Conrad, Manfred's only son, is mysteriously crushed to death by a giant helmet on the morning of his wedding.

Manfred declares his intent to divorce Hippolita and marry Isabella himself in order to produce a new male heir.

Isabella flees Manfred through the castle's dark underground tunnels, seeking refuge at the Church of St. Nicholas.

Manfred's grandfather's portrait comes to life and leads Manfred away from his pursuit of Isabella.

Servants bring Manfred the alarming news that a giant armored leg has appeared in the castle gallery.

After questioning the peasant Theodore, Manfred declares him guilty of treason and sentences him to death.

At Theodore's execution, Father Jerome spots a birthmark on Theodore's skin and declares him his long-lost son.

A herald arrives at Otranto's gates on behalf of Frederic, Isabella's father, demanding her immediate return.

Matilda secretly visits Theodore in the castle tower, releases him from prison, and falls in love with him.

Theodore battles Frederic's knights in the forest and severely wounds one, who is revealed to be Frederic himself.

Hippolita agrees to grant Manfred a divorce and resolves to enter a convent and become a nun.

Manfred bribes Bianca to spy on Isabella, but a giant armored hand stops Bianca from completing her mission.

Manfred stabs a woman in the dimly lit church from behind, only to discover the victim is his daughter Matilda.

The castle walls crumble and the ghost of Alfonso appears, proclaiming Theodore the rightful ruler of Otranto.

Theodore marries Isabella and assumes his rightful role as the new ruler of Otranto.

Conrad's death by a supernatural helmet throws the castle into chaos, prompting Manfred to pursue Isabella as a replacement wife and heir-bearer. Isabella's terrifying escape through the castle's dark tunnels sets the story's central conflict in motion, drawing in Theodore, Father Jerome, and eventually Isabella's long-absent father Frederic. As Frederic arrives to reclaim his daughter, Matilda's secret release of Theodore deepens the entanglement of love and dynastic politics. Manfred's relentless scheming to preserve his illegitimate power spirals toward catastrophe when he mistakes Matilda for Isabella in a dimly lit church and stabs her. Matilda's death triggers the castle's supernatural collapse, and the ghost of Alfonso confirms Theodore as the rightful heir, stripping Manfred of everything he fought to hold. Theodore ultimately marries Isabella and assumes rule of Otranto, fulfilling the ancient prophecy that haunted Manfred from the start.

The headline events driving Otranto's struggle for power and rightful rule.

A peasant identifies the giant helmet that killed Conrad as belonging to the statue of Alfonso the Good at St. Nicholas.

Manfred accuses the peasant of treason and orders him locked inside the giant helmet as punishment.

Manfred orders all exits from the castle sealed and guarded after learning Isabella has gone missing.

Bianca and Matilda overhear the melancholy voice of a mysterious stranger speaking from the castle tower.

Manfred attempts to bribe Father Jerome into returning Isabella to the castle, but the priest firmly refuses.

Trumpets sound outside the castle gates, interrupting Theodore's execution, as the black feathers on the helmet stir mysteriously.

Manfred throws a banquet feast to reduce tensions after Frederic's knights challenge him to a duel.

Father Jerome announces at Manfred's feast that Isabella has disappeared from the church a second time.

Matilda provides Theodore with a suit of armor and instructs him to hide in the forest caves.

Theodore recounts how he and his mother were kidnapped by pirates when he was very young.

Manfred proposes a double wedding arrangement pairing Frederic with Matilda and himself with Isabella.

Frederic discovers Manfred had Bianca spy on Isabella and immediately calls off both proposed weddings.

Manfred gets Frederic drunk at a banquet and seats him beside Matilda, hoping to rekindle his romantic interest.

Manfred tries to kill himself after realizing he has stabbed Matilda, but monks stop him at Matilda's own request.

Manfred confesses that his grandfather Ricardo poisoned Alfonso the Good and forged a will to seize Otranto.

The story's secondary events reveal how Manfred exercises and abuses his power at every turn, from imprisoning the peasant who identified the helmet to bribing servants and staging feasts to manipulate his enemies. Smaller but vital moments accumulate alongside the main action — Bianca and Matilda overhearing Theodore's voice, Matilda equipping Theodore with armor for the forest — slowly building toward the story's resolution. Theodore's account of his childhood pirate kidnapping fills in the mystery of his origins, while Manfred's engineering of a double wedding sets the stage for the final disaster. In the last act, Manfred's increasingly desperate gambits — getting Frederic drunk, having Isabella spied upon — collapse one by one as the supernatural world closes in. The pool ends with Manfred's guilt-ridden public confession about his grandfather's usurpation, the dark family secret at the heart of all of Otranto's troubles.

The supporting scenes and confrontations behind Otranto's unraveling.

An ancient prophecy warns that Otranto will pass from the current ruling family once the ruler has outgrown the castle.

Manfred catches up with the fleeing figure in the tunnel and realizes it is the peasant Theodore, who escaped the helmet.

Matilda reveals that her mother Hippolita has long instructed her to honor and worship Alfonso the Good.

Father Jerome informs Manfred that Isabella has taken refuge at the Church of St. Nicholas and is safe.

When Theodore is summoned for questioning, Bianca and Matilda are startled by his striking resemblance to Alfonso the Good.

Frederic explains to those gathered at the castle how Crusades captivity and a prophetic dream led him to Otranto.

Frederic recounts that a dying hermit in the forest of Joppa directed him to find a giant sword inscribed with a prophecy.

Theodore reveals that his dying mother left him a note identifying Father Jerome, the Count of Falconara, as his father.

Isabella confesses she is in love with Theodore but recognizes that Theodore's own feelings belong to Matilda.

Hippolita proposes a marriage between Frederic and Matilda as a means of preserving the castle's rightful lineage.

Manfred and Father Jerome argue bitterly at the church over whether political power outweighs divine authority.

Frederic enters the church seeking Hippolita and instead encounters the skeletal ghost of the hermit from Joppa.

The hermit's ghost rebukes Frederic for pursuing his own desires and placing his daughter Isabella in danger.

Dying Matilda holds both Manfred's and Hippolita's hands to her heart before succumbing to her wound.

Father Jerome reveals that Theodore's mother was Alfonso's daughter, establishing Theodore as the true heir to Otranto.

This pool traces the story through its key moments of revelation and decision, beginning with the ancient prophecy that sets every character's fate in motion. Clues accumulate gradually — Theodore's uncanny resemblance to Alfonso the Good, Father Jerome's knowledge of Isabella's hiding place, and Frederic's strange journey from Crusades captivity guided by a dying hermit. The backstory deepens as characters disclose their origins and entanglements, including Theodore's pirate kidnapping, Isabella's unrequited love, and Hippolita's pragmatic proposal to save the castle's lineage. Supernatural confrontations grow more direct, as the hermit's ghost scolds Frederic into abandoning his selfish plans and Matilda's dying moments force Manfred to finally confront the consequences of his rule. The pool closes with Father Jerome's revelation that Theodore's mother was Alfonso's daughter — the discovery that restores Otranto to its rightful heir and brings the prophecy to its conclusion.