This series is a collection of stories about Héctor and Ernesto's childhood. Despite the light-hearted tone of the series, what happens to them at the end is a Foregone Conclusion to anyone who've seen Coco and you know what a dark turn it took for the two.
The desesperation of Héctor and Ernesto's parents as they search for their children in the middle of the flood. Particularly surprising in Esteban's case, as he was strict and abusive towards Ernesto. More or less justified, as the boys are trapped in the same cave he had his accident years ago.
The reason why Esteban is a depressed drunkard? He was crippled after a mining accident.
After succesfully escaping from the flooded cave, Ernesto and Héctor proceed to return home. As they're about to reach the village, a tree falls on Ernesto, fatally injuring him. And Héctor and Esteban can do nothing but watch.
Héctor's reaction upon seeing Ernesto trapped and bleeding under the tree. The kid is crying hysterically, trying to save his friend in vain, as the tree is too heavy. Then he faints and has a first direct experience with the land of the dead.
The parents' terror after the kids return unconscious from the flood.
Three days later, Héctor goes to visit Ernesto, bringing his guitar to cheer him up. Esteban has found out that the children got caught in the flood because they were having guitar lessons inside the cave. He blames Héctor for his son's accident and tells him that music will be the death of him one day. Which is an eerie foreshadow of Héctor's actual death in the future.
“It will be your ruin,” the man cut him off, and took another swig from the bottle before wiping his mouth dry with a sleeve. He didn’t even sound angry, now; it was like he was stating that the sky was blue. “It is an obsession and I know how those work. It sucks the life out of you. Mark my words, it will bring you both to an early grave—”
Ernesto's prophetic dream. He dreams that he's killed by a bell falling on him. He tries to call Héctor for help, but has a feeling that he can't because Héctor has been gone for years....Doubles as Nightmare Fuel.
“Yes, it just fell down and— wait, what?” Héctor asked, blinking in confusion. Maybe there had been consequences to the blow, after all.
“No, it wasn’t a bell. It was a tree, remember? The river bank gave way, there was lighting, and—”
“It was dark in there. I couldn’t move it and I couldn’t leave, and… and you wouldn't come help me because…because…”
“I… no! I was there! You were unconscious, you can’t remember, but I stayed—”
“No one would come.”
Sure, the story ends on a happy note, with Héctor and Ernesto happily singing "La Llorona", but if you saw Coco, you realize that Héctor was killed indirectly because of his love for music in the end. And Ernesto was indeed killed by the bell.
Chapter 3, Revolution:
Héctor's reaction after Ernesto is conscripted by the government soldiers and taken away. The poor boy cries alone in the river, believing that he's never going to see his best friend again. Fortunately Imelda arrives and they team up to save Ernesto, but his initial reaction is just heartbreaking.
The scream was loud enough to hurt Héctor’s throat, but he found he didn’t care. His chest was suddenly constricted and his vision blurry, and he turned to run before anybody could see him cry. He was not supposed to weep at all; he was a big boy now, not as old as Ernesto but still too old to cry. If Ernesto saw him now, he’d probably poke some fun at him.
"Why the waterworks, chamaco? Just heard yourself singing?"
Except that he wasn’t there, and maybe he would never poke fun at him ever again.
Imelda advices Héctor that he should stand up to Ernesto for once in his life, but Héctor decides that Ernesto is his best friend and can do whatever he wants with him. This becomes Harsher in Hindsight, as the sequel Down to Dust reveals that part of the reason Ernesto killed Héctor in the end wasn't only to steal his notebook...but also because he couldn't stand that Héctor had finally stood up to him for once (by choosing to return to his family instead of continuing with the musical tour).
The reveal that Imelda's father joined the revolution and was killed by the government. She's shown to resent and speak ill of him, angry that her father choose his revolutionary ideals instead of his family. This puts her resentment after Héctor left the family to go on a musical tour and never came back in a new light.
“He joined the revolutionaries, and never came back. A friend who left with him wrote to tell us he’d died in a fight. He said he died heroically. I guess that was supposed to make it all better,” Imelda added with a scoff. The coldness had crept into her voice again. “Good for him, I guess. He wanted to play the hero more than he wanted to be with his family, so he got what he wanted.”
Chapter 4, Halfway:
While it's a lighthearted story about Héctor getting drunk, this line by Ernesto becomes Harsher in Hindsight.
Ernesto: “If you get yourself alcohol poisoning I will not be the one to drag your body back home and break the news to your family, chamaco.”
There was laughter, some tears, a home-cooked meal - and Héctor found himself unable to ask who was missing, unable to mention the man who had died in the mines. It would have felt like inviting the cruelty of the outside world within those walls, and he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to think of a woman who, somewhere, would wait in vain for a nameless soldier to come home - wait in vain to hear their song again. “I love you,” he said suddenly, and his parents - who had little less than one year left to live - held him in their arms for another long minute.
