Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Umbrella Academy season 2.
Netflix's The Umbrella Academy has heavily used time-travel as a central conceit across its season, producing multiple branches from its original timeline. Here's a breakdown of them and the pivotal events that comprise each. Written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, the adventures began life as a series of graphic novels. The first installment - The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite - was told across six issues, and the story continued in The Umbrella Academy: Dallas and The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion. A planned fourth installment - The Umbrella Academy: The Sparrow Academy - is also on the way.
Developed by Steve Blackman and Jeremy Slater, an adaptation premiered on Netflix in early 2019. The Umbrella Academy became one of the streaming service's most popular shows and was soon renewed. Starring Ellen Page, Robert Sheehan, and Emmy Raver-Lampman, the show follows a group of people who were born with superpowers under mysterious circumstances. Adopted and weaponized by Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), the childhood superhero team reunite as wayward adults in order to mourn his death and prevent an oncoming apocalypse. Despite failing to achieve the latter, the siblings escaped their fates by time-traveling together into the past.
The Umbrella Academy season 2 picked up where that particular cliffhanger left off, with the siblings having arrived at disparate points in the early-196os. With Number Five (Aiden Gallagher) arriving last, it was revealed that they immediately had a new apocalypse to deal with. Rather than an asteroid created by damaging The Moon, the new Doomsday was the result of a nuclear holocaust that stemmed from a war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Compounded by the ongoing conflict with the Temps Commission, Five's efforts to reunite the Umbrella Academy and save the world relied upon even more time-travel and alterations to the established past. As a result, the timelines branched further still. To offer a helping hand, here's a breakdown of The Umbrella Academy's timeline(s).
Though the timeline(s) and the various events of them remain in flux, Reginald Hargreeves looms as the ever-present constant. Apart from unexplored periods of Five's tenure as a Commission assassin, no forays have been made anywhere close to Reginald's distant past. As such, his flashback revealed in The Umbrella Academy's season 1 finale has remained unchanged.
- Pre-1898 - Reginald Hargreeves Leaves His Homeworld: A glimpse at a much younger Reginald Hargreeves was seen in a previously-unfamiliar environment. Speaking with a bedridden woman that was either his wife or otherwise close to him, it was made clear that some kind of doom is coming. Soon after, it was revealed that he's on a different planet, from which a mass exodus is already in progress. After being encouraged to join such efforts, he opened a mysterious jar to release an even more mysterious entity into the air.
- Post-1898 - Reginald Hargreeves Arrives in America: Reginald was next seen preparing to board a boat likely traveling from England to America. How long exactly he had been in England or on Earth itself is unclear. However, his arrival in the United States was sometime after 1898. This was made clear by the sign for the D.S. Umbrella Manufacturing Company, which marked it as having been established in 1898. Reginald promptly purchased the company that he would go on to serve as part of a billion-dollar empire.
- 1962 - Pogo's Training Begins: Reginald Hargreeves worked with Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins) to raise, educate, and train Pogo for space travel and more. The pair frequently treated and cared for Pogo more like a son than a scientific experiment.
- November 22, 1963 - Older Five Arrives For JFK's Assassination: Firmly a part of the Temps Commission, a 58 year-old version of Five was tasked with ensuring the assassination of John F. Kennedy. However, he opted instead to leave his post and traveled forward to 2019.
- March/April 1967 - Klaus Arrives From The Future: Having accidentally acquired and activated a Temps Commission briefcase, Klaus was dropped right in the middle of the Vietnam War. Forced to blend in with the military, he ultimately meets and falls in love with a fellow soldier named Dave.
- February 1, 1968 - Dave Is Killed In Action: During a mission in the A Shau Valley, Klaus and Dave were caught in a battle and pinned down by heavy gunfire. Though Klaus survived, Dave wasn't so lucky and succumbed to a fatal gunshot wound in Klaus' arms. A grief-stricken Klaus took Dave's dog-tags and used the briefcase again in order to return to 2019.
