History ArtisticLicenseHistory / Boundless2022

* Humabon is portrayed as basically a tribal chief, governing over a primitive village on an island, when in real life he was a Sumatran aristocrat who ruled over a relatively developed Indianized rajanate. The series also excises that Humabon was converted to Catholicism under the name of Carlos.

* Contrary to what the series shows, the expedition wasn't composed by "people without a job and fugitives from justice" or even convicts recruited directly from prison as show in the prologue, but professional sailors, many of them with a lot of experience in this kind of travel. Oddly, it seems even the scriptwriters themselves forgot about this point, as one of Elcano's lines is the end is exactly "you all freely chose to come along this travel" (something not even ''he'' did in this version, having been recruited in jail).
* Also contrary to what the series shows, as well as pop culture (and again, what Morte claims), no sane, educated person in the 16th century believed the world was flat, as the Earth being a globe had been accepted knowledge for 2.000 years by that point. Elcano's claim that by circumnavigating the globe they will "prove that it is possible to navigate around the world" is nonsense, as it was already considered a feat perfectly doable (if highly difficult and not worth the effort) at the time.

* In real life, the Portuguese Empire did send ships to try to destroy Magellan's fleet, but the latter evaded all of them throughout a mix of luck and skill. In the series, a Portuguese fleet reaches them in the Canarian Islands and either captures or destroys the ''Santiago'', which in real life was shipwrecked much later, after all of the five ship had arrived unharmed in the South American coasts. It's also notable that the Portuguese fleet is improbably large, being apparently composed by a dozen of ships of the line, which in real life would be bigger than one of the ''armadas da Índia'' Portugal sent across their empire every year.

* Elcano's actor Álvaro Morte [[FalselyAdvertisedAccuracy claims to have done a lot of research]] that shows that, despite appearances, Elcano wasn't really a devout Catholic, and this is how he portrays the character. This might be the most controversial license, as pretty much all evidence is that Elcano was, in fact, a devout believer, who participated in a mass in front of the Virgen de la Victoria of Seville to ask for luck in the travel, and whose very first thing after managing to return alive to Seville was precisely go to the same church to thank the Virgin Mary. The nuance of portraying Elcano as a LovableRogue, or rather a drunkard and whoremonger, is also inaccurate, as sources imply rather he was kind of a serious, introverted man without any reputation of this kind.
* Magellan is given a seizable hero upgrade in this portrayal, as it either excises or excuses his most unsympatethic moments. In real life, there is agreement that, while a great navigator, Magellan was a petty, brutal man and an unskilled leader, who demanded total obedience from his cree and often arrested people by the least grievances.
* In real life, Elcano was the bosun of the ''Concepción'', not the pilot, who was João Lopes Carvalho. Elcano wasn't reputed to have any special skill as a pilot of anything else and wasn't recruited for this reason (and certainly not from prison).

* In real life, Antonio de Pigafetta wasn't a complete FishOutOfWater as in the series, as he had plenty of experience in travels and fighting when he joined the expedition.

* Elcano wasn't Magellan's immediate sucessor in real life. That was João Lopes Carvalho, who was demoted for being a jerkass.

* In real life, King Charles V wasn't personally present in Seville to see the expediton sail off, as he was in Barcelona at the time. Similarly, the previous meeting between Magellan and him took place in Valladolid, not Seville.
* In real life, Magellan and Elcano weren't aboard of the same ship. The former was in command on the ''Trinidad'', and the latter traveled in the ''Concepción''.
* Cartagena's mutiny in the series is motivated mainly by personal jealously and jingoistic mistrust towards a non-Spaniard, while in real life there were much stronger reasons, namely that Magellan was a reserved, authoritarian commander who changed his plans on the fly without explanation and refused to consult his decisions with Cartagena as he was supposed to do, which caused him to be seen as an incompetent and a despot by the officers

* In the series, Lapulapu attacks first and actually threatens Magellan on his face (!) before the Battle of Mactan, while in real life Magellan ordered the attack on Mactan as a show of power.
* The Battle of Mactan itself is reproduced rather faithfully to the chronicles, but it has Magellan dying gently from an arrow to the neck before being double-tapped by a crowd of natives with spears, while in real life he fell over due to his leg wound and was killed by them at that moment.
* Humabon's betrayal didn't involve attacking the Spaniards in his throne room, but during a feast.

