When Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy dropped on Netflix this summer, fans of the violent, convoluted, oftentimes-hilarious sci-fi series had a ton of questions. Where did Lila go after that showdown in the barn? Does Harlan still have a trace of Vanya’s powers? Will Luther and Alison ever figure out their incredibly complicated, ever-so-slightly-creepy relationship?
And most importantly: what the hell is going on with the Sparrow Academy?
Warning: Spoilers follow for Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy.
When our ragtag group of superpowered siblings returned from their extended sojourn in the 1960s, they were thrilled to find that they had successfully averted the cataclysmic event which had led to the destruction of their own timeline at the end of Season 1. But it soon became clear, upon entering the mansion where they all grew up, that something wasn’t right. For one, their father, Reginald Hargreeves, was still alive. But he had no memory of adopting and raising them.
It was swiftly established that in this new timeline, Reginald adopted several other gifted children who were born on the same day as Klaus, Vanya, Luther, Alison, Diego and Five. And instead of training them as the Umbrella Academy, they are instead known as the Sparrow Academy—headed by none other than Ben (Justin H. Min), an alternate universe version of the brother who died prior to the start of the series.
COURTESY OF NETFLIX/NETFLIX
A recent YouTube video from Netflix UK explores some of the fan theories surrounding the end of Season 2, and one in particular offers a semi-logical explanation for why the present day is so different from the one that the Hargreeves siblings left behind: simply put, Reginald wasn’t impressed by any of the Umbrella Academy when he encountered them in 1963, and so when he eventually learned of the births of these “miracle” babies in 1989, he purposely chose children with different names. This would both explain the absence of our lead characters from the Sparrow Academy, and the presence of Ben; as a ghost, Reginald had no interaction with him.
This theory makes a certain amount of sense; after all, our young heroes didn’t make the best impression on Daddy Dearest in that tiki lounge. Vanya (Ellen Page) covered everybody in tiny pieces of fruit salad after trying to show off her powers, Diego (David Castañeda) could barely get a single word out, so intimidated was he by their father, and Luther (Tom Hopper) tore off his own shirt in a cathartic-yet-ridiculous display of filial anger. The only one of the family Reginald wasn’t utterly repulsed by was Five (Aidan Gallagher).
This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
There are other, more outlandish theories out there that might explain the creation of the Sparrow Academy, such as the possibility that Lila traveled back in time and murdered the members of the Umbrella Academy before they could be adopted by Reginald. Alternatively, it could be that the show takes place in a multiverse, and there are actually an infinite number of timelines, and Five simply jumped his brothers and sisters back to the wrong one.
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait for a third season before that massive cliffhanger gets resolved—and while Netflix remains pretty quiet on the future of the show, we know that the creators have plans that go far, far into the future.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io