- October 1, 1989 - The Children Are Mysteriously Born: A group of women around the world gave birth to children despite not having been pregnant when the day began. The birth resulted in a combined total of forty-three children, each with different special abilities. Lila Pitts (Ritu Arya) is later revealed to be one of the special 43 children. Harold Jenkins was also born on the same day, albeit conceived in an unconnected and rather more normal fashion.
- Later in October 1989 - Multiple Children Are Adopted: In the weeks that followed, Reginald Hargreeves sought out many of the children. He ultimately succeeded in adopting seven of them. He soon after designated them by number: One (Luther), Two (Diego), Three (Allison), Four (Klaus), Five, Six (Ben), and Seven (Vanya).
- Sometime in 1993 - Lila's Parents Are Murdered By Five: During a bogus mission generated by The Handler (Kate Walsh), Five assassinated Lila's parents. The Handler subsequently took Lila in as her own daughter and ultimately trained her as her own personal assassin.
- Also in 1993 - Vanya Rebels Against Her Training: Noted in Reginald Hargreeves' journal, Vanya began demonstrating a refusal to adhere to his commands. She also began lashing out in violent ways, resulting in the deaths and/or serious injuries of several nannies. As a result, he built a robot version of his partner, Grace, in order to serve as Vanya and the other children's mom.
- Later in 1993 - Reginald Has Vanya Brainwashed: Though Mom worked in several areas where Vanya was concerned (namely in eating oatmeal), Reginald remained fearful of Vanya's powers. As a result, he produced special pills that would dampen her destructive abilities. He also had Allison use her own mind-altering powers to convince Vanya that she was, in fact, powerless.
- June 1, 2001 - Reginald Cruelly Trains Klaus: During a flashback, it's revealed that part of Klaus' childhood training was to be locked in a mausoleum. The measure was ostensibly designed to help Klaus moved past his fear of the dark and the ghosts he could conjure. However, it only served to further traumatize him. Soon after he began turning to drugs in order to suppress his abilities.
- 2002 - The Umbrella Academy Are Introduced To The World: Minus Vanya, the adopted siblings embarked on their first mission and foiled a robbery at the Capital West Bank. Immediately afterward, Reginald held a press conference, officially unveiling the superhero team.
- Later in 2002 - Harold Is Rejected By Reginald Hargreeves: Running away from his abusive home, Harold attempted to join the Academy since he was born on the same day. Unfortunately, Reginald deemed him average and without powers. Subsequently kicked off the property, Harold was bitterly humiliated. Returning home, he channeled that rage into murdering his father and was sentenced to twelve years in prison as a result.
- November 10, 2002 - Number Five Jumps Forward In Time: Eager to attempt time-travel, Five ended up in an argument with his adoptive father. Believing it too dangerous, Reginald insisted he should simply keep working on his spacial jumps. Five's response was to run away and attempt to jump through time anyway. Unfortunately, he ended up jumping too far into the future and found himself stranded in a post-apocalyptic Earth.
- 2006 - Ben Dies While On A Mission: The exact nature and cause of Ben's death remain a mystery. However, The Umbrella Academy season 2 finale revealed that it occurred while the group was out on a mission. After the funeral, Klaus was able to summon the ghost of Ben, as he had been too afraid to go into the light at the time.
- 2007 - The Umbrella Academy Start To Leave Home: Diego (David Castañeda) was the first to leave shortly after he turned 18. It's unknown in which order the others inevitably left to pursue their own interests and live their own lives.
- 2012 - Luther Is Injured While On A Mission: Now the only member of the Umbrella Academy left, Luther was sent on a mission solo. Unfortunately, things went awry and Luther (Tom Hopper) was brought back in critical condition. In order to save him, Reginald used the same serum he once used on Pogo. Though it succeeded at saving Luther's life, it left his body permanently transformed to resemble a gorilla.
