Done binging season 3 of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix? It was another round to save the world, but this time the approach – and the stakes – was a little different. Hargreeves’ siblings seem to be successful in preventing the entire universe from collapsing. But the results? They are understandably complicated.
This is where things stand after the Hargreeves battle the rival Sparrow Academy, a universe-destroying black hole and vicious warriors known as the Guardians. Did they successfully reset the universe or just make things worse? Let’s dive into the gnarly details.
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Will the Sparrow Academy only last one season?
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What is the Kugelblitz (and how do you spell it)?
Episode 5 gives you the full explanation of this season’s equivalent of a great evil (not counting the initial hostility of the Sparrow Academy and the trio of Guardians at the end). In a nutshell, the Kugelblitz — what looks like an orange ball of energy — randomly collapses matter across time and space until all existence turns black. This black hole is the universe’s answer to a grandfather paradox created by Harlan, Sissy’s super-powered son.
In Season 2, Viktor met Sissy in Dallas, 1963, and the couple fell in love. While rescuing Harlan from drowning, Viktor accidentally gave him some of his powers. In the Season 2 finale, Viktor believed he saved Harlan from the explosion by absorbing his powers, but an altered Harlan kept them for the rest of his life.
On October 1, 1989, Sissy died of cancer, the same day Hargreeves’ siblings were inexplicably born. Harlan’s grief brought him into contact with Viktor, whom he had always wanted to return to them. This connection caused Harlan to unleash an energy burst that found the closest association with Viktor at the time: his mother. Harlan accidentally killed her along with the mothers of Hargreeves’ other siblings. This resulted in a grandfather paradox — in this altered timeline, the siblings were never born. Jumping forward in time from the 60s, they find themselves in an altered 2019, where their pasts have been erased and the Sparrow Academy is the premier superhero show in town.
Luther and Klaus Are Sacrificed (But That Doesn’t Stop Them)
Oh, Father Reginald. You seemed to have changed your ways, but no! The adoptive father of the Hargreeves (and the sparrows) gave Klaus hope that he would treat the siblings with more love and care. He literally revealed a new layer in Season 2: Beneath that austere exterior lies a lizard-like blue alien.
Allison, Diego and Klaus.
Netflix
In the penultimate episode of season 3, we see that this alien has a razor-sharp arm, which he uses to stab Luther to death. This is part of a tactic he has used before to bring the siblings together. Then, as the Kugelblitz engulfs Hotel Obsidian (later revealed as Hotel Oblivion), he sacrifices Klaus and closes the door on him while the remaining seven siblings escape. So much for changing his ways: the cold-blooded Reginald only cares about the right number of siblings he needs to reset the universe.
Fortunately, after some persuasion, Klaus returns from the afterlife to rescue the siblings in battle with the Guardians, using his powers to summon Luther briefly at the ideal moment of rescue.
Lila is pregnant – this time for real
When Lila puts Stanley on Diego’s doorstep, we see Diego grow and eventually embrace to care for his new son. Only later does Lila reveal that Stanley is not his son, but her partner Trudy’s (unfortunately, Stan Kugelblitzed). She “borrowed” him to test Diego if he would be fit to care for his real son. That’s right – Lila is currently pregnant with Diego’s unborn son, whom they can only save if they defeat the Guardians and reset the universe.
Reginald Hargreeves never fails to exploit his adopted children.
Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix
Allison goes villain once
Allison’s arc this season made her lose the patience to always be the nice one, especially after the racial discrimination she suffered during the American civil rights movement in the 1960s. After losing her husband Raymond Chestnut in the past, she discovers that her daughter Claire no longer exists in the altered present. Tired of the hand she’s been given, she leans to the fullest of her powers, discovering (with the help of Harlan’s remaining energy) that she can influence people without having to say, “I’ve heard a rumor… “
She takes another step outside of her character by making a deal with Reginald to do whatever it takes to get Claire (and possibly Raymond) back. This mainly involves trying to convince the other siblings to fight against the dangerous Guardians and reset the universe.
