Here are the big mysteries The Umbrella Academy season 2 needs to address when the Hargreeves siblings make their highly-anticipated return. Originally a comic book penned by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy centers around 6 children born with superpowers (7 counting the corporeal) who are adopted by the enigmatic and wealthy Reginald Hargreeves and morphed into a team of crime-fighters. The group drift apart in adulthood, but are brought together by Reginald’s death, supposedly in a last ditch effort to save the world.
Kooky and offbeat, The Umbrella Academy mixes human drama with wacky comic book ideas that draw from both spiritual fantasy and science fiction. As such, there was no shortage of mystery in season 1 of the Hargreeves’ adventures, and The Umbrella Academy‘s debut run answered a lot of questions fans might’ve been asking – the cause of the apocalypse, the identity of Leonard Peabody and the death of Sir Reginald all look more or less resolved heading into season 2.
However, there is still plenty to uncover in The Umbrella Academy. While viewers can expect answers to some of the following mysteries sooner rather than later, other stories could drag through to a potential season 3. Even so, these are the questions fans will be hoping to check off in The Umbrella Academy season 2.
How Will The Hargreeves Siblings Save The World?
The big overarching plot of The Umbrella Academy season 2 will undoubtedly see the Hargreeves siblings attempt to undo the apocalypse caused by Vayna and her troublesome ex-boyfriend. Season 1 was primarily focused on how to stop the end of the world before it happened, but the cataclysm proved inevitable, as Vanya blew up the moon and Earth was peppered by falling chunks of space rock. Fortunately, the Academy managed to travel through time, avoiding certain death and giving themselves one last chance at stopping the apocalypse.
As highlighted by recent promotional posters asking “when” the Hargreeves siblings are, this last resort strategy had unpredictable results, and there’s no way of telling where in the timeline the characters might’ve ended up, or even if they all arrived in the same era. Whatever the challenges they face, the main order of business in The Umbrella Academy season 2 will likely involve preventing the moon’s destruction from ever happening by manipulating the timeline. Exactly what events must be changed is the main question, but how the Academy actually get home afterwards, considering Number 5’s time travel is so hard to control?
What Is Reginald’s True Origin?
Reginald Hargreeves is a figure of mystery from the very outset of The Umbrella Academy, but even more question marks arose when a flashback sequence seemed to confirm his extra-terrestrial origin had made the jump from comics to live-action. The finale showed a younger Reginald in a strange, unspecified world that appeared to be on the brink of disaster. The future leader of the Umbrella Academy said farewell to his dying lover, released some strange fireflies from a jar and headed to Earth… in the 19th century.
The audience currently find themselves as distant from Reginald as his adopted children were, and many answers are needed to flesh out his personal history. Where (or when) does Reginald come from, and why did he leave? Did he create the super-powered children, and what is his purpose for them? And, finally, why is Reginald willing to give his life to bring the Academy back together? Unfortunately, answers might be hard to come by in The Umbrella Academy season 2. Not only is Reginald deceased, but he’s impossible to commune with unless Klaus is in a particularly sober mood. The first major Reginald reveal didn’t come until The Umbrella Academy‘s season 1 finale, so the follow-up is unlikely to give much away right from the off.
Can Vanya Be Saved?
Vanya’s fate currently hangs in the balance. When viewers were first introduced to Ellen Page’s character, the black sheep of the Umbrella Academy is somewhat of a wallflower; a shy and retiring violin tutor who continues to go mostly unnoticed and unappreciated, but who still tries to do the right thing. Leonard Peabody manipulates this pent-up anger and deprives Vanya of her medication, allowing hidden superpowers to manifest. The latent mixture of immense power and justified rage consumes Vanya in the season 1 finale, completing her transformation into The White Violin.
