What To Remember Before Season 4

The Big Picture

• The final timeline for
  The Umbrella Academy
  is about to be set into motion, with a new apocalypse looming for the Hargreeves siblings.
• In Season 2, The Sparrow Academy brings new challenges, leading to a clash of titans and haunting mysteries at Hotel Obsidian.
• A universe-ending kugelblitz, the grandfather paradox, and sacrifices combine to reset the universe in a shocking finale.

The final timeline in The Umbrella Academy is about to set into motion. With the fourth and final season on Netflix on August 8, 2024, the Hargreeves siblings are staring down yet another apocalypse. After that jaw-dropping Season 3 cliffhanger, fans are left bewildered with unanswered questions. Plus, based on the Season 4 trailer alone, it looks like one of the Hargreeves might just hold the key to fixing the timeline, making this season’s stakes higher than ever.

Based on Gerard Way’s comic series, The Umbrella Academy follows a wonderfully dysfunctional super-family that’s far from the usual hero trope. In 1989, forty-three super-powered babies were born around the globe out of the blue. Eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) decides to swoop seven of these babies away, aiming to mold them into a superhero squad – at the expense of their childhoods and mental health. Now all grown up, Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Viktor (Elliot Page), and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) reluctantly team up to save the world. While audiences wait for the new season, check out the Season 3 recap for The Umbrella Academy.

The Umbrella Academy Meets the Sparrow Academy

After narrowly escaping Doomsday in Dallas, the Umbrella siblings are flung back into 2019 – but with a shocking twist. They land in an alternate timeline where the Umbrella Academy is just a forgotten memory – in fact, it was never a memory at all. The same old academy they grew up in is now run by Sir Reginald Hargreeves’ Sparrow Academy, a much stronger and smarter crew consisting of Marcus (Justin Cornwell), Ben (Justin H. Min), Fei (Britne Oldford), Alphonso (Jake Epstein), Sloane (Genesis Rodriguez), Jayme (Cazzie David), and their sardonic sidekick, a psikronium cube named Christopher. Unlike the Umbrellas, the Sparrows are natural-born superheroes and are the darlings of the public.

From the get-go, it’s a clash of the titans. The two academies’ first meeting is nothing short of blood and fist fights. What started off as a verbal confrontation in a wild misunderstanding of sorts erupted into an epic brawl — complete with a hallucination-induced dance sequence to “Footloose”. As the Umbrella Academy is about to be totally overpowered, Viktor channels a massive burst of energy that turns the tide. Feeling decidedly unwelcome, the Umbrellas make a hasty exit to find somewhere safe.

But even when they’re not at each other’s throats, the two academies can’t seem to stay apart. They get tangled up in all sorts of drama – like being wrongly accused of kidnapping Marcus, Luther falling head over heels for Sloane (and eventually marrying her in an “end-of-the-world” wedding), and a deadly showdown at the hotel that leaves a few too many people burnt and crisped. Not only does the Umbrella Academy have to tolerate members of their own clan, but they must make do with an uneasy truce with their more capable counterparts.

Checking into the Hotel Obsidian-Oblivion

After getting ungraciously booted from their old home by the new Hargreeves crew, the Umbrellas find refuge in the quirky, retro-inspired Hotel Obsidian. Klaus, who used to be one the the hotel’s regular back in the normal timeline, thinks he knows the place like the back of his hand. But the Obsidian has a few surprises up its sleeve, especially behind the wall of the White Buffalo Suite. Klaus doesn’t get a chance to dig into these secrets himself, though – his untimely death becomes the key to unlocking the hotel’s mysteries.

When Klaus and young Stanley (Javon Walton) stumble upon the White Buffalo Suite, the ever-so-curious Stanley picks up a harpoon and accidentally kills Klaus with it, hitting a wall that hides a pachinko machine. This fateful accident sets off a chain reaction, leading Klaus to discover his powers and uncover a hidden door to the Obsidian’s secret dimension. Diego and Lila (Ritu Arya), who are basically Stanley’s stand-in parents, are the first to explore what lies behind this door.

This alternate dimension turns out to be Hotel Oblivion, the much creepier and emptier mirrored version of the Obsidian. First discovered by Reginald in 1918, he purposely built Hotel Obsidian around the portal so that he could access it. Reginald believes that in Obsidian, there is a button that could reset all of existence. But this button is guarded by nearly indestructible armored creatures made of cockroaches. To give a gist of just how dangerous they are, one of these creatures gave Diego a nasty surprise by chopping off two of his fingers during a physical brawl.

