Napoleon Bonaparte is master of Europe.
His brother Joseph sits on the throne of Spain.
Sir Arthur Wellesley, soon to be Lord Wellington, the new British Commander, has taken the city of Oporto from the French.
Now he rests his forces before making an advance into Spain.
Sergeant Richard Sharpe saves Sir Arthur Wellesley's life, earning a field commission to Lieutenant. Despite not being "a proper officer", he earns the respect of the Chosen Men, makes an ally of Spanish rebel Don Vivar and becomes lovers with partisan Teresa Monero.
Tropes that appear in this episode:
- Action Girl: Teresa can keep up with the Chosen Men.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Teresa is introduced here. In the books, she didn't appear until Sharpe's Gold.
- Adaptation Distillation: In the novel, Sharpe saves Wellington's life in India in 1803. This is moved to 1809 Spain.
- Almost Dead Guy: How we see Murray for most of his on-screen time. He spends his dying moments passing on advice to Sharpe, who is severely out of his element as an officer brought up from the ranks, on how to lead his men like an officer should. He then passes on his sword, says his last words, and dies with a final gasp.
- And I'm the Queen of Sheba: In Sharpe’s first encounter with Harper, the latter throttles him. Sharpe shouts "Can’t you see I'm an officer?!" Harper replies "And I'm Napoleon Bonaparte."
- Aristocrats Are Evil: The Man in Black has a claim on the countship of Matamores. As for the evil part, he participates in two massacres.
- Backstab Backfire: Colonel De L'Eclin tries to shoot Sharpe in the back, but is shot by Perkins.
- Bald of Evil: The Man in Black's hair's thinning on the top of his head and he's a bad guy.
- Beard of Evil: The Man in Black has a short goatee.
- Big Bad: Colonel de L’Eclin.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Sharpe's first action is to save Sir Arthur Wellesley's (later the Duke of Wellington) life from three French cavalrymen.
- Perkins earns his place in the Chosen Men when he saves Sharpe from Colonel De L'Eclin.
- Bond One-Liner: The Man in Black: "Vale"note (after strangling Sgt. Williams).
- Cain and Abel: Major Blas Vivar and The Man in Black/Tomas Vivar. It's hard to tell which one's Cain and which one's Abel.
- Camping a Crapper: When Sgt. Williams goes to take a piss, he is strangled by the Man in Black.
- The Captain: Even though he is junior to Dunnet, Murray clearly is the more competent and well-behaved officer.
- *Click* Hello:
- Col. De L'Eclin greets Sgt. Williams with a cocked gun before the Man in Black strangles Williams.
- Tongue's first action in the series is to pull a gun on Sharpe.
- Colonel Badass: De L'Eclin is a colonel and a deadly combatant with a sword.
- Cool Sword: Murray carries a 1796 Heavy Cavalry Sword, which he later passes on to Sharpe.Murray: I want you to have my sword. Maybe if the men see you carrying it…Sharpe: They’ll think I’m a proper officer?Murray: No. They’ll think I liked you.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The 95th Rifles are slaughtered by Colonel de L’Eclin and his men in a cavalry charge.
- Dark Is Evil: Harper even remarks that the Man in Black looks like an undertaker. He also has a black horse.
- Death by Adaptation: Major Dunnet. In the books, he is captured by Colonel de L'Eclin and reappears in Sharpe's Waterloo. Here, he is cut down by Colonel de L'Eclin and dies on the spot.
- Demoted to Extra: Louisa, the primary love interest from the novel, is reduced to a minor character whose uncle turns out to be a colleague of Hogan and whose "aunt" is Rothschild in disguise (in the book she travels with her actual aunt and uncle).
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Sgt. Williams is killed in the opening ambush, whereas in the novel, he survives until midway through.
- The Dragon: The Man in Black, a man in black civilian clothes who serves as Colonel de L'Eclin's right-hand man.
- Duel to the Death: Sharpe and Colonel de L'Eclin have one after the Chosen Men have decimated his garrison.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Man in Black is disgusted when Harper shoots one of his men in the throat using a ramrod as a bullet.
- A Father to His Men: Murray is highly respected by the men under his command. He seems to care about them, even though he is a gentleman and they are working-class commoners. When he dies, the rest of the Chosen Men try to desert.
- Green and Mean: Colonel de L'Eclin is an antagonist who wears green.
- Groin Attack: Harper grabs Sharpe’s balls during a fight. Sharpe returns the favour in another fight.
- Hat Damage: Harper shoots off the Man in Black's hat as he retreats. When the rest of the Chosen Men return to where he is, he's shown wearing it.
- Hero Killer: De L'Eclin is personally responsible for the deaths of the two senior officers in the 95th, Major Dunnett and Captain Murray.
