Warning: spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season 4.
Summary
The Umbrella Academyseason 4 introduced a new apocalyptic event known as “The Cleanse” and a group known as the Keepers who wanted to trigger it, but there were a couple of twists in their stories. Following the tradition established by the previous seasons,The Umbrella Academyseason 4 saw the title team facing a new apocalypse, but this one was different and more personal. After arriving at Reginald’s (Colm Feore) custom-made timeline at the end of season 3,The Umbrella Academyseason 4 caught up with the Hargreeves and Lila (Ritu Arya) six years later, as they tried to live normal lives.
The Hargreeves were brought back as a team for a rescue mission as they had to find Jennifer (Victoria Sawal), but it was a lot more complicated than it seemed. Their mission forced them to reunite with Reginald, but it also led to shocking reveals about Ben’s (Justin H. Min) death, Jennifer’s past, and the upcoming apocalypse. “The Cleanse” would end the world, but it would also do a lot more than that, and to everyone’s surprise, Reginald’s wife, Abigail (Liisa Repo-Martell), was key to this event happening.
What Happened To Every The Umbrella Academy Character Between Seasons 3 & 4
The Umbrella Academy season 4 has a six-year time jump at the beginning, and a lot happened to the Hargreeves between seasons 3 and 4.
The Cleanse Is The Apocalypse In The Umbrella Academy Season 4 (Sort Of)
The Cleanse Was A Massive, Destructive Event
Every season ofThe Umbrella Academysaw an apocalypse, but they were all different. In season 1, the end of the world was triggered by Viktor’s (Elliot Page) powers going out of control and shooting directly at the moon. The apocalypse in season 2 was also triggered by Viktor’s powers, but the team was able to stop it (thanks to Ben). InThe Umbrella Academyseason 3, the end of the world was the result of the Kugelblitz, which was provoked by the paradox created by the presence of the Umbrellas in the Sparrow Academy timeline.
The Cleanse did more than end the world as its effect was felt across the multiverse.
The apocalypse inThe Umbrella Academyseason 4 was“The Cleanse”, an event described as the one that would get rid of the broken timelinesand fix the multiverse by restoring the main timeline. The Cleanse did more than end the world as its effect was felt across the multiverse, and though it initially sounded like a conspiracy theory, it turned out to be correct, and it did restore the main timeline, but at a very high price for the Hargreeves.
The Cleanse Is The Universe’s Way Of Fixing Abigail Hargreeves' Marigold Mistake
Abigail Was Responsible For The Cleanse
The Cleanse was an event that was closely linked to the Hargreeves thanks to Abigail. Reginald’s wife made her first appearance in a flashback inThe Umbrella Academyseason 1, where it was revealed that their planet was destroyed and Abigail was agonizing. In season 3, the audience learned that Reginald had been keeping Abigail’s frozen body on the dark side of the moon, and that’s why he had sent Luther (Tom Hopper) there years before. Abigail, then, didn’t make a proper appearance until season 4, after Reginald brought her back to life in his new timeline.
Abigail explained to the Umbrellas that she created the marigolds, but this also created an opposite particle named durango.
Abigail was kind and understanding, the opposite of Reginald, but she was keeping a huge secret and carrying a lot of regret. Abigail explained to the Umbrellas that she created the marigolds, but this also created an opposite particle named durango. When durango interacted with a marigold,it unleashed an unstoppable physical reaction that led to the extinction of everything– in other words, it triggered “The Cleanse”. Abigail was later revealed to have been posing as Sy Grossman/Denny Muntz (David Cross) as she wanted the Cleanse to happen.
Abigail explained to Reginald that dying was her punishment for creating something as horrible as the durango particle.
By posing as Muntz, Abigail gave the Hargreeves the jar of marigolds through which they regained their powers, as she needed them to be superpowered again so they could free Jennifer from Reginald’s town. Abigail later killed Gene (Nick Offerman) to ensure that the Cleanse happened, and she had strong and personal reasons for wanting the end of the world. Abigail explained to Reginald that dying was her punishment for creating something as horrible as the durango particle, and she shouldn’t have been brought back to life.
The marigolds’ arrival on Earth shattered the timeline and caused chaos across the universe.
To Abigail, the Cleanse was the best way to set things right again, as she also questioned Reginald about releasing the marigolds before their planet was destroyed. The marigolds’ arrival on Earth shattered the timeline and caused chaos across the universe, sothe Cleanse would restore the main timeline and thus undo Abigail’s marigold and durango mistakes– but for it to succeed, the Hargreeves had to sacrifice themselves.
