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Recap / The Ministry of Time S01 E04: "A Deal in Time"
aka: El Ministerio Del Tiempo S 01 E 04 Una Negociacion A Tiempo

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A man gets out of a limousine and enters the Ministry of Time, to give Salvador Martí a warning: if the Ministry does not adequately compensate the descendants of Rabbi Leví for their ancestor's unfair death, they will reveal the existence of the Ministry and the time doors.

Meanwhile, in 1880, Amelia has a problem: her mother has found a diary she is writing about what she is doing for the Ministry. Amelia manages to pass it off as a novel she is writing, and to point her mother in another direction, tells her she is seeing someone. Amelia's mother tells her to invite her boyfriend to dinner.

Unable to pay the exhorbitant quantity of money demanded and unwilling to let the Masquerade be broken, Salvador brings Alonso, Amelia and Julián to explain them the history of the Ministry: in 1491, a Jewish Rabbi called Leví met with Queen Isabel of Castile (played by Michelle Jenner, who also played the Queen in Isabel) to offer her the secret of the time doors in exchange of protection for himself and his family. She accepted the deal, but Leví was killed by the Inquisition. The patrol is assigned the mission of saving the Rabbi. However, there is a problem: the only time door close enough to do the mission leads to the day of the trial... always. As the other side of the door leads to a place a few hours away from where the trial is taking place, their options are limited, and not returning to the door on time would mean getting stuck in there until another time door became available - which would not be for years.

Alonso suggests freeing him by force, but Salvador insists to try the legal way first, so he sends the team and an expert in medieval law with them, to take the Rabbi's defense in the trial. The trial has a surprise, in that Tomás de Torquemada, the inquisitor in control of the trial, is surprisingly similar to Ernesto, at least in looks. The expert's knowledge and support is not enough, though, and Torquemada condemns the Rabbi to death.

The next day, the patrol decides to bring in a higher authority: they pass themselves off as the Pope's envoys in order to force Torquemada to free the Rabbi. Torquemada does not believe them, and condemns the Rabbi to death (again). They next try to tell Queen Isabel about what Torquemada is doing: the Queen gives the patrol a letter to order Torquemada to free the Rabbi, but Torquemada does not read the letter and once more condems the Rabbi to death.

Between attempts to free the Rabbi, Amelia asks Julián to help her with the issue of passing himself off as her boyfriend. While he is reluctant to do so, he decides to help her for her sake. Dinner goes well, and Amelia's parents suspicions are allayed, while Julián tells them he is going to Cuba for a while, so as to explain why he will not be around for quite some time.

With only one day before the deadline, Salvador asks Ernesto (who has been mysteriously absent from the patrol's previous debriefings) to intervene: Ernesto asks not to be rescued if he gets caught.

This time, the patrol brings in a false letter of safe-passage from the Pope to free the Rabbi, but, surprisingly, Torquemada allows the Rabbi to go free. Before the patrol can leave with the Rabbi, though, the doors open and Torquemada comes through: the Torquemada that was already in the room is Ernesto, who has used his uncanny resemblance to the Inquisitor to replace him. Ernesto lets himself be captured so that the patrol can save the Rabbi, bringing him and his wife to the future.

Torquemada begins to harshly interrogate his look-alike, and Ernesto reveals his secret: he is Pedro de Torquemada, Tomás' father. Torquemada decides to condemn Ernesto to death: with little time until the time door's look ends, there is little chance of Ernesto being saved. However, Alonso defies the orders and brings a motorcycle to 1491, saving Ernesto in the nick of time.

In 2015, the Rabbi lightly admonishes his descendant for what he tried to do, solving the situation and keeping the Ministry's secret safe.


Alternative Title(s): El Ministerio Del Tiempo S 01 E 04 Una Negociacion A Tiempo

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