Warning: Contains spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season 3.

In The Umbrella Academy season 3, Allison’s power gets a serious upgrade, but how and why is not fully explored. As the Umbrella Academy go up against the Sparrow Academy in a race to save the universe, the teams have to work together against massive threats. However, unlike in The Umbrella Academy season 2, there is less focus on the Umbrellas improving the control of their powers, and more attention is given to the new characters of the Sparrow Academy and the return of Harlan. That is, except for Allison Hargreeves.

Allison Hargreeves The Umbrella Academy power has always been shown to need the phrase “I heard a rumor…” to work, and if she is prevented from talking or cut off mid-phrase then her power is unusable. After attempting to “rumor” herself (unsuccessfully), Allison ends up helping Viktor with his plan to remove Harlan’s powers. During this confrontation, she is tries to get Harlan to stop the process with her powers but it doesn’t work until she yells a command without using the phrase and her power takes effect. After this, she finds that she does not need to use the “I heard a rumor…” phrase at all.

Related: Who Is The Narrator In Umbrella Academy Season 3?

Allison claims that her The Umbrella Academy season 3 power change is a “residual gift from Harlan.” However, the wider context of the series suggests that Allison is actually wrong about the reason behind her power change. Reginald Hargreeves explains to Klaus that the other version of himself must have made them feel small “confused about [their] own powers so that [he] could control [them].” This was especially true for Viktor, but Reginald Hargreeves also limited the other Umbrella Academy kids, which is why they were able to expand their powers when away from him in season 2. Allison never actually needed the “I heard a rumor…” phrase, it was simply a crutch that Reginald had led her to believe was necessary.

Allison's Power Change Makes Her More Comics Accurate

Allison posing as Jacqueline Kennedy Umbrella Academy Dallas Comics

This change to Allison Hargreeves’ powers might seem like an extreme The Umbrella Academy change for season 3, but it actually brings her powers more in line with her comics origins. In Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s comics, Allison does not need to use any phrase to use her powers—simply speaking something makes it true. This still requires her to be able to speak, and as with The Umbrella Academy season 1, the first comics story arc ends with Seven slicing Allison’s throat and preventing her from speaking, rendering her power unusable for a time.

In fact, in The Umbrella Academy comics, Allison’s powers are even stronger from the very beginning than they are shown in The Umbrella Academy season 3. The show allows her powers to only affect what people do as a form of mind control, but the comics allow her to alter reality itself. An early short comic saw the team find Allison’s dead body, only for it to be revealed that she was still alive despite the body being genetically identical. Allison had lied to Reginald Hargreeves and said that she was studying at the library, and in doing so had created an alternate version of herself that was indeed studying at the library and was then murdered.

The Umbrella Academy already teased that Allison could be this powerful in the TV series in the opening scenes of season 2 when a version of Allison used her powers to make soldiers' heads explode. Rather than changing their behavior, she uses her power to alter their physical being. Allison’s The Umbrella Academy season 3 ending is ambiguous, but if she returns for The Umbrella Academy season 4, then it is possible that her powers could grow even more.

Next: Every Sparrow Academy Member In The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Explained

The Umbrella Academy season 3 is now available on Netflix.

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