The speaker speculates that if Montezuma had left the capital and ruled through subordinates, Cortes would have been baffled and unable to pursue him without provoking an excessive response; without Montezuma, Cortes's options would have been extremely limited, though the speaker does not know what Cortes would have done.

“into the city he was making himself vulnerable by staying there also in an adjacent palace if he had gone to some further location made some excuse a pilgrimage or an expedition of some kind and had ruled through subordinates Cortes would have been baffled and he couldn't go chasing after the emperor that that would be obviously too provocative but without the emperor there Cortes would have had his options extremely limited and I don't know what he would have done in that circumstance.”