Harlan Cooper Is Responsible for the Grandfather Paradox

Hotel Obsidian isn’t just hosting the Hargreeves family – there’s another guest checking in under the alias “Lester Pocket”. Lester is actually Harlan Cooper (Callum Keith Rennie), the non-verbal kid from Season 2, who was the son of Sissy Cooper (Marin Ireland). Sissy was the woman Viktor had a thing for back in Dallas. When Viktor jumped into a new timeline, he left Sissy and Harlan behind – or so he thought.

Back in Season 2, Viktor saved Harlan from drowning by transferring some of his powers to the kid. That act of kindness, unfortunately, came with a bloody price to pay. After Viktor left, Sissy and Harlan moved city after city as Harlan’s powers grew out of control. Fast forward to 1989. With Sissy’s death, Harlan’s grief triggers a massive energy burst on October 1st — the same day the Hargreeves kids are born. This explosion causes fatal brain hemorrhages in the Hargreeves’ mothers, setting off what’s known as the grandfather paradox.

In short, the grandfather paradox is when a time traveler does something that would stop their own existence. In the Commission’s institutional video, this would happen if, let’s say, a grandson goes back in time and accidentally kills his grandfather before he gets the chance to pass on his genes. In the Hargreeves’ case, it means their moms were killed on the very day they were supposed to conceive them, totally wrecking the timeline.

When Viktor figures out that “Lester” is actually Harlan, he feels a mix of guilt and pity and tries to help him out. Viktor wants to fix things without any more bloodshed and before the Sparrow Academy gets involved. With Allison’s help, they head to a remote spot where Viktor manages to rid Harlan of his dangerous powers for good. But things take a dark turn when Harlan accidentally reveals he’s responsible for the deaths of the Hargreeves’ mothers, which leads to a timeline where Allison’s daughter was never born. In a fit of rage and heartbreak, Allison kills Harlan in cold blood.

Another Apocalypse Is on the Horizon, Thanks to the Kugelblitz

The grandfather paradox didn’t just mess up the timeline—it dropped the biggest bomb yet: the universe-ending fireball known as the kugelblitz. First seen underneath the Academy, we watched alternate Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins) worship it likea god. Throughout the series, the kugelblitz claimed the lives of Marcus, Fei, and Christopher.

But here’s the huge shocker: the kugelblitz isn’t a god or some mystical force. It’s actually pure science. The kugelblitz is a ball of lightning so intense it forms a black hole from sheer radiation. Imagine a cosmic vacuum cleaner on steroids, but instead of just sucking up dust, it’s erasing the universe. It’s like a black hole, but made of pure, unfiltered chaos, ready to wipe out time and space as we know it.

In a last-ditch effort, the Umbrellas and Sparrows join forces to trap the kugelblitz in Christopher, the telekinetic cube. For a moment, they managed to contain it and had the sweet taste of success. But that victory doesn’t last long. When one tiny glitch messes up Christopher, he physically breaks, and everything goes haywire. The kugelblitz bursts free, more chaotic than ever, ready to wreak havoc on the universe. At this point, the universe is torn into literal pieces, and Earth’s last resort to saving humanity has finally given up and decided to savor the last burning bits of the universe.

Almost Everyone Is Saved, but at the Cost of Their Powers

The apocalypse is now in full swing and showing no mercy — except for the remaining guests of Hotel Obsidian, its superpowered inhabitants (the Umbrellas, Ben, and Sloane), and the ever-scheming Reginald. Just as the final kugel wave is about to wipe them out, Reginald pulls them through the secret tunnel that leads into Hotel Oblivion. At this point, Reginald finally reveals Hotel Oblivion’s true intentions. It’s not a hotel, but a colossal machine running on the seven Umbrella/Sparrow members’ powers, built to reset the universe and resurrect Reginald’s long-dead wife, Abigail.

With the kugelblitz obliterating everything, Reginald’s master plan goes into hyperdrive. With the exception of Allison (due to a deal she previously made with Reginald), the Umbrella/Sparrow members stand on the seven sigils designed to suck their powers and reset the universe. Horrified that her siblings are sacrificed in the process, Allison kills Reginald instead, inadvertently revealing that he’s an alien wearing a human disguise, and hits the reset button herself. She saves the universe but at a huge cost. When Five, Viktor, Ben, Diego, and Lila step out of an elevator into Obsidian Memorial Park, they find a world that’s been reset. The Umbrellas lose their powers, Sloane vanishes, and Reginald now seems to rule a city dominated by Hargreeves-owned buildings, with Abigail by his side.

With a massive cliffhanger of an ending, plus that vague post-credits scene with Ben riding a subway, only Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy can answer the burning questions left by Season 3.

Seasons 1-3 are currently available to stream on Netflix.

WATCH ON NETFLIX