Summary:

Crisostomo Ibarra returns as Simoun. During the period in between the story line of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo which is 13 years, Ibarra left the Philippines and became a wealthy jeweler. He came back to the Philippines as Senor Simoun, disguised with a sporting beard and blue-tinted eyeglasses. He seems to have long abandoned his once vision of ending the despotism of Spain with words and peace. He becomes hungry for vengeance for all the misfortune our country has agonized under the tyranny of the Spaniards . And near the end of the novel, when he discovers that his lover, Maria Clara, died in the convent, he becomes all the more furious. Simoun is a confidant of the Captain-General he was called the “Brown Cardinal” or the "Black Eminence". He inspires the government to make bad decisions and to abuse their power so that it would trigger a revolution among the masses. Basilio, at this point is a graduating student of medicine at Ateneo Municipal de Manila and was adopted by Capitan Tiago, at first he is reluctant to join in on Simoun’s idea but ends up being part of the plan. Simoun started planning uprisings and stashed guns in the shop of an ally. He smuggles arms into the country with the help of a rich Chinese merchant,Quiroga, who wants very much to be Chinese consul of Manila. At the wedding reception of newlyweds (the bride being the ex-girlfriend of one of the friends of Basillo—Isagani), Simoun tells Basilio that his plan was to conceal an explosive which contains nitroglycerin inside a pomegranate-styled Kerosene lamp that Simoun will give to the newlyweds as a gift during the wedding reception. The reception will take place at the former home of the late Captain Tiago, which was now filled with explosives planted by Simoun. According to Simoun, the lamp will stay lighted for only 20 minutes before it flickers; if someone attempts to turn the wick, it will explode, destroying the house were the wedding feast is held and killing all the guest, including the governor-general, the Church hierarchy (friars) and the goverment officials. Simoun leaves the reception early and leaves a note with the words: “Mene Thecel Phares” which means “the future is predetermined” and is generally implied that a bad event is going to happen. Simoun signed it with his real name “Juan Crisostomo Ibarra”. The people at the reception were shocked because Ibarra is supposedly dead. One of the priests who knew Ibarra before the ending of Noli Me Tangere confirmed to the people that it was the writing of Ibarra. The lamp started to dim. Outside the house, Basilio was about to walk away because he knew the lamp was going to explode anytime soon when he saw Isagani, the still heart-broken ex-boyfriend of the bride whose reception was still going on in the house of Capitan Tiago. Isagani said that he just wanted to congratulate the newly-weds. Basilio who then feared for the safety of his friend warn him to go away because the lighted lamp will soon explode. On hearing the terrible disaster that will transpire Isagani ran into the house thinking of the danger to his beloved Paulita. A priest was about to fix the lamp but once Isagani got in, he found the lamp and threw it out the window into the river outside the residence. Since the guards were chasing Isagani, he himself jumped out of the window into the river as well. There was an uprising planned by Simoun during the time of the reception. The band got caught and confessed that Simoun lead them. Ibarra was now wanted both as himself and as Simoun. Days passed and a good priest found Simoun walking along the shore, wounded and weak. The noble priest tended to Simoun while the latter explained that he is Ibarra and that he was greatly saddened and angry due to the failure of the revolution and that he was questioning God as to why he was the one who is suffering and not the ones who have forsaken the people of the Philippines. The priest explains that all punishments will come in due time. Ibarra died as he weakly held the hand of the priest. The latter blessed the former and threw away all the remaining jewels of Ibarra in the hopes that they may always be used for good.