'One Hundred Years Of Solitude' Season 2 (Episodes 1-7) Recap And Ending Explained

Netflix’s adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s iconic magnum opus, One Hundred Years of Solitude, continues this week, with the release of the 2nd season, which begins right after the events of season 1, released in 2024. Since the passing of the founder of Macondo and the patriarch of the Buendia family, Jose Arcadio Buendia, and the emergence of the 20th century, much has changed around the town that was once the peaceful abode of a handful of families. Newer descendants take charge of the Buendia family now, and a series of developments encapsulates the changing times and the new ways of the world. Season 2 is able to retain the charm of the earlier release, and even though it is incomparable to the magnitude of the novel, the series still makes for an entertaining and poignant watch.

Spoiler Alert

How does Colonel Aureliano Buendia die?

Season 2 begins at a time when Colonel Aureliano Buendia has returned to Macondo with his troops and taken back control of the town forcibly. The feud between the Liberals and the Conservatives is in full-swing, with Aureliano having captured and imprisoned General Moncada, the Conservative chief of the town, and many of the citizens, including his own mother, Ursula, rallying for the good man to be freed. The common citizens do not care about taking sides in this political fight, and are concerned only with how individual leaders have treated them. But to Aureliano, this fight is at the very center of human existence, especially after his trust is betrayed by the Conservative government in power. Despite turning down the President’s request for an armistice in the most gruesome manner, by decapitating the emissary and sending his head back, Aureliano Buendia eventually agrees to lay down arms and accept the government’s directives.

In doing so, Aureliano goes against everything that his revolutionary movement had stood for over the past 20 years, and also against some of his closest generals. But within some time, he realizes that the government has no wish to keep their end of the bargain, and chooses to change his ways again. By this time, there had already been an attempt by the Conservatives in Macondo to poison him, but a concoction brewed by Ursula managed to save him. Before signing the armistice petition, Aureliano Buendia is consumed by so much guilt for siding with the government that he decides to take his own life. For this, he has a doctor mark out the exact position of his heart, and then he shoots himself, in the hopes that the bullet would end his miserable life. However, the doctor had marked a totally wrong spot, making the bullet exit Aureliano’s body without hitting any organs, and so he is left alive once again.

Following this failed suicide attempt, Aureliano Buendia remains in Macondo for the rest of his life, and to commemorate his peaceful relationship with the government, the President decides to honor him in the town square. But on the day of this ceremony, he finally speaks his heart out, expressing his desire to kill the President and burn down his corrupt government for having refused to keep their promise, especially of paying a monthly pension to his soldiers. Aureliano once again marks himself as a public enemy to the Conservatives, and there is an elaborate attempt to assassinate him some time later, on the night of the carnival. Snipers shoot rounds at the people gathered, with their main target being Aureliano Buendia, but he manages to escape once again. 

Then, the government officers and their soldiers are replaced by an even more fiendish enemy, the gringos, or Americans, who arrive at Macondo via the new railroads. Despite the others’ enthusiasm to welcome these new guests and the development they will bring, Aureliano always remains sure of the Americans’ ill intentions and tries to put up a protest against letting them enter and set up businesses in the town. Eventually, the strong presence that Aureliano had in society fades to the point that the government puts up a small memorial to honor his ‘martyrdom’ for the country and society, while he is still alive. His 17 illegitimate children, on the other side, are hunted down and killed by unknown forces.

The Americans, who are now working together with the Colombian government, promising to bring business and development to the region, surely have a hand to play in the murders of these 17 young men. Perhaps they don’t want to risk another Colonel Buendia waging war against the capitalists, having learnt of Aureliano’s brave efforts in the past. It is also a clear warning to the man himself, and the news of the murders fills him with a new feeling of rage against the Americans. But Aureliano Buendia ultimately passes away of natural causes with all this rage in his heart, and also a feeling of solitude, for he was unable to accept the drastic changes to the world and society unlike the others around him. Colonel Aureliano Buendia, who had escaped numerous attacks on his life, finally dies in his own house, clutching his heart, minutes after recalling his father, and the circus he would go to as a child.

How do the twins become leaders of the family and of Macondo respectively?

The twin sons of Arcadio, who had been killed by a firing squad back in season 1, now take center stage after Aureliano Buendia slowly fades into the backdrop. Aureliano Segundo and Jose Arcadio Segundo are identical twins, and it is impossible for anyone to tell them apart. But their interests and habits are what differentiate them, and later on, a moustache on Aureliano Segundo’s face does the same job. As a teenager, Jose Arcadio Segundo witnessed the execution of General Moncada, which shook him to the core and pushed him to religion. Years later, he developed a genuine interest in exploration, the sciences, and gaining knowledge, just like his great-grandfather, and this eventually made him decide to go exploring the world to learn more stuff that he could bring back to Macondo.

