What did Hernán Cortés do after the Aztec emperor Montezuma II welcomed him to Tenochtitlán? He took the emperor captive. He burned his own ships. He met with Atahualpa. He encountered the Pacific Ocean.

I believe that Cortes took Moctezuma captive and burned his own ships so that his men would fight harder to defeat the Aztecs knowing that they had no escape on the ships, at least until new ones could be built. He was a ruthless conquistador who would stop at nothing to defeat the Aztecs and steal their riches in silver and gold.