Although Hochburg was taken in, he engaged in an affair with Cole's mother and eloped with her. However, she left to go back for Burton and was murdered by tribesmen. That led Burton's father into a depression, and when Hochburg returned to burn down the orphanage, he remained while Burton fled to join the French Foreign Legion, where he met Patrick, whom he saved at Dunkirk, a "fiasco" in which 80,000 were killed and the rest taken prisoner, which led to his mercenary life. As their tug begins to sink, Cole gets into a rowboat and leaves Hochburg to his fate. Cole gives a Parthian shot as his last words and says it was because of Burton that his mother died.