Taking funding for this expedition from his brother, Jose Arcadio Segundo was always under pressure to deliver on the promise of returning to Macondo, but his intentions were never otherwise. Therefore, he ultimately returns to his hometown a couple of years later, not just with new people from different cultures, but new scientific inventions, like the gramophone, and most importantly, electricity. As electric bulbs make way onto the streets of Macondo and into the houses of the townsfolk, people spend hours staring at the astonishing marvel. It is Jose Arcadio Segundo, who had established himself as the town inventor/developer by now, who plans on laying down railway tracks in Macondo, goes through the long process of acquiring the rights to do so, and then finally builds the train tracks, finally connecting Macondo to the rest of the world.

On the other side, Aureliano Segundo takes charge as the patriarch of the Buendia family, even though most of his life is spent outside the family home. Right from his teenage years, Aureliano Segundo is deeply in love with a woman named Petra Cotes, who rears cattle for a living. Much to the shock of both of them, and keeping up with the magic-realism of the original text, Aureliano Segundo and Petra had discovered that whenever they made love to each other, they inspired all animals around them to rapidly reproduce as well. Therefore, Aureliano Segundo took advantage of this magical trick to start his own cattle business and build a fortune. Eventually, his life took a turn after he became spellbound by the beauty of Fernanda del Caprio and married her. 

Realizing quickly that Fernanda was too religious, and therefore reluctant to get intimate freely, Aureliano Segundo kept seeking pleasure from Petra, and moved in with her from time to time. Having once decided to abandon his family and home completely in favor of living with Petra, he changed his decision only upon learning that Fernanda was pregnant with his child, and that she was ready to play the role of his wife, allowing him to keep a lover outside. While Jose Arcadio Segundo dedicated himself completely to knowledge instead of starting a family, Aureliano Segundo had three children with his wife and became a complete family man.

What happens to Amaranta and Remedios?

Amaranta and Remedios, the two celibate women of the Buendia family, die in unusual manners, with the latter being the first to leave the mortal world. The daughter of Arcadio and Santa Sofia de la Piedad, Remedios, the Beauty, stirs a literal frenzy in the hearts of men whenever they happen to see her. What makes the situation even more difficult is her inability to bear the heat at all times, because of which she roams around the house without a shred of clothing on her body very casually. A soldier of the Conservative army is the first to make a romantic approach, but he is mysteriously stung by a scorpion and instantly killed. Another man, an outsider who arrives with the Americans later on, goes beyond his means to try and win over Remedios, and falls from the ceiling of the bathroom to his death right away.

It is as if the universe does not want any man to desecrate Remedios, for nobody deserves her beauty and intelligence. Unlike the other daughters of the family, Remedios also does not want to get involved with anyone romantically or sexually, and so has to drive men away for the most of her life. This innocence and purity (from the perspective of Christian values) of hers is all the more evident when Remedios suddenly starts to float and ascends to heaven, marking her death. This unnatural death is symbolic of her life and her total lack of concern for mortal pleasures or belongings, and nobody questions the incident because of how pious they always knew Remedios to have been.

Years later, Amaranta, who had once taken the vow of celibacy and lived on in the Buendia house, helping her mother run the place, also dies in an unusual manner. After having fought Rebeca for the love of Pietro Crespi, Amaranta turned him down once there was a genuine chance for them to be together, and she chose to be alone for the rest of her life. In later years, Aureliano Buendia’s closest general, Gerineldo, tried romantically pursuing Amaranta, but she turned him down as well. Ultimately, Amaranta suddenly announces that she is about to die the next day, and more importantly, tells everyone that she is willing to pass on any message between the mortal world and heaven, resulting in the townsfolk bringing letters for all their deceased loved ones. Just as bizarre as her choices in life had been, Amaranta dies in a strange fashion, with memories of Rebeca, who was still alive somewhere, after having been outcast from the Buendia family.

Why does Meme leave her home?

Meme, the daughter of Aureliano Segundo and Fernanda del Carpio, has one of the saddest lives in One Hundred Years of Solitude season 2, owing to the extremely religious nature of her mother. As a child, Meme was sent away to a convent, and she is a teenager by the time she returns home. This is when Meme sees two conflicting worlds in front of her, the first being an extremely pious and religious one as spoken of by her mother and the nuns at her convent, and the other being of absolute merrymaking and pleasure, which exists all over Macondo. Moreover, Meme becomes friends with the American teenagers living on the United Fruit Company property, and gets used to partying, drinking, and then gets romantically interested in one of the mechanics at the place, Mauricio Babilonia. 

