Maledictions ending explained: Why does Zoe drive away with Roman?

Netflix’s Maledictions is as much about politics as a messy, personal storm within a family. Families turn on each other, and secret deals unfold in dimly lit rooms.

Then comes the kidnapping that changes everything.

By the end, three things collide: the city’s water bill, Governor Fernando Rovira’s fragile career, and the reveal about Zoe’s real father. It’s chaotic, but somehow feels right when Zoe and Roman drive off together.

Still confused about who stabbed whom in the back? Wondering why Fernando finally told the truth? Join the club. Let’s piece this together.

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Maledictions ending: How did the initially controversial water bill get support?

At the outset, Governor Fernando fiercely opposed the water bill.

His stance pleased mining companies and promised to boost provincial revenues through lithium profits. He publicly claimed this money would fund schools and hospitals. This seemed noble on the surface, but locals knew that communities would pay the price while corporations raked in fortunes.

Behind the scenes, Fernando’s mother Irene pulled the strings!

Years earlier, she’d leased indigenous land to Mapple Corps, binding her son’s political future to shady deals long before he took office. Fernando played the obedient son until a brutal discovery --- Irene had faked his wife Lucrecia’s death to shield him from scandal.

That broke him. In the end, Fernando didn’t seek revenge against Irene. Instead, he gutted her influence by backing the bill he’d once fought.

The vote passed, mining contracts crumbled, and for the first time, Fernando looked like a man steering his own life.

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Maledictions ending explained: Zoe’s truth

The kidnapping at the heart of Maledictions has a personal twist.

Roman Sabate (Fernando's trusted aide) snatched Zoe not for money, but because he's her real father. Years back, Fernando and his wife, Lucrecia, asked Roman to help them have a child that Fernando couldn't father.

Zoe learned this secret when she was six, but never spoke of it. That is, until Roman forced the truth out during the abduction. What started as a hostage crisis became a random reunion between father and daughter.

Zoe wasn't afraid. By the end, she chose Roman over the family that raised her. The final scene shows Zoe driving away with Roman beside her and her hands on the wheel, so she's taking charge of her life now.

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Maledictions ending explained: Fernando publicly makes a confession

Fernando supports the water bill, but he damages his own reputation. During a live TV interview, he reveals Zoe isn’t biologically his. The admission disarms Irene, who’d been threatening to expose that secret.

It looks like political suicide at first glance, even to a Maledictions fan. But by laying everything bare, Fernando rebrands himself. He is no longer a slick politician; he’s now the guy fighting corruption, even his own.

Will voters believe him? Hard to say. But the move instantly makes him a credible presidential candidate.

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Roman and Zoe’s future after Maledictions

The final decision doesn't rest with Fernando; it lands squarely on Zoe and Roman. Roman has been kept in the background for years, weighed down by guilt, debts, and Irene's controlling hand. Now, with her grip broken, he's stepping into his role as a father. Zoe, too, has shaken free from being used in her grandmother and father's plans. She's making her own choices now.

But Irene hasn't disappeared from Maledictions. Her hunger for payback casts a shadow over their newfound freedom. For now, though, father and daughter are driving away from the chaos --- in every sense of the word!

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Watch Maledictions on Netflix.

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