* Most egregiously, the series claims at its conclusion that the route discovered by Magellan was the key for Spain to dominate the Pacific spice trade. This is completely false, as the route in question was deemed imply too long and arduous to be of any commercial interest. The true keys were the previous discovery of the Pacific Ocean by UsefulNotes/VascoNunezDeBalboa and the posterior [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire Conquest of the Aztec Empire]] by UsefulNotes/HernanCortez, which allowed the Spanish Empire to spread an infinitely easier route from Spain to México and from México to the Pacific. In fact, this was exactly the course followed by the fleet headed by Miguel López de Legazpi that achieved the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfThePhilippines Conquest of the Philippines]]. Magellan's route was certainly relevant to the cosmography of the time due to all the geographic knowledge it brought, not to mention for the supplying of future Spanish properties on modern day Uruguay and Argentina, but as a trade route it was simply not practical enough.

* In real life, the Portuguese Empire did send ships to try to destroy Magellan's fleet, but the latter evaded all of them throughout a mix of luck and skill. In the series, a Portuguese fleet reaches them in the Canarian Islands and either captures or destroys the ''Santiago'', which in real life was shipwrecked much later, after all of the five ship had arrived unharmed in the South American coasts. It's also notable that the Portuguese fleet is improbably large, being apparently composed by a dozen of ships of the line, which in real life would be bigger than one of the ''armadas da Índia'' Portugal sent across their empire every year.

* Contrary to what the series shows, the expedition's crew wasn't composed by "people without a job and fugitives from justice" or even convicts recruited directly from prison as in this series, but professional sailors, many of them with a lot of experience in this kind of travels. Oddly, it seems even the scriptwriters themselves forgot about this point, as one of Elcano's lines is the end is exactly "you all freely chose to come along this travel" (something not even ''he'' did in this version, having been recruited in jail).
* Also contrary to what the series show, as well as pop culture (and again, what Morte claims), no sane, educated person in the 16th century believed the world was flat, as the Earth being a globe had been accepted knowledge since 2.000 years earlier. Elcano's claim that by circumnavigating the globe they will "prove that it is possible to navigate around the world" is nonsense, as it was already considered a perfectly doable (if highly difficult) feat at the time.

* In real life, the Portuguese Empire did send ships to try to destroy Magellan's fleet, but the latter evaded all of them throughout a mix of luck and skill. In the series, a Portuguese fleet reaches them in the Canarian Islands and either captures or destroys the ''Santiago'', which in real life was shipwrecked much later, after all of the five ship arrived unharmed in the South American coasts. It's also notable to say that the Portuguese fleet is improbably large, being apparently composed by a dozen of ships of the line, which in real life would be bigger than one of the ''armadas das Indias'' Portugal sent across their empire every year.
* The clothing and armor used in the series is bizarre, with unnatural amounts of leather, metal studs, big kneeboots and weird armored garments left and right, often looking straight out of a FolkMetal festival rather than 16th century Spain. The most blatant example may be Elcano's armored waistcoat and Omar's gladiator-like suspenders.

* Elcano's actor Álvaro Morte [[FalselyAdvertisedAccuracy claims to have done a lot of research]] that shows that, despite appearances, Elcano wasn't really a devout Catholic, and this is how his character is portrayed. This might be the most controversial license, as pretty much all evidence is that Elcano was, in fact, a devout believer, who participated in a mass in front of the Virgen de la Victoria of Seville to ask for luck in the travel, and whose very first thing after managing to return alive to Seville was precisely go to the same church to thank the Virgin Mary. The nuance of portraying Elcano as a LovableRogue, or rather a drunkard and whoremonger, is also inaccurate, as sources imply rather he was kind of a serious, introverted man without any reputation of this kind.

* In real life, King Charles V wasn't personally present in Seville to see the expediton sail off, as he was in Barcelona at the time. Being Holy Roman Emperor and such, he would have had infinitely more important things to do. Similarly, the previous meeting between Magellan and him took place in Valladolid, not Seville.

* Cartagena's mutiny in the series is motivated mainly by personal jealously and jingoistic mistrust towards a non-Spaniard, while in real life there was a much stronger reason, namely that Magellan was a reserved, authoritarian commander who refused to consult his decisions with the ''veedor'' as he was supposed to do, being seen as a petty despot as a result.

* In the series, Lapulapu attacks first and actually threatens Magellan on his face (¡) before the Battle of Mactan, while in real life Magellan ordered the attack on Mactan as a show of power.

