This chapter is unique because it shifts the setting from aristocratic salons to the noisy, colorful streets of Quiapo during a carnival. It is here that the simmering revolutionary plot of Simoun (Ibarra in disguise) collides with the innocent love story of Isagani and Paulita Gomez. Writing a script for this chapter requires balancing crowd scenes, sharp political dialogue, and a cliffhanger ending involving a deadly explosive disguised as a beautiful lantern.
Three thousand!
(Pause. SIMOUN looks at the lamp, then at Don Timoteo. His face is unreadable.) El Filibusterismo Script Kabanata 17