Manuel accepts Hector's initial payment after Nacho convinces him that doing so is for his own safety. Nacho realizes Hector suffers from angina and decides to try to kill him by replacing his nitroglycerin with ibuprofen in the hopes of inducing a fatal heart attack.
After Nacho's good-hearted father (Juan Carlos Cantú) was dragged into the Salamanca operation, Nacho knew that he had to take Hector down if he wanted to keep his dad alive. So, he set in motion a plan to swap Hector's heart medication with a placebo so he'd have a heart attack.
Nacho stealthily stole Hector's pills and replaced them with Ibuprofen inside identical empty cases sourced from Daniel Pryce, the clueless prescription drug smuggler. This was the most crucial turning point in Hector Salamanca's backstory in Better Call Saul.
Hector's Disability Came From Gus Fring's Act Of Revenge
Nacho wasn't pleased with the idea so he stole some of Hector's heart medication. He emptied the pill capsules and refilled them with ibuprofen, which could increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Question: How did Gus know Nacho poisoned Hector? He didn't. However, he noticed several things that piqued his curiosity and he had Nacho followed. Unfortunately for Nacho, he foolishly disposed of Hector Salamanca's “medicine” in the open and he was seen doing it by Fring's men.
Gus and Max's relationship was long implied to be more than business before their confirmation as lovers by showrunner Peter Gould in 2022.
Lalo died smiling as a nod to the maniacal personality he carried throughout life, but also to stress the satisfaction he derived from having been right about Gus. The familiar, creepy smirk was one final act of rebellion. Even in his most painful moment, he refused to let Gus see a glimmer of defeat on his face.
Not looking at Gus is a sign of disrespect. Hector hates Gus but doesn't have a lot of ways of showing it. He's been reduced to a little man in a wheelchair while Gus just keeps growing in power and influence.
It was a stroke. This was revealed in the 2nd season when he and Jesse are reunited after Hank shot Tuco.
Hector is a former drug agent who worked for Don Eladio. His family members are very involved in the drug business. After an unexplained incident, he's left paralyzed in most of his body and can't speak or move on his own. His only means of communication is the bell on his wheelchair.
Nacho executes his plan to kill Hector Salamanca by stealing the nitroglycerin bottle from Hector's jacket pocket and replacing the contents with lookalike capsules containing ibuprofen. He then returns the bottle to Hector's pocket without being noticed.
In 2003, Hector would end up paralyzed and unable to speak following a stroke caused by empty pills as part of a plan orchestrated by his former subordinate Nacho Varga.
To some extent, he did so on his own terms. Having taken on the role of inside man in Gus Fring's plan to assassinate Lalo Salamanca, Nacho was quickly fingered by everyone as being key to the plot. The cartel wanted him, the Salamancas, too, and Nacho was forced to hide in a puddle of oil to escape them.
Zafiro Añejo is a fictitious brand of tequila and distilled beverage created for Breaking Bad. During a party with the Cartel, Gustavo Fring gifted a poisoned bottle of Zafiro Añejo to Don Eladio and his capos, causing them to drop dead within minutes.
After Bolsa and Gus visit Hector and promise him vengeance for Lalo's supposed death, Gus realizes from Hector's demeanor that Lalo is still alive.
Mando explained to Variety that Nacho's final act was one of sacrifice, and by doing so he guaranteed that Gus would protect his father, who never approved of Nacho's reluctant life of crime.
If Hector is a tragic hero, than his tragic flaw would be his stubbornness to accept the force of fate and his own delusional belief in a Trojan victory. But beneath these flaws are the works of understandable human feelings; Hector does all this because of his desire to protect Troy, his people and his family.
Rather than pretend to flee as planned so that Victor can kill him quickly, Nacho uses a piece of broken glass to free himself from his zip tie, seize Juan's gun, and kill himself. The Cousins then assist Hector to fire bullets into Nacho's lifeless body.
What did Hector's death mean? Hector's death spells doom for the Trojans, even if the poem ends before the Greeks' victory. He is the Trojans' best warrior, and without him, they are on a path to destruction from which they cannot escape.
This kidnapping set the standard that American government officials were off-limits to the cartel. Eladio likely didn't kill Gus, not because he was a Chilean intelligence official, but because he was a Chilean intelligence officer with CIA ties, whereas Max was just a civilian.
Assuming his previous product (which was less pure) netted him about $70 million every three months, he'd still be making $280 million a year even before working with Walt. Note that meth wasn't Fring's only source of income.
Gus gloats to Hector about the death of his nephews and associate, mentioning the cryptic phone call that Hank received before the Cousins attacked him that lead to their demise. He leaves Hector to seethe impotently with a few parting words: "Sangre por sangre", blood for blood.
Up to this point, Gus is portrayed as the smartest person on the show, matched only by Walter White in Breaking Bad. In spite of this, Lalo is able to believably outmaneuver him at nearly every turn.
Better Call Saul's eighth episode ended with Mike (Jonathan Banks) burying both Lalo and Howard's bodies in a shared grave in Gus' bunker meth lab. Looking back at a specific moment in Breaking Bad, fans believe it was Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and his team who discovered their grave.
Because of the rivalry between Gus and Hector, Lalo becomes dedicated to disrupting Gus' legitimate restaurant business Los Pollos Hermanos and Lavandería Brillante, as well as his reputation with the cartel. Unlike his other rivals such as Walter White, Gus was highly fearful of Lalo due to his cunning and resilience.