The premiere season of The Umbrella Academy was a thrilling one, and Number Five's mission to save the world, which took up the bulk of the first season's storyline, wound up being an epic failure. But this is a family full of superheroes, so even though Vanya became a weapon of mass destruction, all hope is not lost.
Although The Umbrella Academy's season finale was a huge shocker, the decision for the entire Hargreeves clan to go back in time and undo the apocalypse left the series off with more questions than answers. So which lingering questions does season 2 desperately need to answer?
What Happened To Ben?
Throughout their time in the Umbrella Academy, the Hargreeves family has had their share of losses. But no loss has been greater than the death of Ben. As everyone knows, Ben was killed while the squad was out on a mission, but it's unclear how that happened or who killed him.
Given his extraordinary powers, whoever was responsible must have been pretty exceptional and dangerous themselves.
Was There A Reason Luther Was On The Moon?
One of the stranger elements of The Umbrella Academy's first season is that when Reginald Hargreeves dies, Luther Hargreeves is on a mission on the moon.
After Reginald's death, Luther finds all of his research tucked away, completely disregarded by Reginald, and he assumes that his "mission" was just a means of getting rid of him. However, that seems unlikely given that Vanya winds up destroying the world by destroying the moon. That can't be a coincidence, but what was the true purpose of the mission?
What's up With The Temps Commission?
The Temps Commission is arguably the main villain of the first season, as they have made it their business to ensure that the world as we know it is destroyed. And their apparent mission statement is to maintain the historical timeline as it exists.
But that begs the question, why? And how did this organization even come to exist in the first place? What's in it for them, and why do they even do what they do?
How Will Vanya Control Herself?
After spending her entire life believing that she was powerless, Vanya Hargreeves realized that she had powers. And within about a week of even discovering her powers, she destroyed the world.
So now that the Hargreeves clan has gone back in time in order to stop the apocalypse they just caused, how is Vanya going to regain control of herself? Even if she starts taking medication again, will that be enough now that she's transformed into the White Violin?
Do The Hargreeves Have Undiscovered Abilities?
The obvious answer here is yes. Seeing as Vanya literally had insane superpowers that she was completely unaware of up until the end of season 1, and also considering that Klaus seems to have discovered new abilities at the end of the season as well, it seems logical that at least some members the Hargreeves family probably has some kind of powers that they have yet to access.
But season 2 needs to tell the audience that for sure.
What Are Those Abilities?
It seems like it's almost a given that at least some members of the Hargreeves family have some superpowers that they haven't yet discovered or accessed yet.
But that lends itself to the question, what are those powers? And more importantly, how can those powers help them all in the fight against the apocalypse?
Where Are The Other Children?
The biggest unexplored narrative avenue that was left open-ended in season 1 is very obviously the other children who were born on the same day as the Hargreeves kids.
The Umbrella Academy children are just the children that Reginald managed to snag for himself, and the futures and fates of all of the other children that were born on that day are still a mystery. That mystery desperately needs to be solved in season 2.
Do They Have Abilities Too?
It honestly wouldn't make any sense if the other children born on the same day as the Hargreeves clan didn't have any superpowers, because what is the likelihood that Reginald managed to get every kid with powers and everyone else was just a normal person?
And that could possibly be the key to saving the world too, if anyone out there is remotely as powerful as Vanya or any of the other kids, they might be able to stop her destruction.
How Did Reginald Know About The Apocalypse?
Honestly, Reginald Hagreeves as an entire character is a mystery that needs to be solved in season 2. Everything about this mad billionaire is bizarre and incomprehensible, and he seems to both be haplessly destructive and unfathomably prophetical at the same time.
But his death coming just days before the end of the world, bringing his children back together and readying them for the impending apocalypse, can't be an accident. So how did he know what was coming?
Can The Apocalypse Be Undone?
Clearly the biggest question that season 2 of The Umbrella Academy needs to answer is whether or not the apocalypse can actually be stopped.
This is truly the question that is the driving force behind the entire series, but now that Vanya has seemingly destroyed the world in the future, what needs to be explained now is whether or not anything can be stopped from the past, or if the past can even be changed at all. Is the timeline fixed and unchangeable, or can things be altered?