“Brigands: The Quest for Gold” (2024) is a newly released historical drama series set in the wild south of Italy after the Risorgimento unification. It’s a TV series created by Italian screenwriter Antonio Le Fosse and directed by Antonio Le Fosse, Steve Saint Leger, and Nicola Sorcinelli. Filomena (Michela De Rossi) is a lady who has to go along with some gangsters as they stage an audacious theft for the legendary lost treasure. “Brigands: The Quest for Gold” is available to stream on Netflix!
Plot Summary
The series begins with a map that shows a place known as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1860. One man named Giuseppe Schiavone, also known as Sparrowhawk, has a talk about his hometown, which was rich but always raided. He was one of those Italian unification soldiers who watched all the gold from his city spent on war by leaders, leaving behind death and devastation. The hiding place for this gold remains undisclosed to anyone since the map leading to it got lost.
Two years later, Sparrowhawk went to Basilicata in an attempt to find Clemente Degli Orti’s map. Clemente and military leader Fumel want to find their way towards the hidden treasure. Clemente’s wife, Filomena, does not agree with them.
When Filomena tries to assist one friend, she is grabbed by her husband, Clemente, who kills him. Then he tries killing his wife but fails to do so. She runs away but is caught up with some robbers out there. Persuading them into allowing her to help them obtain ransom money would be useful here. She steals a map from her husband’s safe.
Meanwhile, Fumel wants to find Filomena and asks Sparrowhawk for help. Sparrowhawk agrees but has his own plans.
How does Filomena end up with a group of bandits?
A narrator explains that during a war, the Bank of Palermo was emptied and all the money was taken, with a note left promising to pay it back. But the gold disappears along with a map that is needed for its retrieval. Two years later, in 1862, in Southern Italy, after unification, we meet Filomena, a villager from humble beginnings who wants more out of life than what this small town can offer her, so she agrees to marry Don Clemente, who is rich in comparison.
Sparrowhawk, a mysterious figure, announces his plan to find the lost treasure by using this same map everyone else has been looking for over the past couple years. Sparrowhawk earns recognition as the best at capturing criminals when he delivers one to be arrested.
According to Sparrowhawk, Don Clemente could be hiding the missing map, so he goes searching for him. While in Clemente’s house, Filomena overhears conversations about maps and other local topics; however much she does to help poor villagers, she brings down only anger from him, resulting in an aggressive confrontation.
Later that day, Sparrowhawk slips into their house under the guise of shadows during Filomena’s bath. Following an exchange of insults between Filomena and Clemente, Filomena fatally stabs her husband before fleeing into the woods.
In another part of the forest, Filomena comes across a gang of bandits. Soon after this occurs, search parties are sent out to find her. At one point, the bandits contemplate ransoming her, but she convinces them that she can lead them to riches.
The bandits break into Clemente’s mansion and steal a map from his safe. As an expression of gratitude for all that she has done for them so far, “The Monaco” welcomes Filomena as one of its own members. With this newly-acquired item in hand, they study it together in anticipation of their upcoming hunt for treasure.
What happens after Filomena joins the Monacos?
In the second episode, the Monacos let Filomena join them when she showed them a map to treasure. But trouble brewed within the group, especially between her and Ciccilla, the other woman.
Meanwhile, Sparrowhawk planned to sneak into Mignano’s prison with two helpers. Filomena had to go through an initiation ceremony, which made her uncomfortable, but now she was part of the group for good.
The authorities were still searching for Filomena, thinking she might be with others. Pietro, the gang’s leader, warned Ciccilla about her arrival. Ciccilla was told to gain Filomena’s trust, but it wasn’t easy, especially since Filomena struggled to fit in and handle guns.
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During a walk, Filomena found men tied to trees, causing tension with Ciccilla. Despite their differences, Filomena tried to help the captives. Ciccilla reminded Filomena to focus on the present and stay loyal to the Monacos. In Mignano, Sparrowhawk brought a criminal, and the Monacos met with the Pace for a trade.
Filomena challenged the Pace leader to a rifle-loading contest to win back her freedom, but lost. Ciccilla negotiated her release. Back at camp, Filomena thought about her actions and planned an ambush on The Pace, using the map she found.
During the festivities, Pietro’s father arrived with Sparrowhawk, asking for Filomena. She was torn between loyalty to the Monacos and her own interests. A mysterious woman named Michelina De Cesare arrived at The Pace, raising questions about her connection to them.
