Six panels frame the playing field of the Great Ballcourt of Chichen Itza and display two rival teams in a repeated scene: seven ballgame players on each side parade toward the center, where the fatal end of the defeated captain is recreated. He is shown kneeling before and decapitated by the victorious captain, who holds a knife and the severed head of the loser. Interpretations blend history, myth, and astronomy to exalt feats in war or to suggest battles between forces of darkness and light or between political groups linked to the Sun and Venus.