The Umbrella Academy introduced viewers to a one of a kind family of superheroes with very peculiar abilities, among those Allison a.k.a. Rumor, who many believe used her powers on her “brother” Luther – but that’s not true. Based on the comic book series of the same name, created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy was released on Netflix in February 2019, and became one of its most successful titles of the year. The series follows the dysfunctional family of adopted siblings, the Hargreeves. All of them were born on the same day, under the same mysterious circumstances, and in different parts of the world, and were adopted by the equally mysterious billionaire Reginald Hargreeves.
As the children grew and started to develop their powers, Reginald trained them and formed a team called “the Umbrella Academy”. The family/team was formed by Number One/Luther, also known as “Spaceboy”; Number Two/Diego, who has the ability of trajectory curving and a mastery in knife-throwing; Number Three/Allison, known as “the Rumor” thanks to her mind control and manipulation powers; Number Four/Klaus, “the Seance”; Number Five, who has the ability to travel through time and space; Number Six/Ben, who died prior to the events in the series; and Number Seven/Vanya, who was thought to be powerless and turned out to be quite dangerous.
Though all of them mostly used their powers only when required, some of them used them to their advantage a couple of times – Five jumped to the future even though Reginald warned him about it and Klaus used his abilities to summon his brother, just to name a few. Because of this, many believe Allison created a rumor for Luther to love her, but that’s not actually true.
Why Allison Didn’t Use Her Powers On Luther
Allison had a relationship with her adoptive brother Luther throughout her life, and the attraction began at a young age. After she left the mansion and her family and pursued a career in acting, she married Patrick and had a daughter, Claire – all this happened prior to the events in the series. By the time Reginald passed away and the Hargreeves siblings reunited, she and Patrick had already divorced, and her relationship with Luther started to blossom again.
Her marriage ended because Patrick saw her using her powers on their daughter, and he subsequently gained full custody of Claire. In the episode “I Heard A Rumor”, Allison reminisces that event as well as many of the times she has used her power, though these are represented through voiceovers. In it, Allison can be heard saying “I heard a rumor that you love me”, making many viewers believe that’s what she said to Luther, which is why he never got over her. That can’t be simply because the line is spoken by grownup Allison rather than her younger self, meaning that she couldn’t have used it on Luther – but she might have said it to Patrick.
It’s not outside the realm of possibility that Allison used her power on Patrick, which would also add to how pissed he was when he saw her using it on their daughter, as he might have realized that he could have been used too. With Allison left mute by Vanya by the end of The Umbrella Academy season 1, it’s yet to be seen if the time-traveling will allow her to heal somehow and regain her abilities, or if she will be left powerless in season 2.