The Umbrella Academy season 2 ended on a major cliffhanger as the team came face to face with the Sparrow Academy, Reginald Hargreeves’ new team of superpowered children that took their place in their new present timeline. Among the Sparrow members is one that isn’t exactly human and is instead a cube with superpowers, making many fans believe that the cube is actually Harlan. Based on the comic book series of the same name, created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy made its debut on Netflix in February 2019 and was quickly renewed for a second season, with the new episodes arriving in July 2020.
The Umbrella Academy follows the Hargreeves, seven adopted siblings who along with other 36 babies were born on the same day, at the same time, and to women who weren’t pregnant when the day began. This curious event caught the attention of scientist and billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who set out to adopt as many of those kids as he could, but only got seven of them. As they began to develop unique superpowers, he trained them and formed the team known as “The Umbrella Academy”, but the kids ended up parting ways, reuniting years later for Reginald’s funeral and to stop the fast-approaching apocalypse. Sadly, the end of the world couldn’t be prevented, and the team’s solution was to jump to another place and point in time.
Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy caught up with the Hargreeves in Dallas, Texas, but they were scattered between 1960 and 1963. They eventually reunited in 1963 to stop yet another apocalypse, triggered this time by Harlan, the kid of the family Vanya had been living with and to whom she accidentally transferred some of her powers. By the end of the season, Vanya took most of Harlan’s powers away, as he was seen levitating a toy, and the Hargreeves returned to 2019 – but as they made a lot of changes to the timeline while in the 1960s, they were welcomed with a huge surprise. The team learned that the “Umbrella Academy” doesn’t exist in this timeline, and instead Reginald adopted other children and formed the Sparrow Academy. The identities of the Sparrow Academy members have now been revealed, but there’s one that continues to be a big mystery: Christopher, a floating cube, who some fans believe could be none other than Harlan.
The Cube Is The Sparrow Academy’s Biggest Mystery
The first appearance of the Sparrow Academy in The Umbrella Academy was very brief and the faces of the members were hidden in the shadows, but the one who stood out was the mysterious, green, floating cube. While a lot of fantasy stuff has happened in The Umbrella Academy, a floating cube was too strange and sparked a lot of curiosity among viewers, also making way for many theories – some believed it could be this timeline’s version of Grace or Pogo, as they were nowhere to be seen in the house, or even the soul of one of the 43 children, who for some reason doesn’t have a human body.
Some of these theories and doubts about the mysterious Sparrow Academy cube were put to rest with the reveal of the cast of the Sparrow team, the names of the characters, their ranks within the team, and some of their powers. As it turns out, the cube has a name and he’s a male: Christopher. The character is described as a telekinetic cube that can “turn the room freezing cold and induce paralyzing fear without so much of a warning”, but is also the trustworthy and loyal oracle of the team, and is treated as another sibling. While that solves part of the mystery, there’s still a lot about Christopher that remains unknown, more so as no actor has been cast in the role, though Netflix, following the series’ sense of humor, listed Existential Dread Inducing Psykronium Cube as the newcomer in charge of playing Christopher.
Harlan’s Possible Links To The Sparrow Academy
Among the many theories about The Umbrella Academy season 3 are those trying to connect Harlan with the present timeline, and especially with the Sparrow Academy. Given that Harlan was shown to have kept some of Vanya’s powers by the end of season 2, it’s highly unlikely the series will forget about him and move on, and there are some ways Harlan could be involved with the Sparrow Academy. Some of the most popular fan theories about this suggest Harlan, just like the 43 babies in 1989, will catch the attention of Reginald, who already knows about the Umbrella Academy as they met with him in 1963, so he knows there are superpowered kids out there jumping through time. Reginald, then, could take Harlan in to train and study him in hopes of creating a better team than the Umbrella Academy is, thus making way for the Sparrow Academy. Harlan could even serve as a mentor to the young Sparrow members, but the catch here is that he would be too old in 2019 to be a member of the Sparrow Academy – unless Reginald found a way to keep him and his powers for a bit longer.
Theory: Harlan Is The Sparrow Academy’s Cube
Vanya’s powers proved to be too much for Reginald, who couldn’t find a way to help her control them and ended up medicating her for years and using Allison’s power to make her believe she was ordinary. Now, Harlan is a kid in the 1960s left with superpowers and with no one who could help him – except Reginald Hargreeves. Harlan displayed the same powers as Vanya but amplified, for some reason, and so he could manipulate sound and through it repel objects, unleash bursts of sonic energy, levitate, and create energy fields. By the end of The Umbrella Academy season 2, Harlan had telekinesis, but the rest of his powers could be dormant, ready to be unleashed at some point either by a specific trigger or through training. Prior to the birth of the 43 children, Reginald had no experience with superpowered children, so he could have come up with the cube as a way to contain Harlan’s powers, as they could be too much for his body to handle.
The Problems With The Harlan Is The Cube Theory
While Reginald isn’t known for being the best and most loving father, trapping a kid in a cube is too cruel even for him, even if his intention is not bad. There’s also the cube’s name, which can easily rule out the possibility of Harlan being it though it could also be a way to trick the audience – the key here is how The Umbrella Academy could reveal that Christopher is Harlan without it being cliché and invalidating what Christopher has done so far. Another obstacle in the theory are Christopher’s powers, known to be telekinesis (like Harlan), turning the room incredibly cold, and inducing fear, which doesn’t sound much like Harlan. However, every Umbrella Academy member displayed new abilities in season 2, so Harlan could also have some powers that didn’t show up right away, but once they did, they turned him into a real threat and a great asset for the Sparrow Academy.
What Harlan Being The Cube Would Mean For Umbrella Academy Season 3
Harlan being part of the Sparrow Academy as Christopher would have a big impact on the Umbrella team, particularly Vanya, as she’s the one who knows him best and the source of his powers. If Harlan/Christopher was able to keep his memories, his connection with Vanya could help both teams join forces against whatever they have to fight in The Umbrella Academy season 3 or be an obstacle for them, in case they are opposing teams until the very end. Now, Harlan being Christopher and thus a Sparrow Academy member doesn’t mean he can’t go full-on villain at some point, especially if Reginald trapped him in a floating cube, which would be an even bigger problem for both teams. Season 3 will have a lot of explaining to do, and the identity of a floating cube being the series’ biggest mystery at the moment is very on-brand with all the weird but fun stuff that has happened so far in just two seasons.