The show is made up of 60 episodes that document the events of Bolívar's life from the age of seven until his death, primarily focusing on his formation as the liberator of several South American countries and his romantic engagements.

Before its release, the show was publicly criticized by Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, with commenters believing he was concerned that a less legendary image of Bolívar would further reduce his popular support.

The story begins with Simón Bolívar as a soldier rousing his comrades who have grown weary in the fight for independence, before flashing back to his wedding day in Spain and again to his childhood.

A young Simón enjoys all the luxuries of a criollo life until his mother, then grandfather, die, leaving his future in the hands of a maternal uncle who wants to take the Bolívar fortune as his own.

Simón, an active child, finds it hard to respond to traditional tutelage and is put under the care of a rebel, watching as the Spanish crown punishes dissenters.

As he ages into young adulthood, he initially joins the military, but finds more success as a statesman, and travels to Spain to both further his education and seek the title afforded his name.

It is under his care that Simón meets María Teresa del Toro whom he intends to woo; unfortunately, an entitled Spaniard also wishes to pursue her, and tries to dirty Bolívar's name in the process.

Simón travels to Paris to drown his sorrows; here, he is reunited with his favorite teacher and his friend Fernando del Toro, cousin of the deceased María Teresa.

In Quito, Manuela begins to behave in order to be let out of the convent, succeeding and witnessing the 2 August uprising; her father feels she sympathizes with the cause too strongly and sends her to live with a maternal uncle, a priest, not knowing that he craves revolution, too.

[4] The producers considered many influences and potential creatives for the show, looking at the best of Colombian telenovelas like Yo soy Betty, la fea, and talent including screenwriter Julio Jimenez and actor Diego Álvarez.

[11] Barreto explains this further, saying that while he felt honored to play the hero he grew up with, he also hoped that the series would allow people to interrogate Bolívar's life and "question for themselves the cult that has been given to 'the military, the boots, the leaders'.

"[12] As with Bolívar, Nadan indicates there was the same aim to give her role as Manuela Sáenz a more complex characterization, saying that the production "wanted her to be fascinating and charming, strong but feminine, cunning and strategist, fresh but passionate, proud but also dedicated and generous".

[18] While some critics found elements of the show enjoyable, many responses have focused on questions of historical accuracy, production value, and the length of the series, knowing it was to be first released around the world.

He establishes various historical views of Bolívar and says that "his story deserves an abundance of space, depth, and dignity", criticizing Netflix and Caracol for different elements of the production that he sees as preventing this, including their decision that "an unreasonable 60-episode schedule was something the people required".

[21] An article on the series by famous Venezuelan historian Inés Quintero at analysis aggregator Prodavinci shared some of the same concerns as Spearman, styling her criticism as an argument against the biographical historical drama genre in general through examples of the show, calling it "a story, not history" and saying that while its lack of production value doesn't help, "the fundamental reason" for her to not like the show is a pretense of historical accuracy when its true intentions are "to entertain and engage".

Quintero suggests that choosing the flashbacks of the first episode were a tactic used to make the viewers' first image of Bolívar be that of a revolutionary hero, rather than a boy, and accuses the show of creating characters as more interesting and diverse than the real people.

Smith questions why the childhood years were not left out or only included in flashbacks, especially as they serve little to the plot, but writes that "[t]he art direction is pure quality" enough to make him interested in the period where history books have failed.

[23] Juancho Parada for El Tiempo questioned if the series was necessary, saying that it was only created for the bicentennial of Colombia's independence and criticizing almost every element of its production and storytelling, as well as saying that the promotional tour was too short to gather interest.

[4] However, Abreu thinks that the show was relatively popular worldwide based on his own measurement scale, saying that he is "full of pride" that "on Wikipedia, the first month it aired, it [Bolívar] was among the most searched words".

[27] Abreu, who plays the adult Bolívar in the show, responded to this comment by saying "You will have to watch it first before saying if you like it or not, and we will accept that opinion then, that is what free speech is"; he also said: "I think you have issues that are much, much more important to deal with, though".