This is also why the Chief explicitly states he knows Miguel and Tulio aren't gods (on the boat when he says "to err is human") but still offers them a boat, gold, or the opportunity to stay in El Dorado to live as gods. He will go along with the game to appease the people and not disrupt the highly religious culture. He was also the one that made the volcano stop erupting, gave the armadillo special powers to help them win the ball game, and he used his godly strength to hold up the stone pillar at the end of the film.
It would also explain how everyone seems to be speaking the same language.
Chel is also one of their prophets, though she doesn't know it. If she hadn't stolen the relics, then Miguel and Tulio wouldn't have found their way into the city. This gives us the Rule of Three, since the three of them being the prophets of the gods. As we all know, those gods sure do like things that come in threes.
The volcanic eruption happening just when two guys masquerading as gods need proof of their godhood? Too much of a coincidence NOT to be some form of divine intervention.
It may have been created by the Real Gods to lead Miguel and Tulio to save El Dorado.
- How else could they landed at the first landmark?
- Following up with this theory, it may be enchanted in such a way that not just anyone can understand it. Besides Miguel and Tulio, the only other people known to have understood its importance were the thieves they were gambling against at the beginning of the film. Small-time crooks are ideal candidates because they are greedy and adventurous enough to be lured by the promise of El Dorado’s gold, but not powerful or violent enough to present a real threat to the city when they get there. If Cortez himself had tried to read the map, it probably would have just looked like unintelligible scribbles to him.
She's the only slave we see because the rest are out working. She's only there because she was considered the personal servant of the Gods. This would explain why she wanted that particular pair of earrings so much — it would mark her status as a freed slave in combination with her white clothes — and why she wouldn't tell the guys why she wanted to leave. She thought that they wouldn't let her join them if they knew.
- This may also explain her choice of clothing.
- Nope, just a girl who wanted to get away before the high priest makes a sacrifice out of her.
- It's actually just local attire made more eye catching to distinguish her as a main character.
She knew the way out of the city. She has the clear white/no-gold status markers mentioned. She feels no loyalty to the city AND doesn't believe in the religion that every (other?) citizen shown reveres unquestioningly.
She also refers to getting out as dreaming of "bigger things"... while living in a city made of solid gold.
On top of that, she has very different facial features from the rest of the city-dwellers (particularly her nose), hinting at a different ethnicity.
- According to animators, she's just a normal girl dreaming of adventure. When you grow up surrounded by gold and nothing to do you get bored.
- Word of God intended for that to be the case, but cut it out of the original because they didn't want to show the city too early (it was in the DVD commentary.)
He also seems to be familiar with Altivo. He COULD have learned Altivo's name by listening to people talking on deck, and his instantly loving the horse could be Miguel being a Friend to All Living Things. But Miguel literally jumping ship to save Altivo instead of helping Tulio makes more sense if he was already attached to Altivo.
Perhaps Miguel's family once owned or even bred Altivo, and Cortes eventually obtained him from them, legally or by force (or both).
Miguel is able to tell what Altivo was thinking at several points, such as "OH, he wants his apple" as if he should've realized sooner. Granted, Miguel IS a Friend to All Living Things, but Altivo specifically gets a good deal of recognition and attention.
- He was an Englishman named Michael called "Miguel" for convenience. He was just a rover, not necessarily a fugitive.
- We have to assume that they're speaking Spanish, which we're hearing as English thanks to Translation Convention. Thus, Tulio and Miguel aren't really using an American or an English accent, but the accents of a Spanish local and a fluent foreigner. Miguel may be Basque or Andorran, or, less likely, Portuguese or French. That doesn't rule out the possibility of his real name being Mikel, Miquel, or Michel.
- But there is such a thing as a blue-eyed, blond-haired Spaniard, you know.
- I call that Unfortunate Implication...
There is also something stereotypically gay about him, what with his effeminacy and all. He would have to be bisexual, considering the thing he says about "the girl in Barcelona" and his own drooling over Chel when they first meet her.
The writers toyed with the idea of making their relationship a sort of "wink wink nudge nudge" thing that would be fairly open but would fly over the heads of children. If you watch the movie with subtitles, then you will see that they left in a few endearments.
More to the point:
It's obvious just what role Chel was filling, what with that scene of them in the floor. This strongly implies that the guys were in a relationship.
- They were supposed to be but the suits said no.
Horrifying as that is to think, it would also explain both the lack of language barrier and the city calling itself 'El Dorado'- the same name outsiders who had never been there and were unsure of its existence of had for it.
- Right before the cigars both Miguel and Tulio drink some beverage with Miguel's eyes clearly wobbling as if he was drunk.
- Counterpoint: In that time and place, the tobacco used was Nicotiana rustica, which in high doses actually is a hallucinogen, and the Maya would have been aware of this.
OF COURSE!! It all makes sense! Planting himself where the snake would menace him was a Secret Test of Character, and by saving him, our heroes passed, and he watched over them in all their endeavours!
- Albeit saving him accidentally.
Word of God says that this was one of the alternate endings, where he is revealed as god/angel sent to help Miguel and Tulio.
He eventually gave up on El Dorado, sailed home empty handed, and faded into obscurity.
- I feel this is supported by Tzekel Kan saying "the Age of the Jaguar." Considering it's 1519 and according to the Mayan calendar the Age of the Jaguar began in 3113 BC... It seems the entire world just might be an Alternate Universe, which, admittedly, would explain a lot.
- Considering the gods didn't show up, just two random Europeans, it's clear Tzekel Kan was mistaken about the actual date (though this doesn't account for the other implications, it at least means that it wasn't actually the year of the Jaguar, if the more mystical aspects of the plot are to be believed). Also considering the El Dorado people are Muisca not Mayan, they may have used a different calendar. After all, many modern day countries even have different calendars than their contemporaries.
Which is what was supposed to have tested their friendship and nearly split them, but the creators figured this would be too cliché, so they changed it to a different conflict.
- Alternatively, Chell is a descendant.
He got rid of it long ago so that he could make room to store his codex in the hole it left behind.
This would explain why the natives all speak Spanish, and why the map in Spain is an accurate rendering of the route. Miguel and Tulio also find a metal machete on the beach when they arrive, even though the natives don't have steel. This pattern - where white incomers copy ideas left by those who came before - is a major plot element in The Man Who Would Be King, which the film is based on.
Seriously, look at them
◊ and tell me you don't see it. They're the same size, have a similar color scheme, and live in South America.
The gods were interested in Miguel and Tulio and wanted to see how long they could keep up the god charade. They basically decided "Oh, this'll be hilarious", subdued the volcano, and might have sent the armadillo to make things interesting.
Considering Tzekel-Kan's giant supernatural stone Jaguar mech, we know for a fact that magic exists in this universe, and its military applications have apparently been long worked out by the natives. When Spanish soldiers come marching in they're going to find more than obsidian stones and arrows waiting for them.
Miguel and Rapunzel are both good-natured blondes with green eyes who are able to befriend white horses that would normally be on the "enemy" side through sheer kindness (not to mention both horses have an affinity for apples; whereas Tulio and Flynn are both dark-haired and dark-eyed Deadpan Snarkers who dress in blue and (initially) dream of having more wealth in their life. Plus, Miguel and Rapunzel are both the more optimistic of their duos against Tulio/Flynn's pragmatism.
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