- Okay, now we're back in Portugal to check back in on our subplot.
- The Viceroy is still being a crybaby. He spends his time gloomily complaining about how badly Fortune has dealt with him, the hardships of ruling a nation, and his son's supposed death.
- You of course remember that Villupo told the viceroy that Alexandro backstabbingly murdered Balthazar. And at this point, the Portuguese ruler is no mood for delayed punishment. Revenge may take time, but kings can kill when the mood suits them (which is probably a big point in the play).
- The viceroy tells Alexandro to prepare to die. Alexander says something like, "that's cool, but I hate dying while you're mad at me."
- The hard-hitting torture dudes roll up, but just as they begin to set him on fire (yikes.), the Portuguese ambassador returns from his trip to Spain. Hold the fire. The ambassador informs everyone that Balthazar is alive and well and quickly calls for Villupo's arrest.
- The viceroy calls for Alexandro to be untied and apologies to him (yeah, sure—let's go out for lunch now).
- When Villupo is asked why he pulled this scheme, the ambitious weasel says he had nothing against Alexandro and was just looking for a reward. That's low, man.
- Well, for a reward he gets tortured far worse than they ever planned for Alexandro. It's nice to know that a special form of torture is saved for a special kind of villain.