Mexico, 1821. A masked and romantic folk hero known as El Zorro bravely fights against Spanish colonial rule in Alta California. However, on the eve of Mexico's liberation, the despotic governor Don Rafael Montero discovers that El Zorro is Don Diego de la Vega. An attack on the rebel's home results in his capture, the death of his wife, the kidnapping of his only daughter, Elena, and the destruction of his property. Twenty years later, Montero returns from exile with Elena, who is unaware of her father's identity, and sets out to purchase California from the President of Mexico, General Santa Anna. When Don Diego de la Vega finds out, he escapes from prison determined to take revenge on Montero. Part of the plan is to train and transform Alejandro Murrieta, a bandit with a tortuous past, into the new Zorro, to help him thwart Montero's plans once and for all. Murrieta poses as a wealthy Spanish landowner determined to gain Montero's trust.
