The Umbrella Academy season 4 ending, explained (and why fans aren't happy)

The Umbrella Academy ended after four seasons on Aug. 8, 2024, and fans aren't exactly happy with how things turned out for the Hargreeves siblings.

The fourth season only consisted of six episodes, compared to 10 episodes in the previous three seasons. It felt like a sprint to the ending, but then the pace slowed to a crawl before ramping up in an epic season finale.

First, we're going to go through what happened in the final episode, and then we'll share why fans aren't too happy.

The Umbrella Academy season 4 ending, explained

After the interesting penultimate episode, which saw Five and Lila fall in love while stuck for seven years looking for a train back to the right timeline, Ben and Jennifer are transforming into something monstrous. The Umbrella Academy celebrates Christmas at Lila and Diego's, but they're called into action to try to stop Ben and Jennifer, who are forming The Cleanse.

So, there are a few big reveals in the finale. The main reveal is that Abigail was behind the undoing of all of Reginald's plans to keep Ben and Jennifer apart in all the various timelines. He knew that if Ben and Jennifer met, they would bring the world to an end. Abigail, though, is responsible for ensuring it happens in this timeline. She takes all the necessary steps to undo Reginald's work, which he praises her for as The Cleanse devours them.

Viktor tries to stop Ben and Jennifer from becoming the massive monster. After Viktor grabs Ben's arm, Ben shows Viktor a vision of what I'm calling a perfect world. It's in a park, and the sun is shining, and the grass is green. It's a great day. We don't understand the significance of it until later.

After the Umbrella Academy realizes they can't stop The Cleanse, Five travels to a mysterious diner where he meets a seemingly infinite number of versions of himself. He learns that no matter how many times they save the world eventually the world ends. It all has to do with the marigold that Reginal released on the world. The only way to break the cycle is to allow The Cleanse to consume the marigold within them. That will break the cycle, but it also means that they will not exist in any timeline. There's no coming back from this.

While it takes a bit of time, Luther, Klaus, Diego, Viktor, Allison, Five, and Lila allow The Cleanse to consume them, seemingly saving the world.

Everything returns to the original timeline.

So, all good? Well, things get a little confusing.

There's a post-credits scene

In the post-credits scene, which is set on a "normal day" on Aug. 8, 2024, we see a seemingly perfect world, the one that Ben envisioned and shared with Viktor in the finale. We see people from the series walking around the park, enjoying the day, meaning that the plan worked. Five was right, and the world was saved.

I was waiting for the Hargreeves siblings plus Lila to be chilling in the park, and that didn't happen, not in their normal human bodies at least.

In the ground, around the base of a tree, eight marigolds bloom.

Does this mean that history is repeating itself again? Are more kids with superpowers about to be born? Is it just a nod to the eight who sacrificed themselves to save the world? Well, I guess it's up for interpretation.

I think it's the middle option. It seems to me that there are about to be more people born with powers, but that's just my take.

Why fans aren't happy with The Umbrella Academy season 4

All you have to do is take a spin on Twitter so see the common complaints about the new season.

Well, there are a few reasons that fans aren't happy. The main reason seems to be that this journey was all for nothing. The Umbrella Academy was the problem the whole time. While they did save the world many times, they were the ones who fractured the timeline, not by their fault. That lies with Reginald for releasing the marigold that caused them to be born with powers.

Obviously, people also aren't pleased with Lila and Five's story right at the end of the season. I didn't mind that as much, but it did seem random. It also seemed like it slowed the pace down a bit too much.

For me, and I know this might be a bit of a hot take, I enjoyed the ending of The Umbrella Academy. I don't know how they were going to stick the landing otherwise. I guess you could pick an ending where everyone remains alive, but I think it works. It brings the story full circle. It proves Ben's death, which has loomed so large over the series, meant something when it happened and it still means something now.

Was it cheesy that they all basically joined hands and sacrificed themselves to save the universe once and for all? Yes, but it doesn't take away from anything that happened. I know technically it doesn't count because every memory of them has been erased from existence, but we were there for the journey. We saw it all happen. We enjoyed it for four seasons. Don't let your feelings about the destination take away from the journey. It was real and magical.