Everything You Need To Remember To Watch The Umbrella Academy Season 3
Netflix's hit comic book series "The Umbrella Academy" is heading back for a third season. Based on the comics by Gerard Way, "The Umbrella Academy" was a smash hit. Its quirky mix of eccentric characters, cool powers, and sci-fi musings make it one of the most original shows you can stream. The show follows the Umbrella Academy — a group of seven children who were born on the same day with extraordinary powers. Adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, the children are fashioned into superheroes who will one day save the world ... but we soon find that the grown-up Hargreeves kids are more of a dysfunctional family these days.
And it takes some wrangling to get them all together to stop the apocalypse.
Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, and Justin H. Min will all return as the Umbrella Academy in the long-awaited third season.
But a lot has happened since their first appearance.
We've seen Vanya cause an apocalyptic event, Diego become obsessed with saving JFK, and Five take on the time-traveling Commission. And with all the twists and turns that come with such an intriguing series, it can be tough to keep track of everything.
Here's everything you'll need to remember to watch Season 3.
Who are the Umbrella Academy?
If you've made it this far, you're probably already familiar with the Hargreeves kids, but here's a quick reminder:
Tom Hopper stars as Luther (Number One): Born with super strength and durability, he's transformed into a monstrous human/ape hybrid after a mission goes wrong and his father is forced to save his life with an experimental serum.
David Castañeda stars as Diego (Number Two): The ability to change the course of projectiles in mid-air, Diego favors throwing knives and close combat. His former love Detective Patch was killed during season 1 by Cha-Cha. During season 2, Diego becomes obsessed with saving JFK after he time travels to 1963.
Emily Raver-Lampman stars as Allison (Number Three): Her ability allows her to mind control anyone to do her bidding, by simply saying "I heard a rumor..." However, this got her into trouble when her husband realized she had used her power on him, as well as their daughter, Claire.
Robert Sheehan stars as Klaus (Number Four): The ability to speak to the dead, he's haunted as a child by the spirits of the deceased ... but is later joined by his dead brother, who often helps Klaus during their adventures. He later gains the ability to evoke the dead, making them corporeal.
Aidan Gallagher stars as Five (Number Five): A time-traveling hero who can also teleport, he accidentally ends up stuck in the future but returns to warn the Academy about the impending apocalypse.
Justin H. Min stars as Ben (Number Six): Killed in action before the series began, Ben appears as a ghost to Klaus. He was able to summon an eldritch horror from within his chest while alive and uses this power during the season 1 finale when Klaus makes him corporeal.
Elliot Page stars as Viktor (formerly Vanya): Convinced by Sir Reginald that he has no powers at all, Viktor is in fact the most powerful, and most dangerous, of the Umbrella Academy. Able to amplify sound to catastrophic levels, it's Viktor who brings about the apocalypse in season 1, but after becoming amnesiac in season 2, learns to control his power. Viktor was originally named Vanya during season 1 and 2 but has since transitioned.
What happened at the end of season 2?
The Umbrella Academy may have averted the apocalypse in season 1, but it looks as though it only bought them some extra time.
A young boy, Harlan, who Viktor meets in 1963, is able to absorb his power but is not able to control it, echoing the events of season 1. This time around, the Umbrella Academy is there to help out, but in a troubling stand-ff, the Commission has turned up in huge numbers after The Handler told them to "prepare for war."
Worse still, Diego's new friend Lila has turned out to be The Handler's daughter ... and takes on the Academy in a brutal fight, revealing her own power: the ability to channel anyone else's powers.
As Harlan loses control, Viktor is able to take his powers back, narrowly averting another world-ending event. After defeating the Commission, the new head of the organization, Herb, grants the Academy a briefcase to get back to their own time. But disaster strikes...
Their meddling changed the timeline after they met with their adopted father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, in 1963. And in this new, alternate timeline the Umbrella Academy is no more and has been replaced by something else — the Sparrow Academy.
Who are the Sparrow Academy?
"The Umbrella Academy" season 2 introduced the Sparrow Academy – a new team of superpowers individuals who appear in place of the original Umbrella Academy in the new, alternate timeline. But who exactly are they?
Most obviously, we see the return of Ben, who previously only appeared to Klaus but crossed over during a touching scene with Viktor in season 2. Here though, it looks as though he avoided death entirely, and is depicted in his full Sparrow Academy uniform alongside his team. And he has no idea who the Umbrella Academy are.
The rest of the Sparrow Academy is made up of five entirely different children: Marcus (Justin Cornwell) is the new leader, though his powers are currently unknown. Fei (Britne Oldford) is able to summon a murder of crows to do her bidding. Alphonso (Jake Epstein) is able to transfer his own pain to others, attacking people by harming himself. Sloane (Genesis Rodriguez) and Jayme (Cazzie David) are also a mystery whose powers are unknown. Christopher is a floating cube with the power to alter temperature and induce fear.