Pietro trusted Filomena a bit, but Ciccilla didn’t trust her at all. Filomena proved her loyalty by helping the Monacos and planning to find gold with them. Despite doubts from others, Filomena aimed to secure a better life for herself and the Monacos by finding the gold.
What happened to Marchetta?
Filomena was the last person Marchetta wanted to join their group, but he had no choice when Ceccilla—and even Pietro—came to trust her. Pietro discovered that someone was leaking information to Commander Fumel, though he didn’t know it was somebody close by. When Fumel found out where Pietro’s gang was hiding, Pietro turned himself in to save everyone, including his best friend Celestino. Thereafter, Ceccilla was inconsolable; she felt as if she’d lost everything. She nearly killed herself, but for a small boy named Jurillo, who stopped her just in time, giving her hope. And so she resolved to find the traitor who had destroyed everything.
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Marchetta made it look like Filomena had betrayed them and been helping Fumel the whole time. Ceccilla wanted revenge but started feeling like something wasn’t right. She couldn’t put all the pieces together at first until she realized it was Marchetta who had double-crossed her. She managed to save herself when he attacked her; later on, he tried getting Jurillo to kill Lissandra (Fumel’s daughter), but Jurillo caught on that he was being tricked. In the end, Jurillo shot him, thus bringing an end not only to his life but also to all of his lies and deceit.
How did Sparrowhawk join in with the Monacos?
Sparrowhawk is an intelligent person. Because he is a well-known bounty hunter, he understands that in order to approach Filomena and, eventually, the Monacos, he must act wisely. So what does he choose? He rescues Pietro’s father from a jail up north. In exchange for his father’s freedom, Sparrowhawk demands Filomena. But there’s one problem: Filomena has become a part of the Monaco family now. Therefore, when Sparrowhawk hands her over to Fumel, it doesn’t make the Monacos happy! They are ready to risk everything they have just to save their member! And so does Sparrowhawk, but not because he loves that girl—because of gold. It is only Filomena who knows where it is hidden!
While camping together, they realize that Fumel’s men might be aware of their plans! In order to discover who betrays them among the Monacos, Celestino and Jurillo are sent for investigation by them. However, when Fumel’s men arrive there, they shoot Celestino, which results in his death. For Monacos, losing a member of their family is a very tough situation to handle. Then, Filomena’s brother gets caught by Fumel too. He can only be freed if she goes back to Piedmontese again. From now on, everything gets personal for them: revenge for Celestino, saving Filomena’s brother, as well as getting gold, of course!
“Brigards: The Quest for Gold” Ending Explained
Things became really bad. One of them was a betrayer. They followed the map to where the gold bars were. They thought they could use it to help the South at last. Their joy didn’t last long, though: Fumel’s men were all over the place, and they were caught, shot, and hanged by those men without mercy or second thought.
Meanwhile, Filomena and Sparrowhawk had another task of their own: to save Filomena’s brother as well as stop Fumel. But what greeted them was the news that Filomena’s brother had already died—they were too late; and just as they were about to leave, Michelina’s Guerra gang captured them instead of Fumel’s men.
According to a prophecy, Michelina is a Southern people’s liberator who will also recover their land from Northern domination. Even in such circumstances, when they’re all prisoners together now, there is still some hope left for Filomena, who realizes one thing: all these people, including herself, want freedom for the South. Once they have this gold, it should bring them closer to winning, but what lies ahead remains unknown.
Michelina, with a courageous spirit, saw the resolution in Filomena’s eyes. Together, they devised a plan. They approached Don Orlando, who was a priest, for assistance. He knew where Fumel hid the gold. At first, Don Orlando wasn’t sure about fighting, but he saw how serious they were, so he agreed to help them. Don Orlando revealed that secret: the gold is in this church!
Filomena and Michelina led the charge, while Sparrowhawk and his team got the gold. Some didn’t trust Sparrowhawk because he was a bounty hunter, but Filomena believed in him. She trusted him and even loved him. The plan went smoothly. Fumel and his men were surprised when the attack started. Inside the church, Sparrowhawk’s team took the gold and escaped. Filomena escaped too, but Michelina was captured.
Fumel realized the gold was gone. Filomena waited for Sparrowhawk, but he never came. She realized he had betrayed her. She wanted him dead. Next season, there will be another war over gold. Sparrowhawk will switch sides, from ally to enemy. Now that Filomena leads, she’ll fight harder than ever to reclaim the gold and save the South.
