The Pizarro brothers' extreme degradation of Manco—urinating on him while chained—was intended to break him. Instead, it became an unforgivable act of psychological warfare that backfired, destroying any chance of a puppet regime and fueling an all-out war of resistance.

In a ruthless political move, Atahualpa directed the gold-hungry Spanish to loot two of the empire's most sacred temples. Both were located in regions loyal to his civil war rival, Huascar, effectively using the invaders as a tool to punish his internal enemies.

The small Spanish force could not have survived the siege of Cusco or conquered the empire alone. They relied critically on thousands of native auxiliaries from rival ethnic groups, as well as Inca nobles who opposed Emperor Manco, turning the conflict into a multi-sided civil war.

Focused on winning his civil war, Atahualpa fatally misjudged the Spanish. He saw the small group as a potential asset—a source of mercenaries, horses, and superior swords to be captured and repurposed. He never considered them an existential threat to his empire, which sealed his fate.

Manco first viewed the small Spanish force as mercenaries he could leverage to restore order and his own authority after the devastating Inca civil war, completely underestimating their ultimate colonial ambitions and disruptive potential.

The Pizarro brothers, Juan and Gonzalo, relentlessly humiliated Emperor Manco by abducting and abusing his wife and sister. This personal cruelty, driven by lust and arrogance, directly sabotaged their fragile alliance and incited the devastating siege of Cusco.

The Spanish conquest was plagued by intense internal rivalries. The promise of gold in Quito sparked a race between three separate Spanish expeditions, led by Benalcátha, Almagro, and Pedro de Alvarado. This competition nearly erupted into open warfare, showing how the lure of wealth fractured the invading force.

By sending gold and sensationalized, best-selling accounts back to Spain, the initial conquistadors created a "gold rush" narrative. This attracted waves of new adventurers to Peru, ensuring a continuous supply of manpower that made the empire's eventual fall inevitable, regardless of early setbacks.

Unlike peers seeking wealth, the illiterate Francisco Pizarro was driven by a thirst for glory. This personal ambition, rather than simple greed, fueled his relentless expeditions at an age when most conquistadors had retired, demonstrating that non-material motivations can drive extreme risk-taking.