The seven clocks to reset the universe
This time, to save the world, all one of the siblings has to do is press a literal reset button. In the lobby of Hotel Obsidian – later revealed as Hotel Oblivion, a giant machine built by the one who created the universe – seven stars can be seen across the floor. The seven remaining siblings, except for Allison, stand on these “bubbles” to make a sign, using the particles in their bodies as fuel. Meanwhile, Reginald appears to be changing the machine’s settings, which could explain why the universe isn’t going back to the expected norm. To prevent the siblings from being sucked to death, Allison kills Reginald and then decides to hit the big red reset button anyway.
The Hargreeves make up the sigil.
Netflix
What the hell happened to everyone?
With the universe back to “normal,” Allison gets exactly what she wanted: Claire and, inexplicably, Raymond. Is he just a figment of her imagination? She had previously interacted with him while under high stress. Or did he actually travel from 1963 to 2019?
Luther returns, but he’s also not the same — he’s no longer a monkey. None of the siblings have their powers anymore. One thing doesn’t change: Ben is still the asshole version of the Sparrows. Luther desperately runs off to find his love Sloane, who may still exist somewhere in the reset world, just not as part of the Sparrow Academy. The rest of the siblings go their separate ways.
Reginald also gets what he wanted. He seems to own every high-rise building in town, all brandishing Hargreeves. In a Tony Stark-esque tower, marked by huge “HE” letters (or “H” and three horizontal lines hovering parallel to each other), old Reg overlooks the city with the same ethereal woman revealed to be on the moon lives in a limited area at the same time Luther was. Her name is Abigail Hargreeves, and according to the label on her cryogenic tube, she was dead. Reginald told Luther that his mission on the moon had a purpose, “to guard the most precious thing in the universe.” The way Reggie and Abigail look at each other lovingly suggests that they are an item.
Who is Abigail Hargreeves?
Surprisingly, Abigail Hargeeves was first introduced all the way back at the beginning of the Season 1 finale. The mysterious scene takes place “a long time ago” on what appears to be a farm on another planet, where several missiles are blasted into the sky. It suggests that Abigail and Reginald are husband and wife — and both aliens. On Abigail’s deathbed, she asks Reginald to take her violin and give it to someone else to cherish (of course, Viktor eventually becomes the recipient). “The world needs you, Reggie,” she says. Did Reginald and Abigail’s planet die? Was Reginald’s plan all along to found The Umbrella Academy and use his children to power the machine that resets the universe to bring Abigail and their original planet back? Maybe season 4 has those answers.
The man who will be known as Cock Ben.
Netflix
That mid-credits scene
Season 3 isn’t done teasing for the future just yet — in a mid-credits scene, we jump to South Korea, the camera snaking through a train until a familiar face appears. Another Ben! This one looks super soft, wears a fitted suit and reads a book as he travels to Yeouido Station in Seoul. So in this reset universe not one, but two Bens exist.
Wait, backup. Five is the founder of the Commission?
Surprisingly, one of this season’s biggest reveals towards the end doesn’t seem to be all that worrisome. In Episode 4, Five encounters himself from the future in the Commission’s grandfather paradox-proof bunker, which belongs to the founder. That’s right — Five was the founder of the Commission the whole time! The company that caused him so much trouble was his own creation. Judging by Old Five’s one arm and the sigil’s tattoo, it seems that this version of Five comes from a timeline where the Hargreeves stop Reginald before resetting the universe. Are we getting confirmation of what exactly happened in that timeline? Maybe, if season 4 has enough time to explain…
What’s in store for Season 4?
Season 4 hasn’t officially been greenlit by Netflix yet, but creator and showrunner Steve Blackman has ideas for what could come next. Unfortunately, it looks like season 4 would be the last.
“I think if we get a season 4 it will inevitably go to an endgame,” Blackman told TheWrap. “I think at some point I’m not sure where we would go after season 4. We have to be careful. My plan for next year is not to be constantly on the same terrain as before. It’s a challenge to come up with a new way to subvert this storyline, and I think we have an idea how to do that.”
“But I think if we got to season 4 it would be a great ending to the course of the show. I’m not saying I couldn’t do more, but you know, I think that would be really satisfying for The Audience, Four Seasons.”
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