SPOILER ALERT: This article contains SPOILERS for ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season 2, so if you haven’t watched all of it yet, turn back now or proceed with caution.
Things seemed a little too good to be true at the end of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ S2. The Handler (Kate Walsh) had been killed by the last Swede, and the Commission was, for the time being, in the benevolent hands of Herb (Ken Hall). With the apocalypse averted, the Hargreeves kids returned to 2019, but as usual, time had been disrupted by their shenanigans again. The first major change is that their father, Reginald Hargreeves was alive. But that was just the setup. They soon discovered that they had been replaced by The Sparrow Academy, fronted by a still-alive Ben (Justin H. Min).
Who are The Sparrow Academy?
Well, as most know, ‘The Umbrella Academy’ is based on the comic book series written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. Surely the answer lies in the source material, right? Except it doesn’t.
The Sparrow Academy, or The Sparrows, have just debuted in the comic. The explanation of who they are will be explained in Way and Bá’s next series. Way spoke to Forbes about the upcoming volume, which is subtitled– what else?– “The Sparrow Academy.” It seems that the new story will answer a question a lot of fans of both the comics and the TV series– what about all those OTHER kids that were born under mysterious circumstances on October 1, 1989?
As Way said:
“[It] deals with a very big reveal in the Umbrella Academy universe, something that had been secret for a long time, and our siblings learn a lot about what was happening behind the scenes, as well as discovering the true nature of some characters that have been with them since the beginning. The series finally starts to answer the question: ‘What about the other babies born on that day, in that moment?’ The Umbrella Academy siblings are not alone in the world anymore.”
Viewers met one of these other kids in S2, Lila Pitts (Ritu Arya), The Handler’s adopted daughter, and Diego’s kinda-girlfriend, who had the power to duplicate The Umbrella Academy’s abilities one at a time.
As for the Sparrow Academy, it seems that the Hargreeves kids’ dinner with their dad, Reginald (Colm Feore), in 1963 made quite an impression on him… and not a good one. It seems as though Reginald was so horrified by how his “children” turned out that when the time came to adopt seven of the mystery children, he intentionally chose seven OTHER kids. Well, six, actually.
Reginald did not encounter Ben. Even though his ghost attempted to possess Klaus at the dinner, for the most part, Ben’s presence was not known to anyone but Klaus. Since Ben was one of Reginald’s original picks, it makes sense that he would make the cut for the Sparrow Academy because Reginald didn’t realize he had been part of the Umbrella Academy.
It was clear that Reginald remembered his disappointing adult “kids” from their encounter in the ’60s, as he mentioned that he was wondering when they’d eventually show up. He also quickly informs them that this isn’t their home.
Netflix hasn’t ordered a third season, but it seems inevitable. They can’t leave it on that big a cliffhanger! And S2 has been #1 on Netflix’s chart all weekend, so that’s a great sign.
Check back for updates as they arrive!