* Humabon's betrayal didn't involve him and his guards suddenly stabbing the Spaniards in his throne room, but during a feast.

* Most egregiously, the series claims at its conclusion that the route discovered by Magellan was the key for Spain to dominate the Pacific spice trade. This is completely false, as the route in question was deemed imply too long and arduous to be of any commercial interest. The true keys were the previous discovery of the Pacific Ocean by UsefulNotes/VascoNunezDeBalboa and the posterior [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire Conquest of the Aztec Empire]] by UsefulNotes/HernanCortez, which allowed the Spanish Empire to spread an infinitely easier route from Spain to México and from México to the Pacific. In fact, this was exactly the course followed by the fleet headed by Miguel López de Legazpi that achieved the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfThePhilippines Conquest of the Philippines]]. Magellan's route was certainly relevant to the cosmography of the time due to all the geographic knowledge it brought, not to mention for the supplying of future Spanish properties on modern day Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, but as a trade route it was simply not practical enough.

* Elcano's actor Álvaro Morte [[DanBrowned claims to have done a lot of research]] that shows that, despite appearances, Elcano wasn't really a devout Catholic, and this is how his character is portrayed. This might be the most controversial license, as pretty much all evidence is that Elcano was, in fact, a devout believer, who participated in a mass in front of the Virgen de la Victoria of Seville to ask for luck in the travel, and whose very first thing after managing to return alive to Seville was precisely go to the same church to thank the Virgin Mary. The nuance of portraying Elcano as a LovableRogue, or rather a drunkard and whoremonger, is also inaccurate, as sources imply rather he was kind of a serious, introverted man without any reputation of this kind.

* Contrary to what the series shows, the expedition's sailors weren't convicts recruited directly from prison, but professional sailors, many of them with a lot of experience in this kind of travels.
* Also contrary to what the series show, as well as pop culture (and again, to what Morte claims), no sane, educated person in the 16th century believed the world was flat. The Earth being a globe had been accepted knowledge since 2.000 years earlier.

* The Portuguese Empire did send ships to try to destroy Magellan's fleet, but the latter evaded all of them throughout a mix of luck and skill. Thus, the battle in the Canarian Islands portrayed in the series, where the fleet even loses one ship, never happened. All of the five ships arrived unharmed to the South American coasts.
* The clothing and armor used in the series is often anachronistic, and in other cases fully made up, with the most blatant example being probably Elcano's bizarre armored waistcoat.

* Elcano wasn't Magellan's immediate sucessor in real life. That was Juan López de Carvalho, who was demoted for being a jerkass.

* In this version of history, UsefulNotes/FerdinandMagellan's primary goal before sailing off seems to be already that of circumnavigating the globe. In real life, he didn't have such a desire; he only wanted to reach the Moluccas, and from there hopefully retrace his steps back to Spain in order not to break the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas by entering the Indian and African domains of the Portuguese Empire. The decision to break the treaty anyway and return by way of the Indian Ocean was decided by Elcano, not without the input of the expedition being reduced to two damaged ships (one of which, the ''Trinidad'', actually tried to do what Magellan had intended, only that it got lost) that would not endure the substantially harder double back.
* In real life, King Charles V wasn't personally present in Seville to see the expediton sail off, as he was in Barcelona at the time. Being the Holy Roman Emperor and such, he would have had infinitely more important things to do. Similarly, the previous meeting between Magellan and him took place in Valladolid, not Seville.

* The series claims none of the ''Trinidad'''s crewmen returned to Europe, but in real life, at least five of them did, among them its captain, Espinosa.
* Most egregiously, the series claims at its conclusion that the route discovered by Magellan was the key for Spain to dominate the Pacific spice trade. This is completely false, as the route in question was simply too long and tough to be of any pragmatical interest to trade. The true keys were the previous discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Núñez de Balboa and the posterior [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire Conquest of the Aztec Empire]] by UsefulNotes/HernanCortez, which allowed the Spanish Empire to spread an infinitely easier route from Spain to México and from México to the Pacific. In fact, this was exactly the course followed by the fleet headed by Miguel López de Legazpi that achieved the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfThePhilippines Conquest of the Philippines]]. Magellan's route was certainly relevant to the cosmography of the time due to all the geographic knowledge it brought, not to mention for the supplying of future Spanish properties on the parts of modern day Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, but as a trade route it was simply not that practical.

