The Umbrella Academy season 2 ending explained

Understanding the ending to The Umbrella Academy season 2

There is absolutely no doubt that The Umbrella Academy season 2 became this weekend’s binge-watch must. It was action-packed, building on the foundations set in the first season.

When we opened the second season, we found out the siblings would need to stop another apocalypse, one that they had accidentally created by being in 1963. It took eight episodes to learn that Vanya was the cause yet again. Albeit this time, she wasn’t completely to blame considering she had no memories of her past.

Thanks to Ben’s sacrifice and strength, he was able to stop Vanya from blowing up the FBI building that would prevent JFK’s assassination from taking place. The Russians wouldn’t be blamed and the Cold War wouldn’t develop into an all-out nuclear war.

If only that was everything over. That was just up to episode nine!

Lyla’s true identity revealed on The Umbrella Academy season 2 finale

With the world saved, Vanya had a new issue to deal with. Harlan was losing control of the power that Vanya had accidentally given him when bringing him back to life after the drowning. She needed to get to him to help calm him down.

Of course, The Handler had learned about this anomaly and headed out to the Dallas farm. She brought plenty of assassins with her, leading to the Hargreeves siblings almost losing their lives. Managing to control her powers, Vanya was able to deal with the assassins, but we did get to see Deigo’s power is more than throwing knives. He’s the Magneto of The Umbrella Academy.

All over? Not quite.

It turns out that Lyla is one of them. She was born on the same day as the seven siblings we’ve come to know. Her power is to mimic others, which protects her and The Handler/Mom from Vanya’s blast.

Lyla wants to kill Five for the death of her parents, believing AJ ordered the kill. Five convinces Lyla that The Handler ordered it all, wanting Lyla for herself. The Handler wants power, and Lyla offers that.

Just as Lyla accepts that The Handler is the enemy, The Handler kills everyone. The lone Swede kills The Handler, getting revenge for his brothers’ deaths.

Jump a few seconds

Earlier in The Umbrella Academy season 2, Reginald Hargreeves suggested that Five should try just jumping a few seconds. It’s as he lies dying that he remembers the conversation.

Five jumps back a few seconds to before The Handler comes in to kill everyone. He prevents that, but the Swede still kills The Handler. Five and The Swede agree that it’s “enough,” and off the Swede goes (to eventually be picked up by Klaus’s cult).

Lyla isn’t sticking around with the family, though. She grabs a briefcase and time travels somewhere. We don’t get to know where.

With all that over, Herb turns up with news that he’s been voted in as the new Head of the Commission until a new board is voted in. Oh, and the Hargreeves siblings are allowed to take one of the briefcases from the assassins dead on the field to get back to their own time.

Home sweet home?

Sissy decides that the future isn’t safe for her and her son. There’s no guarantee that nobody will come after Vanya, so Sissy decides she needs to remain in 1963. However, she’s heading to California now that Carl is dead. What she doesn’t realize is Harlan still has some powers. Will that become a problem in a potential third season?

Speaking of The Umbrella Academy season 3, there is already a storyline to focus on. When the siblings time-travel back to their own time, they reach April 2, 2019, a day after the apocalypse. The house is still standing. They’ve made it home.

Or have they?

They learn that Sir Reginald Hargreeves (who is an alien, by the way) didn’t adopt the seven siblings and create The Umbrella Academy after all. Instead, he adopted a different seven, with Ben seemingly as the leader with his portrait in place of Five’s above the fireplace. These seven children are known as The Sparrow Academy.

They look younger, which is intriguing. Does this mean there were other changes on the timeline to prevent children born in 1989? Is there some sort of time travel involved? We need a third season to find out.

What is clear is that Sir Reginald Hargreeves wasn’t impressed with the children he raised based on the brief meeting in 1963. He opted for a different set of children, with different leadership to achieve his dream.

What did you think of The Umbrella Academy season 2? Share your thoughts in the comments below.