It is 1894. Angustias, dressed in black, berates herself for getting into a mess, when she could have stayed comfortably at home. She's part of a representation - a zarzuela
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Four days before, Angustias is arranging matters in the Ministrye before she leaves on vacation back to her time: she wants to see La verbena de la Paloma. As she leaves, Ernesto points out it is curious that she loves music so much when she's such a bad singer.
Pacino and Alonso argue about Marta: the former states that Marta is not herself anymore, while the latter claims she ought to pay. Bosco thinks the same, and he also asks about Arteche. Bosco threatens to fire them all if they do not solve the problem of the Sons of Padilla and the Ángel Exterminador. Salvador indicates he intends for Alonso to handle Arteche's interrogation.
In 1894, Angustias is pleased to finally go to La Verbena de la Paloma, but for some reason it is not going to have its premiere. She rapidly returns to the present, where she warns Salvador. Pacino is surprised that they have to fix that - having quite the dislike for zarzuela - but Salvador tells him he has to. Pacino and Lola go to the theater, and find out there's a lot of problems, because the budget has greatly increased and there's been some other problems. Angustias and the duo decide to speak with Tomás Bretón, the composer, but he does not seem interested in the idea.
In the present, Alonso attempts to speak with Arteche, but when Arteche mocks him, Alonso nearly beats him. Arteche remains silent, save for saying he'd rather be silent than lie. Arteche's results are "amazing": he is essentially Wolverine, without the claws (mentioning Henrietta Lacks at the same time).
In 1894, Lola speaks with Benito Pérez Galdós (who is a former agent of the Ministry) and Tomás Bretón, trying to get the man to gain interest again in zarzuela.
In the present, Salvador and Irene are trying to interrogate Marta, but she suffers from amnesia: the latest she remembers is from when she was sixteen.
In 1894, Pacino waits on Bretón, while Angustias passes herself off as famous singer Mercè; Abella, getting Bretón to rekindle his interest for the zarzuela, and it takes a bit of work for the man in charge to regain interest. Luisa, who plays the main female character, intends to leave for America, an issue that is temporarily fixed by getting one of the other actresses to join in.
Alonso (who is having some recurrent dreams of Arteche) manages to get to the mysterious man, who confesses that he comes from the times of Viriathus: he suffered a mortal injury, but he was given some kind of concoction, and ever since he has been living through time, having fought in every war in Spain ever since.
Irene speaks with Marta. Marta does not believe Irene about her age, but Irene shows her a mirror - shocking her heavily when she finds herself much older than she believes.
The representation does not go so well: Pacino unsuccessfully tries to flirt with Luisa (also finding one of the other actors meeting with someone suspicious). Fortunately, Lola (much to her own regret) is perfect for the role, while Pacino (much to his own regret, given his hatred for the genre) gets roped in to join as part of the chorus.
In the present, Arteche takes advantage of a distraction to get one of his guards' guns. He does it with one objective: to prove his immortality - so he proceeds to shoot himself. Salvador and Ernesto think Arteche was crazy (mentioning the Spanish book Un soldado español de veinte siglos, by José Gómez de Arteche), but Alonso points out to one of the men of The Surrender of Breda: it is Arteche - which may mean he is not as crazy as they believed.
In 1894, Leo, the main character's first replacement gets angry at being replaced with Lola, and she proceeds to sow discord by telling her sister that Lola is trying to steal her fiancé. Trouble ensues, and even more when said fiancé tries to kiss Lola. Lola proceeds to slap him - and then the same does the girl, who drops him like a hot potato.
In the present, Irene stays with Marta, still in shock over the changes that, to her, are all too sudden. While they talk, Marta reveals that her father left their home (in the year 1800) some time before her sixteenth birthday.
In 1894, all the troubles make Angustias, Lola and Pacino believe that La Verbena may not have its premiére, but Angustias manages to convince Luisa to work on it, just in time before the theater owner (who appears to fall for Angustias) learns of the problems they have been beset with.
In the present, Salvador tells Marta they do not have much time to wait for Marta to recover her memory, and gets ready to do something he really would not like to do.
In 1894, the same actor Pacino saw in the bar hands several banknotes to a thug, who tells him the money is not enough: if he does not, then his son will "pay the consequences" of that. Pacino is witness to this meeting, but says nothing. Soon enough, it is the premiére, and the theater is completely full. Everybody is ready for the action, but then Leo shows up with the real Mercè Abella. However, Angustias, after recognizing she lied to them all, gets the group fired up and ready to act with a Rousing Speech. The theater owner kisses her, claiming he has fallen in love with her.
In the present, Salvador, Ernesto and Irene show Marta a video: the images of how her father attempted to kill her. She is left in shock. But there is greater shock when Salvador receives a call: Arteche has resurrected from his deadly injury.
La Verbena de la Paloma becomes a great success, with the public wildly applauding, but when Pacino sees the actor from earlier sneaking away, he follows him, finding he has stolen the takings of the representation. It turns out that the actor's son (the same who was earlier trying to kiss Lola) is due to join the army unless he pays for a replacement, and with war in Cuba becoming likely, he fears for his life. Pacino decides to take one for the team, and tells the actor to lay the blame on him, Lola and Angustias - since they are going to leave, it is unlikely they will be found out.
Alonso and a now recovered Arteche speak once more. Alonso shows him the book Salvador mentioned earlier, and Arteche states that it must have been a child of his, saying that this is his curse: to see all of his loved ones die of old age and illness. The Ángel Exterminador tried to use his blood so others could gain that same power, but it did not work. Alonso says he remembers Arteche from the Battle of Jemmingen, where the immortal man helped him stand up after being injured. Alonso tells him that Salvador is willing to tell him where to return to his own time, so as to prevent him from being given the concoction, and Arteche, in exchanges, offers them one thing: the identity of the Ángel Exterminador's boss. As Alonso guides Arteche to his time gate, Ernesto brings the portrait (made by Velázquez), which reveals to Salvador that his and Irene's suspicions about Bosco were well founded. Bosco comes by to ask about the situation, but Salvador lies to him, telling him they have sent Arteche to the Ministry's prison, and that Marta may never recover her memory - though he does get to throw in a good "son of a bitch" on Bosco after he leaves.
Alonso observes "The Surrender of Breda" and watches as it changes in front of his eyes: Arteche has, indeed, managed to change his own past.