One of The Umbrella Academy‘s biggest lingering questions is which Vanya will turn up in season 2? After time traveling with her siblings, Vanya might still be in White Violin mode and need to be restrained until the others can come up with a way to save both her and the world. More likely, the exhaustion from destroying the moon and jumping through time could’ve exhausted Vanya and allowed her regular self to return, meaning she’ll need to constantly keep her emotions in check throughout season 2 to avoid another outburst. Perhaps the most interesting eventuality, however, would be for Vanya to lose her memories of the apocalypse, forcing her siblings to lie about the true reason behind Earth’s destruction and why they need to save the world. An unaware Vanya would be tagging along with her usual self-depreciating demeanor, while the others would be constantly fearful of jogging her memory.
What Happened With The Kennedy Assassination?
The Kennedy assassination played a minor role in The Umbrella Academy‘s first season, with Number 5 present at the event when he finally cracks the secret to time traveling back home. Number 5 abandons his post, and a radio transmission confirms that Kennedy has been assassinated, but it’s ambiguous as to whether The Commission was responsible for the attack and another agent completed 5’s abandoned mission, or whether 5 was there to protect Kennedy and his failure caused a kink in the timeline.
The Kennedy assassination plays a big role in the Umbrella Academy comic series, and this very event could be the turning point for the Hargreeves siblings preventing the apocalypse. Number 5’s final mission for The Commission might’ve been nothing more than an Easter egg to the original comics, but this historical event could have a significance beyond what The Umbrella Academy has been shown so far.
How Did Ben Die (& Can He Come Back)?
Ben is already propping up the afterlife when The Umbrella Academy begins, and the other Hargreeves children are evidently traumatized by his demise. Several lines reference Ben’s death and the grisly nature of it, and the incident was a major factor in the gradual dissolution of the Umbrella Academy. Despite various cast members referencing the day Ben died, however, the series deliberately reveals nothing about how Ben was killed, leaving the circumstances highly mysterious.
Ben’s death is arguably more of a running joke than a genuine mystery, since the method isn’t necessarily vital to the plot, and the morbid curiosity created by the other characters’ vague allusions is probably more interesting than a definitive explanation would be. Nevertheless, fans are undoubtedly keen to learn about the day Ben died, with this issue a hotly-discussed topic coming out of The Umbrella Academy‘s first season.
But also there’s a question of whether or not Ben could potentially be resurrected. As Klaus’ powers grow, Ben will no doubt become a more prominent figure in The Umbrella Academy, both literally and figuratively, and the time travel mechanic could offer a permanent route back for Number 6. It’s currently not known what timeline meddling the Academy will cause in their second season, but if the apocalypse can be undone, surely Ben’s death can be rewritten also.
Who’s In Charge Of The Commission?
Aside from Leonard Peabody’s iteration of The Conductor from the original comics, the main villains of The Umbrella Academy‘s first season were The Commission – a shady group of time-travelers tasked with ensuring the natural flow of history plays out as they believe it should. The main operatives chasing down the Hargreeves bunch are Hazel and Cha-Cha, and that mismatched duo are managed by The Handler, played by Kate Walsh. Although the Handler is the face of The Commission in The Umbrella Academy‘s first season, she heavily hints that there are more senior figures pulling the strings within the organization. With the Hargreeves siblings set to interfere with history more than ever before, these hidden leaders might finally show their faces.
Where Did Hazel And Agnes Escape To?
Another mystery relating to The Commission involves the disappearance of Hazel and Agnes in The Umbrella Academy‘s season 1 finale. After Vanya triggers the apocalypse and the world begins to burn, a montage of characters facing their doom is shown. Cha-Cha appears to be engulfed by the flames, but as Hazel and Agnes embrace and accept their fate, they strangely teleport away before their deaths. This plot point will almost certainly be picked up quickly in The Umbrella Academy season 2, and there are two possible culprits. Either The Commission have decided to recall Hazel, despite his previous insubordination, or the assassin and his doughnut-baking lover are rescued, for some reason, by Number 5 from the future.
The Umbrella Academy season 2 premieres in 2020 on Netflix.