- 2014 - Harold Jenkins Is Released From Prison: Despite Harold (John Magaro) being locked away for over a decade, his obsession with The Umbrella Academy remained firmly intact.
- 2015 - Vanya Writes Her Memoir: Titled Extra Ordinary, Vanya penned an autobiography about her childhood and growing up amid The Umbrella Academy. In the process, she revealed several of the group's secrets. As a result of the book, she briefly enjoyed the traditional fifteen minutes of fame.
- Later in 2015 - Reginald Sends Luther To The Moon: Though the specifics are never made clear to Luther, he lived on the moon for four years. During that time, he frequently sent back samples and extensive reports.
Upon his arrival in the apocalyptic future, Five discovered the bodies of his siblings amid the rubble of the Umbrella Academy headquarters. Given that the location is a far cry from the Icarus Theatre, it implied that a different final battle with Vanya once occurred. Also different is that he found Harold Jenkins' prosthetic eye tightly in Luther's grip, meaning that Harold must have been still alive and present for that particular clash. Equally, each of the siblings' bodies is more or less intact, rather than destroyed in a global firestorm caused by an asteroid impact. Therefore, the exact nature of Vanya's original apocalypse was also likely different. Whatever occurred in this version of the timeline, however, will probably remain both unknown (and irrelevant) - since Five's eventual return to 2019 would serve to generate a new branch and establish what would become the show's prime timeline.
- March 21, 2019 - Reginald Hargreeves Commits Suicide: Though not revealed until midway through The Umbrella Academy season 1, Reginald took his own life to draw the siblings back for his funeral.
- March 24, 2019 - Reginald's Funeral & Five's Return: The siblings returned to the Academy, and the ensuing tensions led to Ben's memorial statue getting damaged. That same day, a 60-year-old version of Five time-traveled from 1963, but ended up reverting to his 13-year-old state.
- March 25, 2019 - Vanya Meets Harold Jenkins: Posing as Leonard Peabody, Harold approached Vanya under the guise of wanting violin lessons. Allison moved closer to discovering the truth behind her father's death while Five tried to track down Harold via the prosthetic eye from the future. Five was later attacked by Hazel and Cha-Cha while visiting the mannequin Dolores at a department store. With more siblings learning of the apocalypse, the timeline was moved even further away from its original course.
- March 26, 2019 - Hazel and Cha-Cha Attack The Academy: Breaking into the facility, the duo clashed with Diego, Allison, and Luther while Vanya witnessed from the sidelines. Though the assassins were eventually driven out, they succeeded in abducting Klaus. They tortured him for information, before burning down the prosthetics lab that Five was trying to get information from. Klaus later escaped with the help of Detective Patch, but she died in the process. Diego was forced to shut down the malfunctioning robot he knew as Mom. He later found Patch's body and, in his grief, swore vengeance. Newly escaped and armed with a Commission briefcase, Klaus accidentally traveled back to 1967 Vietnam.
- March 27, 2019 - Five Is Offered A New Job: As a result of Harold's murderous intervention, Vanya successfully auditioned for the first chair in her orchestra. Similarly, courtesy of his manipulations, she stopped taking what she believed to be anti-anxiety medication. Having orchestrated a meeting with The Handler, Five was offered a new job with the Temps Commission. To protect his family from the oncoming apocalypse, he accepted.
As a result of accepting The Handler's offer, Five ventured with The Handler to the Temp Commission's headquarters. While there, a whole day played out for the rest of the siblings back in the present. The events of that day - March 28, 2019 - unfold throughout The Umbrella Academy season 1, episode 6, "The Day That Wasn't". Klaus finally got sober enough to summon the ghost of Dave, Allison and Luther admitted their feelings and prepared to leave town together, and Vanya learned early about Harold having Reginald's journal. Unfortunately, each of those developments was erased when Five once again returned to 2019. Appearing at the start of the day, he essentially cut short what would have become of that timeline and set things once again on a different path along the prime timeline.
