Five has lived his worst nightmare for years in Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, and season 4 will likely be no different. Since season 1, Five had endured more than forty years alone after time jumping to a dystopian future where the earth is in complete ruin. He already lived through his worst fears while he was stuck in this timeline. Although ironically, each season of Umbrella Academy has been a continuing thread of the inescapable nightmare that he fights from becoming a reality all over again.
Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven children, otherwise known as the Umbrella Academy, including the time-teleporting Five, all of whom had lived through a lot. His experience as a hired assassin for the Temps Commission gave him the opportunity to prevent many timeline-interfering catastrophes. However, with every effort to stop an apocalypse from happening, a ripple effect of yet another one occurring proves that Five's worst nightmare cannot be prevented. In season 3's final scene, a new timeline is introduced where the entire metropolis is taken over by the Hargreeves alien patriarch, setting up even more questions for The Umbrella Academy season 4. The tone of the episode's final moments easily implies that this is not a good sign for the Umbrella Academy and Five heading into the final season.
Why Reginald Changed His Business In Season 4's World
In Umbrella Academy season 4's world, the timeline of events is different and somehow Abigail Hargreeves is alive. Looking back at season 1, Abigail is introduced as Reginald's wife who had died of a terminal illness. Abigail's death seemed to suggest that Reginald's downfall was largely attributed to her no longer being with him. In season 3, Reginald is still without Abigail and completely powerless at the mercy of his children. The plot twist in the finale of the third season suggests that Reginald was manipulative the entire time. Once the conditions of having all Hargreeves children together at the hotel, he was willing to kill them if it meant getting what he wanted. There is room to consider that perhaps all along Reginald's motives have been to find a way to get Abigail back.
After hitting the reset button, Umbrella Academy's Hargreeves siblings were sent to a new reality. In this world, Hargreeves logos are emblazoned on all the cities' skyscrapers; Reginald Hargreeves has monopolized everything. A monopoly on all businesses allows Reginald to keep everything in order, and this can be his way of preventing another apocalypse from happening. If he managed to become a superpower and monopolize all industries, then nothing can slip through the cracks. The common thread for yet another world-ending phenomenon occurring somehow always points to the Umbrella Academy. In a world where Reginald has been at their mercy all along, it is befitting that his resolve would be to try and control them. Lastly, it's important to note that all the Hargreeves children are now without powers for reasons unknown. Reginald may be the mastermind behind this scenario in which he has found a way to suppress their powers.
How Five's Arc Sets Him Up To Finally Defeat Reginald
One of the most important character arcs in the Umbrella Academy has belonged to Five, even if there are many useful Hargreeves siblings aching for a better storyline. With several failed time travel expeditions under his belt, Five has survived many apocalypses. Season 1 saw Five stranded in a dystopian future, and his fear of this outcome has driven the entire show's narrative time and time again. Even in a room full of Hargreeves, Five is the only one capable of seeing beyond himself, while the others choose their own procrastination and inner conflict to attend to. With each season's progression, Five has actively stepped up to the plate to find a way to save the world from another apocalypse. The Umbrella Academy season 4 can even look forward to getting answers regarding Reginald's alien origins in order to defeat him.