So Many Flowers Fell From the Sky
One Hundred Years of Solitude Episode 8 starts with the capture of Aureliano a few months after the execution of Arcadio. He is brought to Macondo, awaiting his death penalty. The townspeople are saddened by his return, and Ursula demands to visit him in jail before his execution.
The mother and son reunite in these sad circumstances. Ursula informs him that Arcadio’s wife named her twin children after Remedios and Jose Arcadio. The two talk about Aureliano’s birth and the year Ursula left to search for Jose Arcadio. Aureliano wonders why he can’t see his death and feels like the omens have abandoned him. In his last wish to his mom, Aureliano asks her to burn his poems to Remedios.
Does Aureliano get executed?
Aureliano is calm as he walks towards the cemetery, escorted by the conservative soldiers. He feels regret but anger that he is not able to complete his purpose in life. The soldiers grow conflicted as they think about Pilar’s warning that the men who kill Aureliano will be killed sooner or later. Right before the soldiers fire their weapons, Rebeca and Jose Arcadio intervene. Surprisingly, the soldiers give up and join Aureliano’s cause.
Aureliano and the soldiers leave and continue their war against the conservative party. The legend of Aureliano grows and becomes bigger than he ever expected. The more Ursula hears it, the more her sense of pride in her son grows. However, she still worries about his safety and values the occasional letters he sends them. In one of his letters, Aureliano asks them to take care of his dad as he is about to die.
What happens to the remaining Buendia family?
After receiving Aureliano’s letter, Ursula frees Jose from the chestnut tree and takes him to his room. She says her goodbyes to him and waits for death to take him. Jose dies peacefully in his dream.
As for Jose Arcadio, he dies a mysterious death when he is shot in his house. According to the narrator, no one ever found out why Rebeca killed her husband.
In the meantime, Amaranta starts an incestuous relationship with her nephew, the son of Aureliano and Pilar. However, she later rethinks her decision and sends him away. The young man opts to join his father in the war. As for Arcadio’s children, Ursula takes them under her wings.
What happens in the ongoing war?
After years of fighting, the Conservative Party asks for dialogue but offers nothing substantial to the liberal party. Aureliano and his men demand better conditions and the preservation of their people’s dignity. However, as the war continues, other colonels in the liberal party give in to the negotiation. He feels betrayed when his party abandons him and continues the war. This time, he targets the liberal traitors and gains more enemies.
What happens to Macondo?
After a while, Macondo gets a new Civil and Military Chief. Moncada meets with Aureliano to inform him of the news personally and tries to convince him to stop the fight. Aureliano refuses to negotiate or surrender and Moncada promises to take good care of Macondo. Moncada keeps his promises and involves Ursula in rebuilding the town. Under his leadership, Macondo enjoys peace for ten years.
How does One Hundred Years of Solitude End?
After a decade of peace, Macondo grows prosperous again. On the other hand, Aureliano grows more cold and distant towards his family. He stops sending letters, and Ursula lives in fear that he will soon be captured. However, Aureliano sets his eyes on Macondo and wishes to reclaim it for his cause.
Ursula meets him before the war and asks him to reconsider his decision, but he refuses. The season ends with Macondo preparing for war as Aureliano and his men run full force towards the town, ready for war.
The Episode Review
In his last dream, Jose made his peace with life. Even in his last moments, Jose Arcadio could see the future and came to terms with the fate of his family. I would like to believe he died peacefully, and the yellow flowers on the night of his death signified his acceptance of death and his reconnection with his ancestor.
Sadly, by the end of the episode, it dawns on Ursula that she never escaped her curse. She might not have given birth to a monster with pigtails, but her kids had some dark monstrosity in them. Aureliano would rather destroy Macondo than admit he is tired of the war. Amaranta is sleeping with her nephew and was so cold to Pietro.
Let us not forget that she intended to kill Rebeca over Pietro. Speaking of Rebeca, she killed her husband, who also happened to be her surrogate brother, for no reason. She literally woke up one morning and chose violence, which ended with Jose Arcadio taking a bullet to his head.
Somehow, the Buendia family is stained by the blood of others, and history repeats itself in different ways. Unsurprisingly, they never learn from their mistakes, but each generation repeats the same thing.
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Hi Phoebe. In episode 8 ,the narrator says, “Rebeca maintained that she didn’t see anything. It was difficult to believe,but no other story was more plausible as no one could conceive a reason as to why she would murder the man who made her happy.
That was perhaps the only mystery in Macondo that was never solved.” In the show, we see her and Arcadio kiss , they go into separate rooms and their main door locks behind them. A gun shot is heard and the blood starts trickling all the way to Ursula’s house. I have changed the sentence to Arcadio died in mysterious circumstances after being shot in his house.
Rebecca did NOT kill Arcadio. He shot himself. We don’t know why he did it but Rebecca did not shoot him. That is stated explicitly both in the book and in the show.