* In this version of history, UsefulNotes/FerdinandMagellan's primary goal before sailing off seems to be already that of circumnavigating the globe. In real life, he didn't have such a desire; he only wanted to reach the Moluccas, and from there hopefully retrace his steps back to Spain in order not to break the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas by entering the Indian and African domains of the Portuguese Empire. The decision to break the treaty anyway and return by way of the Indian Ocean was decided by Elcano, not without the input of the expedition being reduced to two damaged ships (one of which, the ''Trinidad'', actually tried to do what Magellan had intended, only that it got lost) that would not endure the substantially harder double back.
* Elcano's actor Álvaro Morte [[DanBrowned claims to have done a lot of research]] that shows that, despite appearances, Elcano wasn't really a devout Catholic, and this is how his character is portrayed. This might be the most controversial license, as pretty much all evidence is that Elcano was, in fact, a devout believer, who participated in a mass in front of the Virgen de la Victoria of Seville to ask for luck in the travel, and whose very first thing after managing to return alive to Seville was precisely go to the same church to thank the Virgin Mary. The nuance of portraying Elcano as a LovableRogue, or rather a drunkard and whoremonger, is also inaccurate, as sources imply rather he was kind of a serious, introverted man without any reputation of this kind.

* In real life, Antonio de Pigafetta wasn't a complete FishOutOfWater as in the series, as he had plenty of experience in travels and fighting when he joined the expedition.

* In real life, King Charles V wasn't personally present in Seville to see the expediton sail off, as he was in Barcelona at the time. Being the Holy Roman Emperor and such, he would have had infinitely more important things to do. Similarly, the previous meeting between Magellan and him took place in Valladolid, not Seville.

* In real life, Magellan and Elcano weren't aboard of the same ship. The former was in command on the ''Trinidad'', and the latter traveled in the ''Concepción''.
* The Portuguese Empire did send ships to try to destroy Magellan's fleet, but the latter evaded all of them throughout a mix of luck and skill. Thus, the battle in the Canarian Islands portrayed in the series, where the fleet even loses one ship, never happened. All of the five ships arrived to the South American coasts.

* The clothing used in the series is often anachronistic, and in other cases fully made up, with the most blatant example being probably Elcano's bizarre armored waistcoat.

* Most egregiously, the series claims at its conclusion that the route discovered by Magellan was the key for Spain to dominate the Pacific spice trade. This is completely false, as the route in question was simply too long and tough to be of any pragmatical interest to trade. The true keys were the previous discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Núñez de Balboa and the posterior [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire Conquest of the Aztec Empire]] by UsefulNotes/HernanCortez, which allowed the Spanish Empire to tend an infinitely easier route from Spain to México and from México to the Pacific. In fact, this was exactly the course followed by the fleet headed by Miguel López de Legazpi that achieved the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfThePhilippines Conquest of the Philippines]]. Magellan's route was certainly relevant to the cosmography of the time due to all the geographic knowledge it brought, not to mention for the supplying of future Spanish properties on the parts of modern day Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, but it was simply not as practical as a trade route.

* In this version of history, Magellan's primary goal before sailing off seems to be already that of circumnavigating the globe. In real life, he didn't have such a desire; he only wanted to reach the Moluccas, and from there hopefully retrace his steps back to Spain in order not to break the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas by entering the Indian and African domains of the Portuguese Empire. The decision to break the treaty anyway and return by way of the Indian Ocean was decided by Elcano, not without the input of the expedition being reduced to two damaged ships (one of which, the ''Trinidad'', actually tried to do what Magellan had intended, only that it got lost) that would not endure the substantially harder double back.

* Most egregiously, the series claims at its conclusion that the route discovered by Magellan was the key for Spain to dominate the Pacific spice trade. This is completely false, as the route in question was simply too long and tough to be of any pragmatical interest to trade. The true keys were the previous discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Núñez de Balboa and the posterior [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire Conquest of the Aztec Empire]] by UsefulNotes/HernanCortez, which allowed the Spanish Empire to tend an infinitely easier route from Spain to México and from México to the Pacific. In fact, this was exactly the course followed by the fleet headed by Miguel López de Legazpi that achieved the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfThePhilippines Conquest of the Philippines]]. Magellan's route was certainly relevant to the cosmography of the time due to all the geographic knowledge it brought, not to mention for the supplying of future Spanish properties on the parts of modern day Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, but it was simply not as practical as a trade route.