- March 28, 2019 - Vanya's Powers Are Awakened: Though several elements of the day were erased, others remained firmly intact. Luther discovered his time on The Moon was for nothing. Devastated, he turned to drugs and went to a rave. There, Klaus got into a fight trying to protect him, leading to him suffering a head injury. While unconscious, Klaus had an encounter with his father, learning more about his death. Vanya's latent powers awakened fully after Harold hired a group of thugs to attack him. Vanya used her powers to defend him, killing two of the thugs and costing Harold his right eye.
- March 29, 2019 - Vanya Almost Kills Allison: Harold tried to help Vanya get more control of her powers. After being tracked down by Allison, however, Vanya learned the truth of her part in having her memories altered. Once again losing control, Vanya lashed out with her powers and slit Allison's throat. Diego, Klaus, Five, and Luther found Allison barely clinging to life.
- March 30, 2019 - Luther Imprisons Vanya: Allison was saved by Pogo and Grace back at the Academy. Elsewhere, Vanya found her father's journal and discovered the extent of Harold's machinations. Provoked, Vanya once again snapped and brutally killed him. Afterwards she returned to the Academy, only to be knocked unconscious and locked away by Luther. Because of this, Vanya fully gave in to her dark side and used her powers to escape her confinement.
- April 1, 2019 - The Apocalypse: Now unleashed, Vanya destroyed the Academy, killing Pogo and destroying Grace/Mom in the process. Pursued by Temps Commission soldiers, the siblings went to the Icarus Theatre to confront Vanya, but were unable to stop her from firing a beam of her energy, which damaged the moon and sent an asteroid hurtling toward the Earth. With only moments to spare, Five succeeded at time-traveling all of them away to safety.
- Some Time Later - The Handler Recovered: After being shot in the head by Hazel, but shortly before the apocalypse, The Handler's body was pulled from the timeline. Moments before being incinerated, it was revealed that she survived the attempt on her life. After going through recovery, The Handler was summarily demoted at the Temps Commission by A.J. Carmichael.
- Post-Apocalypse - Five's Journey: With the Earth still wiped out, Five's time in the desolate wasteland remained intact. However, the version that this timeline's Five traveled to would be slightly different. His sibling's bodies would be nowhere to be found and there'd be no eye to retrieve. Equally, Dolores would likely have been burned to a cinder. He would spend forty-five years stuck alone in the future, until being recruited for the Temps Commission sometime around 2060.
Things were shaken off-course almost immediately after the Hargreeves siblings touched down in their new decade. Though each arrived separately and at different points, each of them settled quickly into their new environments. As a result, throughout The Umbrella Academy season 2, they all had a direct influence on the new world around them, and some of their decisions and actions would ultimately have wide-reaching consequences for the once steadfastly established timeline.
- February 11, 1960 - Klaus and Ben Arrive in Dallas: As the first to arrive, the pair stumbled around trying to get their bearings, and learned the date and year from a magazine. Later that same day, Klaus was taken in and cleaned up by a wealthy older benefactor. He dazzled socialites by using Ben's help to perform parlor tricks.
- April 1961 - Allison Arrives in Dallas: Allison had a rougher introduction to the 1960s. Having ventured into the same diner as Klaus, she also turned away due to it being a "Whites Only" establishment. Upon her exit, she was chased by a group of racist thugs. Seeking sanctuary in a salon, Allison was ultimately protected by its owners and began working there.
- September 1961 - Allison Meets Raymond: After Raymond Chestnut (Yusuf Gatewood) came into the salon for a meeting of his group, he and Allison first noticed each other.
- Christmas 1961 - Allison and Raymond's First Date: Despite having had her vocal cords damaged when her throat was cut, they were revealed to have healed throughout the year. After some months of exchanging silent looks, Ray eventually asked her on a date. At that point, she vocally offered up her name. She also began to immerse herself in his civil rights campaigns, even offering him notes on his pamphlets.
