How did Cortés conquer the Aztec Empire with a few hundred men, according to Si Sheppard?

Si Sheppard says Hernán Cortés combined a narrow military edge with diplomacy. After fighting the Tlaxcalans to a standstill he won them as allies, used Aztec subject peoples' resentment, and seized Moctezuma II to govern through him. After being driven out on La Noche Triste he returned in 1521 with an army in which conquistadors were about half of 1%, plus brigantines built to control Lake Texcoco.

Sheppard says the Tlaxcalans were surrounded by the Aztecs and cut off from the coast and salt, so the alliance was a gamble for them.
For the final siege, Spaniards gathered sulfur for gunpowder from the crater of Popocatépetl and had porters carry boat sections over the mountains.
Sheppard notes Tlaxcalan murals show Cortés and Tlaxcalan leaders as equals, not master and subject.

▸In their words

“They saw this as them using the conquistadors, not the other way around” Si Sheppard · at 18:19 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Dwarkesh Podcast (2026-10-01). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode

Q2Why does Si Sheppard say guns mattered less than steel and horses in the Spanish conquest?Q3How did Pizarro capture Atahualpa at Cajamarca in 1532, according to Si Sheppard?Q4Was Moctezuma II wrong to let Cortés into Tenochtitlan, according to Si Sheppard?Q5Would the Aztec and Inca empires have fallen anyway without Cortés and Pizarro, according to Si Sheppard?Q6Why did New World silver hurt Spain's economy, according to Si Sheppard?Q7Why couldn't the Aztecs and Inca exploit divisions among the Spanish, according to Si Sheppard?

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