How did they come together? Well, it looks as though Sir Reginald Hargreeves recruited an entirely different set of children after encountering the Umbrella Academy kids in 1963. Clearly unimpressed with them, he created the Sparrow Academy instead. Ouch.
What goes down between the Umbrella and Sparrow Academies remains to be seen, but judging by the recent trailer for "The Umbrella Academy" season 3, it looks as though they'll be facing off with each other real soon.
Who is Sir Reginal Hargreeves, really?
The great mind behind the Umbrella Academy, Sir Reginal Hargreeves is an enigmatic man.
A harsh taskmaster, we saw how brutal Sir Reginald's Umbrella Academy training could be throughout season 1, and in season 2 we got to meet the man in his youth. The trouble is, it didn't exactly shed any light on the man. Instead, it shrouded him in even more secrets. Who is he? Why was he on the grassy knoll during JFK's assassination? Most importantly, why was he involved with the shadowy organization, Majestic-12?
These questions unfortunately go unanswered, but there was something of a reveal when it comes to who Sir Reginald really is. Before killing off the entire Majestic-12 group, Sir Reginald removes his face, which is revealed to be an intricate mask, revealing a monstrous, somewhat alien head beneath.
Unfortunately, we only get a glimpse of this from behind, but the big reveal points towards Sir Reginal Hargreeves being of otherworldly origin.
Of course, that throws his motives into doubt. What does he want with the Umbrella Academy, and why is he trifling with the events on Earth? And why did he give advanced technology to Majestic-12 in exchange for permission to explore the dark side of the moon?
We're not sure whether this will come up again in season 3, but it has to eventually. Right?
What happened to Pogo?
Ah yes, poor old Pogo. Throughout season 1 of "The Umbrella Academy," he's seen as a faithful servant to Sir Reginald and the Academy. Unfortunately, he meets a sticky end during the season 1 finale when Viktor finds out he knew all about his powers.
That's right — Sir Reginald had been keeping his abilities a secret ... and Pogo knew.
Confronted by Viktor during the character's breakout, he's thrown across the room with a psionic blast and is impaled on a set of moose antlers adorning the wall. But it looks as though that's not the end for him...
Season 2 introduced us to a young Pogo and gave us more background on his and Sir Reginald's relationship. He was essentially an ordinary chimpanzee when he was captured and taken to a secret laboratory to be trained for us aboard a space mission. Sir Reginald took a great interest in Pogo when he began to show extraordinary intellect, and when the mission went awry, Reggie saved his life with the use of a special serum — presumably the same one used to save Luther. At this point, Pogo's development improved dramatically, and he essentially became sapient. Years later, Pogo is introduced as Sir Reginald's assistant and master of house at The Umbrella Academy.
That is until he was killed by Viktor.
Thankfully, it looks as though he will be back in season 3. After all, with a new timeline, his death was completely averted. But in the recently revealed trailer, Pogo looks a bit ... different. He's now an "enforcer" for the Sparrow Academy. What that means, remains to be seen. But it sounds as though he'll have a far more brutal role than the Pogo we know and love.
What happened to The Commission?
Ever since Five's return to the present, The Commission has been trying to put things right.
Well, sort of. The Temps Commission oversees the entire space-time continuum, and in theory, ensures that everything that is supposed to happen, happens. Unfortunately, The Handler (Kate Walsh) has taken control ... and by the end of season 2, it's all about tying up loose ends and getting rid of Five.
After the Umbrella Academy stops the apocalypse from happening, The Handler travels to 1963 with an army of agents, each with their own briefcase. Viktor manages to take them out, but The Handler instructs Lila to finish them off while she tries to recruit young Harlan herself. Failing in her plan, she instead shoots each of the Umbrella Academy siblings, taunting Five, who reveals that it was The Handler herself who killed Lila's parents. Lila confronts her mother who, in a shocking twist, shoots her before being killed by the last remaining Swede — one of The Handler's top assassins.
But Five is able to rewind time just a few minutes ... and this time disarms The Handler.
It plays out almost exactly the same, except the Umbrella Academy (and Lila) all survive, while The Handler is once again killed by the last Swede. In the wake of everything that's happened, it looks as though The Commission is under new management when Herb teleports into 1963. He reveals that he's been made acting chair until a vote can establish a new board.
Most importantly, he gives the Umbrella Academy a briefcase to get them back to their own time.
And that puts them right back to where they started ... but with the Sparrow Academy in their place.