Wilhelm Tell lives with his Middle-Eastern wife, Suna, and their son Walter in Switzerland in 1307. The Austrians continue to oppress and pillage the Swiss people and the land they occupy to their evil heart's content. When the Austrians attack a nearby village, Governor Wolfshot rapes and murders the wife of Baumgarten, a farmer. In retaliation, Baumgarten murders the Governor and is forced to flee. Tell, out of the sheer kindness of his soul, helps him escape and takes him to his old friend, Stauffacher, a former Crusader who Tell fought with back in Jerusalem, and his wife Gertrude. Though Tell has previously vowed never to turn to violent means again, he and his friends agree that the Austrians must be stopped.