What do you do if you’re a really successful singer and songwriter? Pivot to becoming a really successful comic book writer, of course. That’s exactly what Gerard Way, lead singer and co-founder of alternative rock band My Chemical Romance, decided to do. Alongside illustrator Gabriel Ba, Gerard Way created a comic series calledThe Umbrella Academy.
First released in 2007, aNetflix adaptationof the comics was greenlit in 2017, with the first season of the show airing in early 2019. Season 4 has finally been released, with all episodes now available on Netflix, and the show’s creator has confirmed that this will be the last.
The first three seasons of the show followed many of the storylines from the original comics, but with the majority of the source material having been used up inearlier seasons, fans were left unsure of what would happen in Season 4. If you’ve watched the show (and you definitely should before reading any further) then here is The Umbrella Academy season 4 ending explained.
The remainder of this article contains spoilers for Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy as well as some spoilers for the earlier seasons.
If you love The Umbrella Academy watch these shows next
So you’ve binged your way through The Umbrella Academy and wanting to find something else that’s similar to jump into next? Well, look no further.
What happens at the end of Umbrella Academy Season 4?
Who dies and does the universe even still exist?
Some good news to start with. The universe does still exist come the end of the show. Well, one universe at least. Several of the popular characters from the show are also still alive come the end. Sadly, however, that doesn’t include any of the Hargreeves siblings. That’s right, none of the members of the titular Umbrella Academy make it.
Season 4 finds them in an alternate timeline without their powers, after having the marigold (the particle that gives them their powers) removed. Throughout season 4, we learn more about the origins of marigold, with a reveal in episode 4 that the particle was created by Reginald’s wife, Abigail, who like Reginald is, of course, an alien. However, unbeknownst to Abigail at the time, the creation of marigold also led to the creation of another particle, known as durango, obviously. Durango and marigold are like matter and anti-matter; bring them together and it’s the end of the world.
And now, unlike the noodle incident from Calvin and Hobbes, we finally find out the facts about the infamous Jennifer incident in which Ben Hargreeves was killed. After having their wiped memories restored, the siblings discover that Ben unwittingly discovered a girl who is infused with durango in the same way that the Hargreeves siblings are infused with marigold. You guessed it; her name is Jennifer. In order to stop Ben and Jennifer from destroying the world by combining marigold and durango, Reginald kills them both. That’s right, Reginald was the cause of Ben’s death.
Some good news to start with. The universe does still exist come the end of the show.
Five discovers a mysterious subway system that connects all the different timelines in existence, and there are a LOT of them. It turns out that in each timeline, the siblings either save the world or it gets destroyed, over and over again. Five finally realizes that the only way to end the cycle is for all the marigold in existence to combine with all the durango in existence, which will bring about The Cleanse, the destruction of all but the original timeline.
The Hargreeves and Lila (who all drink shots of marigold, returning their powers to levels beyond those they had before) must all sacrifice themselves, alongside Jennifer, to remove all the marigold and durango from existence. This will restore the original timeline to the point before the Hargreeves siblings first mysteriously pop into being as the children of suddenly pregnant mothers.
In the final pre-credits scene, we find ourselves in a sunny field on the twelfth hour of the eighth day of August 2024 (the date the final season of the show first aired). This mimics the twelfth hour of the first day of October 1989, which in the very first episode of the show was the date that 43 women around the world gave birth, despite none of them being pregnant when the day began. However, as the narration states this time, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The Hargreeves never existed, and balance is restored to the force. Or something.
Who survives at the end of The Umbrella Academy Season 4?
Some familiar faces appear at the end
Although all the Hargreeves siblings, as well as Lila and Jennifer, annihilate each other in a collision of marigold and durango, it doesn’t mean that other characters don’t make it. Since the Hargreeves siblings, and The Umbrella Academy, never existed, we see many of the protagonists and antagonists enjoying the lives they would have led otherwise.
Familiar faces include Allison’s daughter Claire, as well as Lila’s children, all of whom are somehow alive despite their parents never having ever existed. Grace, the robotic adoptive mother of the Hargreeves siblings, is also alive, presumably in human form.
Plenty of the bad guys make it too, although it seems that in the one true timeline, maybe they’re not so bad anymore. The Handler is seen, looking happy, along with Hazel, the professional assassin who appeared in the first season of the show. Touchingly, he’s is seen walking side-by-side with Agnes, the waitress with whom he falls in love.
The Umbrella Academy Season 4 post-credits sequence explained
A poignant final scene that doesn’t really hint of more to follow
The credits include backstage photos from the making of the show, but there is a short post-credits scene that follows them. We see the base of a tree, where eight marigolds magically suddenly bloom, golden dust being released from them that looks remarkably like marigold.
These obviously represent the seven Hargreeves siblings, with the eighth presumably representing Lila. Although since Durango is a type of Marigold, perhaps one of the flowers represents Jennifer, instead.
The released dust does beg the question as to whether all the marigold was truly destroyed, but with the ending wrapped up so neatly, it’s probably simply a device to give a nudge to those who didn’t realize that the flowers were actually marigolds.
Does Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy follow the comics?
There’s no more source material left
There are three main limited series of The Umbrella Academy comics, written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Ba. Seasons 1 and 2 of the Netflix show were loosely based on the first two volumes of the comic:Apocalypse Suite, andDallas. The third season of the show blends ideas from the third volume,Hotel Oblivion, as well as the as-yet-unpublished fourth installment in the series:Sparrow Academy.
This meant that the vast majority of the ideas from the comics were featured in the first three seasons of the Netflix show. Unsurprisingly, then, Season 4 introduces a new storyline that isn’t found in the comics.
However, this doesn’t mean that everything that happens in season 4 of The Umbrella Academy is completely new. There are several callbacks to events from the comics, such as a newspaper clipping about The Umbrella Academy saving the Eiffel Tower, a reference to the opening of the very first comic that was too complex to film for the Netflix series.
One story thread in season 4 of The Umbrella Academy is pulled directly from the second part ofThe Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion. In season 4, Klaus is forced to work as a medium to pay off his debts. A woman uses his services (in every sense of the word) in order to find out where her dead husband hid his cash. This follows the comic almost exactly, although this storyline is then expanded in the TV show beyond what happens in the comics.
Will there be any more seasons of The Umbrella Academy?
No more seasons are in the works
For fans of The Umbrella Academy, the ending of its fourth season is bittersweet. The creator of the TV adaptation, Steve Blackman, has confirmed that season 4 will be the last. It’s not entirely surprising; season 4 wraps up the story nicely and there are no more comics left to adapt. Even though season 4 went beyond the scope of the comics, and some Umbrella Academy short stories exist, Blackman clearly feels that the story is finished.
It’s not all bad news, however. Volume 4 of the comic series, on which much of season 3 of The Umbrella Academy TV show was based, has still not been published, so there is more Umbrella Academy goodness to come for fans. You may have a while to wait, however, as currently there is no release date forThe Umbrella Academy: Sparrow Academy.
Netflix is a global streaming service offering on-demand access to movies, TV shows, documentaries, and original content. Founded in 1997 as a DVD rental service, it transitioned to streaming in 2007 and now operates in over 190 countries.