Why Jennifer Is The Key To Triggering The Cleanse
Jennifer Was The Host Of A Special Particle
Jennifer was kept away from any marigold host for years, but Abigail made sure to end that.
The reason why Abigail needed the Umbrellas to find Jennifer was because she was the key to triggering the Cleanse. The Hargreeves, Sparrows, and other children hosted the marigolds released by Reginald, butJennifer was the host of the durango particle. Jennifer’s backstory is unknown, butThe Umbrella Academyseason 4 showed a news report from 1995 where young Jennifer was rescued from the inside of a giant squid. Jennifer was kept away from any marigold host for years, but Abigail made sure to end that.
Jennifer quickly bonded with Ben, who became the marigold host that her durango particle needed, giving both a horrifying end.Jennifer and Ben were gradually deformed by the reaction of their particles, and bythe end ofThe Umbrella Academyseason 4, they had merged into a monstrous creature that grew more and more as it consumed everything in its way.
Who Is Jennifer? The Umbrella Academy Season 4’s Vital New Character Explained
The Umbrella Academy season 4 finally introduced Jennifer, who turned out to be a much more important character than initially thought.
Who Are The Keepers & What Do They Want?
The Keepers were a large group of people who shared the belief that the timeline they lived in was not the correct one.
The Umbrella Academyseason 4 wasted no time in introducing the Keepers, led by married couple Gene and Jean (Megan Mullally). The Keepers were a large group of people who shared the belief that the timeline they lived in was not the correct one, andthey collected evidence of the existence of other timelines. This was easy as other timelines were starting to bleed into theirs, allowing them to get objects from other timelines that went against what happened in theirs. Thanks to all that evidence, most of them about the Umbrella Academy, they came up with the “Umbrella Effect”.
The Keepers wanted to fix the multiverse and restore the main timeline, which is why they looked forward to the Cleanse. Gene and Jean knew Jennifer was key to it, as when she was rescued from the squid the only thing she could say was “the Cleanse”, but it’s unclear if they knew about the durango particle and what Jennifer needed to trigger the Cleanse.
Sir Reginald Wants To Stop The Cleanse Happening
Sir Reginald Went To Lengths To Stop The Cleanse
Reginald built an isolated town in Maine where every resident was tasked with keeping Jennifer safe.
While Abigail wanted the Cleanse to happen, Reginald wanted to prevent it at all costs. Reginald was well aware of the presence of the durango particle and that Jennifer was its host, andin the season 1 timeline,he killed Ben and Jenniferafter the former rescued her from the container and touched her hand. In the season 4 timeline, Reginald was present when Jennifer was rescued from the squid.
Reginald built an isolated town in Maine where every resident was tasked with keeping Jennifer safe, ashis goal was to keep her as far from any marigold host as possible.Unfortunately for him, his own wife was fooling his attempts to stop the Cleanse, but in the end, Reginald listened to Abigail’s motives, understood them, and welcomed the end of the world with her.
Why The Cleanse Has To Happen In The Umbrella Academy’s Ending
The Cleanse Was Ultimately Inevitable
Five understood that the only solution was for the Cleanse to consume all the marigolds, and so they had to sacrifice themselves.
Five (Aidan Gallagher) finally understood the Cleanse, its nature, purpose, and solution when he met his variants at a diner in one of the subway stations.Five learned that the marigolds shattered the timelineand they were doomed to cause the apocalypse over and over again. As they had previously escaped from other apocalypses, that reset the timeline and thus another apocalypse would happen. Five understood that the only solution was for the Cleanse to consume all the marigolds, and so they had to sacrifice themselves.
By letting themselves be consumed by the Cleanse,the multiverse was fixed and the main timeline was restored, but that also meant erasing the Hargreeves from history. The final scene inThe Umbrella Academyshowed the main timeline and characters from past seasons living completely different and happy lives without the Hargreeves and any other marigold hosts, and sothe Cleanse was necessary to save the universeand ensure its safety.
All 9 Returning Characters In The Umbrella Academy’s Final Scene
The Umbrella Academy season 4’s final scene brought back a couple of characters from past seasons but in completely different contexts.
The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy is based on the comic book of the same name created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá. The Hargreeves — collectively known as The Umbrella Academy — were born with superpowers, and their adoptive father utilized their abilities. However, as they grew older, the siblings grew apart as they dealt with their trauma. They are brought back together after their father dies and Five returns from the future with grave news: The world will end, and The Umbrella Academy has to stop it before it happens.
