Includes minor SPOILERS for One Hundred Years of Solitude season 1.
Netflix’sOne Hundred Years of Solitudeexamines the lives of the Buendía family, though they can be difficult to follow as the series progresses. The TV series is based on the acclaimed classic novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, asprawling epic that examines the Buendía family across multiple generations in the town of Macondo. One of the book’s biggest challenges, however, is keeping track of the massive family tree, where many characters have similar names. InOne Hundred Years of Solitude’scast, the actors change due to time jumps in the story, increasing the challenge.
Notably,One Hundred Years of Solitude’sseason 1 endingonly covers the first half of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, so the family tree in the series isn’t quite as big as it is in the book. Season 2 will expand the tree with future generations of the Buendía family. For now, using José Arcadio Buendía as the centerpiece of the family,there are three generations of Buendías in the show who are all vital to understanding Marquez’s story.
José Arcadio Buendía (Marco González & Diego Vásquez)
The Buendía Family Patriarch & Founder Of Macondo
José Arcadio Buendía is the patriarch of the Buendía family and the founder of Macondo. In his hometown,he married his cousin Úrsula, whose family believed their children would be deformed. Because of this, the pair spent a long time not having sex until José Arcadio Buendía was insulted on the matter after a chicken fighting match. José Arcadio Buendía killed the man, named Prudencio Aguilar, by throwing a spear through his neck. After killing him, the man’s presence began haunting José Arcadio Buendía’s home, forcing him to move.
José Arcadio Buendía is an inquisitive dreamer who spends the majority of his life secluded in his workshop
José Arcadio Buendía desired to settle a new home for his wife and his community beyond the mountains, believing they would find oceans. The journey to what would become Macondo was long and perilous, and they ultimately gave up on the original goal, settling away from the sea. José Arcadio Buendía is an inquisitive dreamer who spends the majority of his life secluded in his workshop, pursuing various sciences like alchemy and astronomy in hopes of achieving the wonders of his imagination. This often leaves his family without a father, to the dismay of Úrsula.
Úrsula Iguarán (Susana Morales & Marleyda Soto)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Wife & The Buendía Family Matriarch
Úrsula Iguarán is José Arcadio Buendía’s wife and the matriarch of the Buendía family who travels with her husband from their hometown, helping to settle Macondo. She gives birth to three children, including Colonel Aureliano Buendía, who is the first person born in Macondo. Due to marrying her cousin,Úrsula has a deeply rooted fear that her family will produce babies with animal-like features, but she still maintains qualities of strength and leadership throughout the series. She begins a business making candy to sell in Macondo’s community.
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Visually appealing and deeply committed to doing justice to the source material, One Hundred Years of Solitude achieves all of its goals.
José Arcadio (Édgar Vittorino)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Firstborn Son
José Arcadio, not to be confused with his father, is the firstborn son of José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán, who’s notably well-endowed. This attracts the attention of Pilar Ternera, a grown woman who molests him, and they pursue a sexual relationship in episode 2, resulting in the birth of his son. However, when Pilar Ternera reveals that she’s pregnant,José Arcadio disappears from Macondo for a long time, demonstrating a similarity to his father’s impulsive personality.
Colonel Aureliano Buendía (Claudio Cataño)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Secondborn Son
Colonel Aureliano Buendía is the second son of José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán, who’s the first person born in Macondo. Aureliano Buendía isshown from an early age to have premonitions, demonstrated by a scene where he predicts that a bowl will fall from a table despite not being near the edge. The life of Aureliano Buendía is one of cyclical violence and myth as a military leader, as he’s the subject of Marquez’s masterful opening line, which is used in both the novel and the TV series:
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”
Aside from being a soldier, Colonel Aureliano Buendía takes after his father in certain ways, pursuing a deep fascination with crafting. He also develops a talent for writing poetry, demonstrating a romanticized aspect of his persona. Aside from José Arcadio Buendía, Colonel Aureliano is perhaps the most profoundly fascinating character inOne Hundred Years of Solitude.
Amaranta Buendía (Loren Sofía Paz)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Firstborn Daughter
Amaranta Buendía is the firstborn daughter of José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán. She grows up around Rebeca, her adopted sister, and the pair eventually begin to feud over the love interest of foreigner Pietro Crespi, despite Úrsula’s belief that her sister would be one Amaranta could bond with. Amaranta’s name derives from the Spanish verb for “to love,” which is an important contradiction to her character’sfrequent struggles to develop romantic passions for peopleafter Pietro.
Rebeca (Akima Maldonado)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Adopted Daughter
Rebeca is theadopted daughter of José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán who’s brought to Macondo, originally born to Nicanor Ulloa and Rebeca Montiel. She’s initially unable to speak and has a condition known as pica, which causes her to desire to consume non-edible materials. In a scene in episode 3, Úrsula cures her of her condition, and Rebeca is revealed to be able to speak clear Spanish after letting out an enormous belch. Notably, Rebeca carries a bag with her parents' skeletons.
Arcadio Buendía (Janer Villareal)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Adopted Son & Biological Grandson Through José Arcadio
Arcadio Buendía is the son of Pilar Ternera and José Arcadio, born in their illegitimate love affair when José Arcadio was still a child. At the end of episode 2, Pilar Ternera arrives at José Arcadio Buendía’s home to offer Arcadio up to him and Úrsula, and they take him in as their adoptive son while José Arcadio is away.Arcadio eventually becomes one of the town’s leaders in the absence of Colonel Aureliano Buendía, though he remains a conflicted character.
Aureliano José (Emilio Sánchez Vera)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Grandson & Colonel Aureliano Buendía’s Son
Like Arcadio, Aureliano José is the son of Pilar Ternera, though his father is Colonel Aureliano Buendía. Aureliano José joins his father as a soldier for a time, though he eventually returns to Macondo andpursues his aunt Amaranta and adoptive mother as a love interest. However, Amaranta rejects him on the grounds that outside of nursing him, she’s his mother in every conceivable way. He continues to desire her throughoutOne Hundred Years of Solitude.
One Hundred Years of Solitude (2024)
In the town of Macondo, several generations of the Buendía family grapple with love, war, madness, and an inescapable curse that haunts their lineage. As they navigate the trials of fate, the epic tale of magical realism unfolds, exploring the intersection of history, myth, and human experience.
