leave here the sentence at the end of this production as an example of the complete absence of historical support: "With this new route to the West, Spain controlled the spice trade for decades".

What? How can something that claims to be historic end up with this blatant lie?

None of the advisors heard of the Treaty of Zaragoza(1529)? In it and after some skirmishes between the Spanish and Portuguese in the Spice Islands with Spanish defeat, Spain accepted money from Portugal to settle the matter leaving control of the spice trade to remain in the hands of the Portuguese until the Dutch took it much later.

If this is the historical rigor, I think it would have been better to end by saying that Elcano, who is meant to be exaggeratedly glorified and who under no criteria can be considered the greatest hero of Magellan's expedition, a few years later, sailed through space in a winged ship, having been the first to surf the rings of Saturn with his surfboard covered in cloves and cinnamon.

The drama and action are pretty standard for a setting like this.

However, the historical accuracy is sooo bad. For gods sake they didnt even get the direction of Magellans voyage correct. Magellan went westward while this show has him going east. Yikes.

As a Briton, I knew very little about Magellan.

Historic details I don't know in detail. The dirt and squalor of the time look realistic. The smallness of the cannons, and a ship being steered with a lever in the middle of the ship. Things that go against expectations.

The series could have had less on details of the suffering on the later parts of the voyage. And as others say, it was not a profitable route at the time, given the vastness of the Pacific.