This article obviously contains spoilers for The Umbrella Academy.When The Umbrella Academy concluded its third season, it ended on a major cliffhanger, leaving many questions unanswered until the fourth and final season. Based on the popular Dark Horse comic of the same name from My Chemical Romance co-founder Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá, the series focuses on a dysfunctional family of adopted siblings with superpowers and premiered on Netflix in February 2019, becoming a huge hit for the streaming service.

Updated October 24th, 2022: This article has been updated to reflect the news that Netflix renewed The Umbrella Academy for season 4 which will also act as the final season.

Season two premiered the following year on July 31, 2020, during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, making it a high-demand series for many. The second season focused on the team traveling back in time to the 1960s after the events of season one, and by the time season two concluded, the Umbrellas returned to the present timeline but found that their adopted father is still alive and there are seven new superpowered individuals living in their home.

The Umbrella Academy Throughout Season 3

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production on season three of The Umbrella Academy was delayed, and the season finally premiered on June 22, 2022, almost two years after season two concluded. The series focused on the team adjusting to this new reality they have found themselves in, facing another apocalypse, and the revelation that the young boy who the Umbrellas saved back in the 1960s, Harlan Cooper, acquired Viktor's (Elliot Page) powers and accidentally killed their parents, resulting in a grandfather paradox where they exist but were never born.

Much of the series took place in the Hotel Obsidian (likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it easier to keep the cast isolated in one location) with the Umbrella Academy and the new Sparrow Academy coming into conflict before eventually uniting to save the universe, which is gradually being whipped away. By the end, the hotel and its residence are all that remains, and the team finds a way to reset the universe only to discover their adopted father Reginald Hargreeves has manipulated them to achieve his goal.

He kills Luther to motivate the Umbrellas and Sloane of the Sparrow Academy who fell in love and married Luther. Just like the two prior seasons, season three of The Umbrella Academy ended with a cliffhanger but also a new possible status quo. Much happened in the final episode, so here is a breakdown of The Umbrella Academy season three finale and what it all means for the future.

What Was Hargreeves' Plan?

The new season picked up with the Umbrellas running to the present timeline after their long trip back in 1963. However, they find they have been replaced by The Sparrow Academy, as Hargreeves decided to choose a different set of superpowered kids after he meets the Umbrellas in the '60s and was disappointed in them (he still recruits Ben, since he was not alive when they meet). Hargreaves's plan was eventually revealed, as he was an alien who needed the seven children to enter the Hotel Obsidian, which hid the key to resetting the universe.

The machine in the Hotel Obsidian seems to be some ancient alien console. It also needed seven individuals with powers who could be drained to help reset the universe. Likely when Ben died in the original timeline, Hargreeves realized his plan would never come to pass, explaining his further detachment and eventual death. Now, though, he had everything he needed and manipulated his children from both timelines even further to accomplish his goal. But for what purpose?

The season ends with Hargreeves alive in this universe despite Alison killing him previously. Now he is in control of the city and maybe the world. He is overlooking the city in a giant tower alongside a woman: Abigail Hargreeves. Abigail was actually first introduced at the beginning of the season one finale on what many assumed to be a farm on an alien world. She is the one who gave Reginald the violence to give to someone special (which eventually went to Viktor). It appears that Reginald's plan from the beginning, from adopting the Umbrellas to training them to siphon their power to reset the universe, was to restore someone he loves back to life. This ties back into a major theme of the series: the positive and negative power of love. Love acts as a powerful motivator to make people do both great and terrible things. This is mainly reflected in Allison.

Alison: Friend Or Foe

One of the biggest arcs for a character in The Umbrella Academy was from Allison, who by the final episode had manipulated her family and made a deal with Hargreeves to get her family back. This was the final step in a dark path Allison had been going down all season after she discovered her daughter was wiped from the timeline.

While she embraced her more violent impulses with Diego beating up a group of racists, the real darkness came out when he manipulated Luther against his will to kiss her, and when she murdered Harlan when she discovered he was the one who killed their parents, thus resulting in the grandfather paradox that prevented her daughter from being born. She turned on Viktor, the family member Allison had become the closest to when she discovered his lie. Now she was working with Harlan to manipulate her family.

Related: The Umbrella Academy Season 3: How Allison Goes From Hero to Villain

While it seemed like Allison's arc for the entire series was a play on the classic comic book trope of a hero turning bad (Jean Grey in The Dark Phoenix Saga, Hal Jordan Green Lantern becoming Parallax), just like many of those storylines, it appears she finds some sort of villain redemption arc by turning on Harlan. She is about to reset the universe, and while Five wants to stop her, Viktor decides not to when Allison tells him to trust her. Viktor puts his faith in Allison, and Viktor is often the voice of reason in the family, so his decision implies Allison might still find redemption.

No More Powers in Umbrella Academy

The Umbrellas, along with Lila and Sparrow Ben, find themselves in a park with a bust of Hargreeves. It is here where some major revelations are revealed: the first is that Luther is alive, and he no longer has his gorilla torso; the second is that none of them have their powers anymore. It is unclear if their powers were drained in the device, or if their powers were taken away from them by design when the reality was reset. Hargreeves could have taken them away to no longer be a threat, while Allison might have done it to give her siblings a chance at a normal life.

Related: Umbrella Academy Season 3: Best Music Moments, Ranked

The team breaks up, all going in their separate ways. Luther goes to find his wife Sloane, Diego and Lila go off to raise their future child and the rest part ways. What will come of the Umbrella Academy in the next season remains to be seen. After three seasons of fighting the apocalypse, they might try to rest in this new world where they have no responsibilities.

After Credit Reveal in Umbrella Academy

Like any superhero show, it is safe to assume there will be an after-credit moment. The Umbrella Academy ends in South Korea, where Ben is riding the same train that began the season when his mother gave birth to him. However, it is not the Sparrow Ben seen throughout season three. It appears to be a new Ben, possibly the Umbrella version reborn in his new universe. With two Bens now in existence, it raises some interesting questions about what will happen in season four and if these two can co-exist, and how the Umbrella's will respond to the version of their brother being alive.

Status of Umbrella Academy Season 4

With such a major cliffhanger, season four seemed to be a certainty. However, fans grew anxious waiting for news of a renewal; after all, Netflix has a spotty record of keeping shows past three seasons, often canceling fan-favorite TV shows. This is due to a number of reasons, from the fact that they typically have to renegotiate with talent who are generally only signed on for three seasons. The other major reason is that Netflix typically favors new series as opposed to keeping long-running series; as shows go on, they become more niche and less likely to draw in new audience members, whereas new shows can bring in new viewers. Because of this, it seemed like Umbrella Academy season four may not happen.

Thankfully that was not the case, and Netflix renewed The Umbrella Academy on August 25, 2022. This was two months after season three premiered on Netflix. Netflix also confirmed that The Umbrella Academy season four would be the last one for the series. This lines up with comments made by series showrunner Steve Blackman, who revealed that he always had four seasons in mind.

Currently, no release date has been set for The Umbrella Academy season four, and filming has not started, so it remains unclear when the series will return. The earliest it will premiere is likely the fall of 2023 or even as late as sometime in 2024. Wrapping up The Umbrella Academy with season four allows the creators to complete their story and give fans a satisfying ending. It is hard but delightful to imagine that this Dark Horse Comic series from the frontman from My Chemical Romance, one that languished as a movie in development hell for years, has finally made it into a critically acclaimed, long-running series that will get to go out on its own terms.