- Also in 1961 - Klaus Establishes His Cult: A brief glimpse during a montage of flashbacks revealed Klaus traveling with his followers on a bus through Mexico.
- 1962 - Luther Arrives in Dallas: Emerging in the pouring rain, Luther immediately called out for his siblings. When that yielded no success, he accumulated enough money for a bus back home. Arriving at what would one day become the Academy, however, Luther was cruelly snubbed by Reginald. Luther returned to Dallas and eventually began working as a bodyguard and professional fighter for Jack Ruby.
- Late 1962 - Allison and Raymond Get Married: Given that they were only married for a year before Allison had to return to 2019, their wedding likely took place in the later months.
- September 1, 1963 - Diego Arrives in Dallas: Landing in a more traditional superhero fashion, Diego immediately reverted to old habits. Hearing a woman's scream, he rapidly foiled a mugging. He also got to grips with his new surroundings after seeing a speech from JFK on an old-fashioned TV in a store window. Resolved to prevent the upcoming assassination, he began stalking Lee Harvey Oswald. Unfortunately, he was apprehended outside of Oswald's house and institutionalized.
- October 12, 1963 - Vanya Arrives in Dallas: Though she had been unconscious in Luther's arms when they began time-traveling, Vanya arrived alone and awake. Disorientated, she stumbled from the alley and out into the middle of the road. There, she was hit by a car driven by Sissy (Marin Ireland). Alongside her son, Harlan (Justin Paul Kelly), Sissy checked on Vanya and eventually took her in to live with them.
- Also in 1963 - Klaus Abandons His Cult: Seen surrounded by countless followers now, an overwhelmed Klaus took the opportunity to disappear into the crowd. Driving away from San Francisco, he revealed to Ben his goal to return to Dallas. The two clashed over the plan. Klaus was later arrested when he stole another man's car en-route.
The opening of The Umbrella Academy season 2 marked a much more dramatic change to November 25, 1963, onward. Though JFK hadn't been assassinated, a devastating war soon followed. Therefore, once again, the siblings were forced to face down another apocalypse without Five. Having arrived later than them, he was dropped into the final moments of it. Though they offered a thrilling united front, they were doomed in the face of several nuclear weapons. Fortunately, Hazel made a brief appearance to save Five and transport him back ten days earlier. As such, Five was able to reunite the team early and use the foreknowledge to their advantage. Unlike the culmination to The Umbrella Academy season 1, they (though mostly Ben) were subsequently able to once again branch the timeline in a less fatal direction and more successfully avert a global disaster the second time around.
- November 15, 1963 - Five Arrives From The Alternate Future: After rescuing Number Five and secretly giving him video footage, Hazel is killed by a trio of Swedish assassins. Five managed to track down Elliot (Kevin Rankin), a man who had been monitoring the alleyway the siblings had arrived in, and used his research to find the other Hargreeves siblings.
- November 16, 1963 - Luther and Vanya Are Reunited: After picking up a drunk Carl from a local Dallas club, Vanya is spotted by Luther. Visiting her at Sissy's farm, he apologized for failing to help her after she learned of her powers and his part in causing the apocalypse.
- November 17, 1963 - Allison Leads A Civil Rights Sit-In: Organized across the earlier episodes, Allison and Raymond's group went through with their peaceful protest. Ray was able to attend after Klaus and Ben orchestrated his release from jail. The event descended into chaos, however, after violent backlash and brutal police intervention.
- November 18, 1963 - Vanya Learns The Truth: Luther revealed to Vanya that she caused the 2019 apocalypse. In response, she resolved to leave everything behind. After Harlan nearly drowned, however, she changed her mind. After giving him CPR, some of Vanya's energy is transferred to him.
