NWZ 2x23
I guess it comes with age. The consistency of logic, and regret. So I sit here, tears in my eyes, and the target auditory would only cheer, never questioning that Diego didn't even pause at the sight of alcalde's dead body. Not even a word! Only picked his mask and hat, retrieved the document, and left. Wasn't that him who said he would never dream of killing Luis Ramone? Wasn't that him who said the alcalde didn't deserve to die, no matter what he's done?
It is only by the kids logic of "the villain must die" that I can explain his lack of dexterity in that one moment when Luis loses footing and falls to his death. Zorro's been in such situations before, he saved a man from falling while not even staying that close. It would only take reaching his hand, and he did have the strength to hold the alcalde still, he's done that before too (lifted him off the ground in one arm!). With the tricks he's demonstrated before, he could well catch him mid-fall with his whip. He could at least try and fail to! Anything, anything but doing nothing.
Well, maybe, maybe there's that shock at being discovered, the indecision of how to force the alcalde to not turn him in... but he saved people while under stress as well. The way his eyes hardened, he was ready to deal with it already, it was a few extra seconds later that the alcalde slipped.
Besides, it was a rather cruel deal to start with. He could have dragged him out and then do as he pleased. Not like Luis has ever outfought Zorro.
But there is a certain mercilessness in children. The bad must die, the good must live and go get married. And since it is a show for kids, they still decided to kill the alcalde even after all that time that Zorro went out of his way to never even injury him. There is that innocent thinking in black in white, where there's no middle ground between undamaged and dead, but "dead" only means the character doesn't show up on the screen anymore. And I can, of course, forgive, because it wasn't for us, it was for those young, innocent viewers that the show was even made.
Doesn't mean that in my head I have to agree.
By the way, the fall wasn't too high. Two tall stories, so about 7 metres total. With the modern level of medicine they both should survive (I mean the lady who fell over the balcony too, she only had about 3.5 metres to fall), unless they hit their heads specifically hard. Or broke their necks, but both falls looked too flat for that last option. I don't know about brain damage treatment of that time, but there could at least be a slim chance... but no one even checked their pulse. The plot says "dead", so dead.
That, of course, is where ficwriters come.
I'm still sad, mind you.