Rotten Legacy ending explained: How much is Federico hiding?

Rotten Legacy, or Legado, Netflix's newest Spanish drama, was released on 16th May 2025 internationally and has an eventful finale episode. Created by Carlos Montero, Pablo Alén, and Breixo Corral, Rotten Legacy depicts its title quite literally. It is about Federico Seligman (played by Jose Coronado), coming back to his newspaper publication after two years of treatment from an illness, only to see that his children have spoiled his legacy.

The official logline for Rotten Legacy reads,

After a grave illness, a media mogul discovers his children's tactics threaten the empire he carefully built - and he will do whatever it takes to save it.

The first season of Rotten Legacy has eight episodes, with the last episode, Decide being the season finale. The question that arises is, did Lara expose the interview, and how did Bruno die? Let us explain.

Rotten Legacy ending explained in detail

Before we get to Rotten Legacy's ending, let's have a quick recap first. The first season of Rotten Legacy began with Federico Seligman's return to Spain after beating cancer, ready to rebuild his life with his wife Isabela and daughter Lara. But his homecoming does not go well when he learns that his older children, Andres, Yolanda, and Guadalupe, have betrayed him.

Andres and Yolanda are caught embezzling money from Federico’s conservatory project to keep their newspaper, El Baltico, seemingly successful. Their getting caught leads to an audit raid, and Guadalupe helps them by blackmailing a minister, but secretly tips off the authorities to protect her husband, Manuel, and her career.

Federico secretly records an interview revealing all their crimes and the hidden truth about the reporter Bruno Escudero's death, promising it would air only after his death. He gives his children one chance to redeem themselves. According to his terms, Andres and Yolanda must step down from the paper, and Guadalupe must leave her husband. While the daughters agree, Andres refuses, and others in positions of power try to get their hands on the tape.

Meanwhile, Federico’s teenage daughter, Lara, unknowingly befriends the brother of the dead reporter, Leon, who seeks revenge. As secrets, threats, and lies start running too close to each other, the family has to decide whether to destroy each other or stand together.

The season finale of Rotten Legacy, titled "Decide," has the following logline:

As the paper revieves an offer it can't refuse, the truth of a past crime is revealed, leaving the future of Federico's legacy hanging in the balance.

The finale of Rotten Legacy reveals a dark secret Federico had kept for years. Bruno, the reporter from El Baltico, was in Afghanistan during the war, reporting from the field. He soon found out that opium was being transported out of Afghanistan, before NATO came into the picture. He was killed there by the unit of soldiers he traveled with after finding out that Spanish soldiers were involved in drug trafficking.

Federico helped hide the truth, saying Bruno died in battle, to protect the military and boost the newspaper’s reputation. One of the soldiers involved in Bruno's death told Andres everything, who wanted to write an article on it, even if it meant destroying his father and his company. Federico was able to stop it in time and bury the story.

Later, in the interview video, Federico admitted everything, planning to release it only after his death. However, Vargas, a jailed commissioner, had stolen the tape and sent a part of it to Bruno's father. While Vargas is killed on the order of an unknown person, Federico’s granddaughter Lara finds the video and uploads it, exposing the truth to the world.

Meanwhile, the Seligmans stand on the verge of losing El Baltico. To save it, they need an immediate loan, which can be secured only by creating a scandal for the President’s professional benefit. Federico agrees to let his daughter, Guadalupe, expose her corrupt friend, Rocio, to get the loan they need. Though he feels guilty, he chooses survival once again.

In the end, Rotten Legacy shows how a man shapes his own legacy. Federico can blame his children all he wants, but he is not innocent either. He has been corrupt as well, and his lies cost them a lot. While the Seligmans save their paper, and we see how everyone in the family has been corrupt, Lara emerges as a ray of hope. Will she continue to do better? Only time will tell.

Rotten Legacy is currently streaming on Netflix.

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