Although her father is much more supportive of Meme in every aspect, he is not around for very long, and so Fernanda has total control over the teenage girl’s life. Nonetheless, Meme starts a relationship with Mauricio, meeting him at the film theatre and letting him sneak into the bathroom through the tiled roof while she’s taking a bath. But much to her dismay, Fernanda figures out what is going on, and she ultimately chooses to break her daughter’s heart in the most terrible manner rather than accept such unholy behavior from her. Therefore, Fernanda heartlessly shoots Mauricio Babilonia one day while he tries to sneak into the bathroom, claiming that she mistook him for a chicken-thief. The man is paralyzed for the rest of his life, and Meme is so traumatized that she stops talking altogether. To further bury the secret of her daughter’s romantic relationship, Fernanda sends Meme away to a convent again, with the girl now accepting her fate. She does not know anything better than to leave home at the moment, and understandably wants to cut all ties with her family.

What ultimately happens to the United Fruit Company?

The enthusiasm of Aureliano Segundo and the others in Macondo to make the Americans taste bananas for the first time eventually leads to the entire form and nature of the town getting altered. The Americans start their own banana plantation on the outskirts of the town, calling it the United Fruit Company, and hire thousands of locals to cultivate the fruits and transport them to the USA. Jose Arcadio Segundo is chosen to be the foreman, and with time, he realizes that the owners do not care about the well-being of the workers at all. The workers start their union and demand fair rights at the factory, and Jose Arcadio Segundo chooses to side with the union, quitting his job as the foreman.

The fight against the cruel company owners and their team of lawyers eventually turns out to be impossible to win in a fair manner, as their legal jargon and false promises are beyond the understanding common workers. Therefore, the union leaders turn to more violent means, ransacking the company premises and threatening to harm the owners. They call for a strike, before the owners finally announce that they are willing to negotiate. However, the government, which is in cahoots with the American capitalists, calls for martial law in the region, disallowing gatherings of any kind. Thus, when the union leaders, workers, and their families all come together to show dissent and also in the hopes of the factory owners bringing some change, the army opens fire on them, killing and injuring at least three thousand commoners. Interestingly, extremely heavy rainfall starts right after this tragedy, and as if nature itself is protesting against the United Fruit Company, this rain goes on for years at a stretch. The Americans are forced to wind up their business and leave, both because of the pressure they face in the hands of the union leaders and also the devastating rains, and they are ultimately driven out of Macondo for good.

Which Buendia family members are alive in the end?

Despite being present when the soldiers opened fire on the protesting townsfolk, Jose Arcadio Segundo manages to escape, but he is traumatized and broken beyond any limit. This is symbolically shown when the guards come looking for the man and do not notice him even though his family members can very well see him. This represents that Jose Arcadio Segundo is no longer the same man he used to be. He spends the rest of his life in Jose Arcadio Buendia’s laboratory, studying the notes of Melquiades and trying to decipher them. In the end, he and his twin brother, Aureliano Segundo, die at the same time, both of natural causes. Aureliano Segundo gets afflicted by some bronchial infection, which makes him feel as if crabs have grabbed hold of his throat and are preventing him from breathing.

Despite not having any such illnesses, Jose Arcadio Segundo is also found dead at the same laboratory, having passed from natural causes. By this time, the grand matriarch of the Buendia family, Ursula, had passed away as well, from extreme old age. She too had predicted the time of her passing, mentioning that she would die just when the prolonged rains would stop. Therefore, not many of the family members are left alive by the end, with Fernanda now taking total control of the household. Her and Aureliano Segundo’s son, Jose Arcadio, is still alive and living in Rome, training (and hoping) to be the Pope someday in the future. Their youngest child, Amaranta Ursula, is sent away to a convent in Belgium.

During her romance with Mauricio Babilonia, Meme had gotten pregnant with his child, and had later given birth to a baby boy while at the convent. The baby was naturally sent to Fernanda’s address, and although she kept herself from killing it, she never gave it any love or respect. For the longest time, Fernanda kept the boy, Aureliano Babilonia, locked up in one of the rooms of the house, and a secret from the rest of the family. While Aureliano Segundo had given him all the love and attention that a grandfather generally would, the young boy is again in trouble after the man’s passing. Fernanda refuses to let Meme see the boy, and continues to lock him away from the rest of the world, without any idea that Aureliano Babilonia is going to be the one witnessing the end of the Buendia household many years later. 

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