The Umbrella Academy Season 3 has finally landed on Netflix and it was as entertaining as we expected, giving us another apocalyptic ride through space and time! But things picked up really quickly towards the end and fans are bound to have questions: here is the ending of The Umbrella Academy Season 3 explained:
Reginald Hargreeves' Plan
Going into The Umbrella Academy Season 3, we already knew that Reginald Hargreeves is an alien with a mysterious agenda, but you might've started warming up to him a bit mid-season as he seemed to have accepted some of his old self's mistakes in parenting his adoptive children.
This timeline's Reginald seemed capable of heart-warming exchanges in a way his Season 1 self was not - but is any of this change real?
In the end, Reginald was, once again, ready to use his past and present children for his own gain, completely disregarding their physical and emotional well-being.
Ultimately, Reginald was willing to sacrifice any of the siblings if only they were willing to take out the Guardians in the white buffalo room and reset the world.
By the end, a restored Reginald watched everything unfold from his towers, with his wife Abigail by his side.
In Season 1, we saw a younger Reginald struggling to come to terms with his wife's death; could his plan have amounted to just restoring the world to be with her?
Given his alien nature and his complexity and self-centered personality, we can't help thinking that something more complicated is going on - but we'll likely have to wait to find out!
What Happened to Allison?
Many fans, even those who loved Allison is previous seasons, will have to admit that she was hard to watch in Season 3. Not only did she controversially tried to rumor Luther into sleeping with her - backing off last-minute - but she also killed Harlan in revenge for his accidental murder of her and her siblings' birth mothers, causing Victor to resent her just when we thought their relationship had improved for good.
It's understandable that Allison has gone through more than most characters; among her siblings, she's the only one who had a child in the original timeline - a child that as far as Season 3 is concerned no longer exists.
Moreover, she experienced racism first-hand while trapped in the 1960s, and found the love of her life only to lose him when she departed for a future that, unbeknownst to her, wasn't going to involve her daughter.
From there on, any choice she didn't make out of anger or revenge, she made to get her loved ones back. This involved making some sort of agreement with Reginald who likely made a promise to her to ensure her cooperation.
The finale sees the other Hargreeves siblings all in one place but Allison isn't with them. Instead, she seems to inhabit her ideal scenario, in which she's both a mother to her daughter and a wife to Ray, even though they did not have a child together in Season 2.
Is Allison in the same timeline as her siblings, but managed to get what she wanted through her deal with Reginald? Is it a different continuity? Or could it even be some sort of afterlife? Season 4 has a lot to answer for!
Why Did the Hargreeves Lose Their Powers?
By the end of Season 3, the surviving Hargreeves - minus Allison and Sloane - make it out alive with all their scars and mutilations completely cured.
But there's a catch - the siblings no longer have their superhero powers either and must now navigate a mundane existence.
Was this Reginald's plan or along? Have they found themselves in a timeline that's devoid of magic, or is something else going on?
If Reginald got what he wanted, whatever that is, he would likely prefer to keep it and he knows that his overpowered children could be a threat, particularly after his poor treatment of them.
In any case, if the show gets renewed, it will be interesting to see the characters navigate ordinary life without powers. While Victor led a mundane life before the events of Season 1, the same is not true for the others, which would make for an interesting conflict!
Post-credit Scene Explained
The post-credit scene is brief and not particularly weird - but ordinary is weird when it comes to The Umbrella Academy.
Nothing happens by chance - Season 3 opens with Ben's mother giving birth to him while boarding a Seoul train.
Related: The Umbrella Academy Grandfather Paradox Explained
The show ends with Ben boarding the same train, coming full circle. Interestingly, the Ben we see on the train seems mild and rather sweet, reading with a slight smile.
How did he come to be this way after leaving the other Hargreeves? We don't know, but hope for a renewal so that we can find out!