- November 20, 1963 - "Team Zero" Meets Young Reginald: The entire group reconvened to meet with their father. Unfortunately, Reginald proved unimpressed with the group and rudely snubbed them again - though not before learning their names, powers, and how such as Allison and Vanya focused them. Even seen writing them down, the Umbrella Academy gave him everything needed to knock the timeline in a new direction.
- November 22, 1963 - JFK's Assassination: Under the belief that she's a Russian spy, Vanya is brutally tortured at the FBI building. That coupled with her returning memories sent her powers once again out of control. Having been taking to the Commission, Diego used the facilities to learn that Vanya's destruction of the building is what led to the apocalyptic war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Klaus, Allison, and Diego infiltrated the facility to rescue her. Though they failed, Ben sacrificed himself to calm Vanya down, and JFK's assassination went ahead as history had recorded last time.
- November 23, 1963 - The Umbrella Academy Go To War: With Vanya aware of her psychic connection with Harlan, she returned to the farm just as the powers he acquired from Vanya started to go out of control. At the same time, the entire force of the Temps arrived, with The Handler eager to claim Harlan for her own. After Vanya wiped out the countless assassins, Lila is revealed to be able to mirror The Umbrella Academy's powers. After The Handler and most of the Commission were killed, the siblings took a briefcase from a fallen Commission agent, said their goodbyes, and time-traveled back toward 2019.
- 1982 - Five Killa The Temps Commission Board: Five jumped forward in time as part of a deal with The Handler. Interrupting a meeting of those in charge of the Commission, he killed them all without mercy. He immediately went back to November 21, 1963.
After his deal with The Handler fell apart, Five was forced to resort to drastic measures to get his family back to 2019. Knowing that his older self had arrived in Dallas, Five and Luther attempted to make a deal with him to acquire his Commission briefcase. Though the older Five agreed, the paradoxical effect of being close to each other made both versions paranoid and homicidal. With both of them conspiring against the other, they ended up brawling after the younger version opened the same kind of portal to 2019 he'd once used. Before that, Five had given his older self the correct equation to ensure he wasn't reverted into a teenager.
It is unclear, however, whether he was lying about it, since he had needed his past self to venture through in the same manner in order to preserve his existence. Equally, the elderly Five ended up being forcibly kicked into the vortex rather than coordinating his own path through it. Whatever the case, Luther inadvertently ensured that the version of 2019 the older Five went to would ultimately turn out different than in The Umbrella Academy season 1 — since he armed him with the specific details of who and what caused the apocalypse. As such, he was likely in a better position to prevent what the original versions had previously failed. Thus, a new timeline would have been created.
Following the epic confrontation with the forces of the Temps Commission, the members of the Umbrella Academy managed to reason with Lila. They even came close to bringing her around to their side of the conflict. Unfortunately, The Handler stepped in and gunned the entire Hargreeves family down in a hail of bullets. After being confronted by Lila, The Handler even callously killed her adopted daughter. Clinging to life, however, Five was able to finally master a new facet of his abilities and reversed time. The process resulted in bringing the team and Lila back to life. Simultaneously, he put himself into a position to intercept The Handler before she could strike. As a result, Five successfully curtailed another tragic branch of the timeline before it truly manifested.
As a result of their paradoxical interactions in 1963, namely meeting with and disappointing their father even before their birth, the Umbrella Academy returned to a very different 2019. Not only were they greeted by a very-much-alive Reginald Hargreeves, but also a brand new team that had usurped their home and position. Revealed to be the Sparrow Academy, the majority of their identities were shrouded in mystery as part of The Umbrella Academy season 2 cliffhanger. Shockingly, however, the Number One of the new team was revealed to be an equally still-alive Ben Hargreeves. Now sporting a scar and a more vicious demeanor, he rudely inquired about the new arrivals. Things left hanging on that moment. As such, more time-travel shenanigans than ever will be required to set things back to their familiar order in The Umbrella Academy season 3.
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August 10, 2020 at 05:08AM