- Historical Domain Character: James Rothschild
really was one of the bankers responsible for keeping Wellesley funded, and was rumoured to smuggle consignments of money while in disguise as a woman. - Hollywood Density: Played With. Sharpe is assigned to escort a party carrying a box that, to allay suspicion, they claim is full of old papers and documents. However, they lift the box around with ease invoking this trope. After Sharpe (and the audience) have accepted that, Harper conversationally points out that they are being hoodwinked because paper weighs a lot and whatever the box contains is very light. It is actually a flag that is a cultural treasure and propaganda rallying point.
- Hollywood Tactics: The British company Sharpe is initially assigned to gets completely wiped out by French cavalry, mainly because they make no attempt form up and fight in lines or squares (although to be fair, riflemen were skirmishers and probably would've been better off moving about). Likewise, the French cavalry seems only capable of doing a Zerg Rush. They never dismount and fight on foot with carbines, not even when in narrow city streets where fighting from horseback is totally impractical.
- Human Shield: Teresa’s introduction to the Chosen Men involves grabbing Perkins as a shield.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Major Vivas warns Sharpe not to break Teresa's heart.
- Improbable Weapon User: Harper uses a ramrod as a bullet.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: Being charged by a mounted French Trooper and not having time to load his rifle properly, Harper opts to discharge his ramrod along with the ball. The ramrod goes straight through the Trooper's throat at exactly the Adam's Apple. It is rather disturbing to watch.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: When Vivar and Teresa meet Sharpe and the Chosen Men, the former warns Sharpe about the French colonel after they massacred the 95th Rifles. After a few moments to mull this over, Sharpe asks how they know that the French commander is a colonel... if they weren't present at the massacre.
- In the Back: Teresa kills one of D'Eclin's men by stabbing him in the back with the bayonet on one of her pistols while he struggles with Tongue.
- Last Request: After getting stabbed by Vivar, the Man in Black asks him to not have any priests at his funeral.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Sharpe discovers that he's risking his men's lives for an ancient legend: that if the flag of St James is hoisted at Torre Castro, the people of Spain will rise up against the French. Furiously, he confronts Hogan:Sharpe: Do you really believe men will fight and die for a rag on a pole?Hogan: You do, Richard. You do.
- Officer and a Gentleman: In the most British sense of the word. Murray is of the upper-class and knows that Sharpe is not, but tries to encourage Sharpe to not let social status get in the way of good leadership.Murray: Don’t be too hard on the men, Sharpe. How can I say this without offense? You see, the lads don’t like an officer who comes from the ranks. They want an officer to be privileged, to be set apart from them. Touched by grace. They think of you as one of them, as one of the damned.
- Offstage Villainy: Sharpe and the Chosen Men find the aftermath of a village massacred by De L'Eclin and his men.
- Only Known By His Nickname: The Man in Black is credited as such and referred to in-story as the Count of Matamores, a title he shares with his brother.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Blas Viva and Teresa.
- Reality Is Unrealistic:
- A perfectly historically correct flintlock lighter, which no-one seems able to identify, shows up.
- Major Blas Vivar carries a strange object which looks like a pistol without a barrel, and at one point uses it to set a piece of paper on fire. The object is in fact a flintlock lighter, of a type that was the height of fashion among tobacco smokers during The Napoleonic Wars.
- Rebel Leader: Major Blas Vivar is the leader of a partisan group in Spain.
- Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: The two Counts of Matamores. Blas Vivar is a religious man who believes in prophecy, while his brother Tomas advocates for an enlightened court.
- Schmuck Bait: Sharpe gets Harris to make a sign reading "Keep Out" in French, and puts it at the entrance of a booby-trapped building. Sure enough, the next French cavalrymen to pass fall for it.
- Sorry That I'm Dying: Murray says almost this exact thing to Sharpe.Murray: Sorry to be so much trouble.
- The Starscream: Harper spends the first half of the episode trying to figure out how to take command from Sharpe.
- Succession Crisis: Sharpe winds up stuck in the dispute between two brothers: Major Blas Vivar and Tomas, who are both vying for the title Count of Matamores.
- Take a Third Option: The Man in Black presents Sharpe with two rival visions for Spain: A dark, superstitious monastery (represented by his brother), or an enlightened, scholarly court (represented by himself). Sharpe replies that he's neither a monk nor a prince, so he'd choose a tavern.
- Take Up My Sword: Captain Murray gives Sharpe his sword so the other men will recognize him as an officer before he dies from his wounds.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Harper during his fight with Sharpe.
- You Are in Command Now: Sharpe takes command of the Chosen Men when Captain Murray dies.
