The Umbrella Academy season 2 had a lot of twists that changed the timeline, and not exactly for good. By the end of the season, the Hargreeves returned to the present day, where they discovered that the Umbrella Academy doesn’t exist, and instead there’s the Sparrow Academy. In addition to that, they left a superpowered kid, Harlan, in the 1960s, who could have been key in the creation of the Sparrow Academy. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy made its debut on Netflix in February 2019 and was such a big success with both critics and viewers that it was quickly renewed for a second season, which arrived in July 2020.

The Umbrella Academy follows the dysfunctional family of adopted siblings, the Hargreeves. All seven of them, along with other 36 babies, were born on the same day, at the same time, and none of their mothers was pregnant when the day began. Eccentric scientist and billionaire, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, set out to adopt as many of those babies as he could, and only got seven of them. As each of them began to develop unique superpowers, Reginald trained them and formed the superhero team “The Umbrella Academy”. Sadly, Reginald wasn’t a good father figure, and the Hargreeves parted ways, reuniting years later for Reginald’s funeral and to stop the fast-approaching apocalypse, which turned out to be triggered by their seemingly powerless sister, Vanya (Ellen Page).

Related: Umbrella Academy: Every Superpower The Show Changed (Or Left Out)

The Hargreeves couldn’t stop the end of the world, and in order to save themselves, they jumped to a safer place and point in time thanks to the powers of Five (Aidan Gallagher). The Umbrella Academy season 2 caught up with the siblings as they landed in Dallas, Texas, in different years between 1960 and 1963. Although they did their best to find the rest, most of them were forced to move on with their lives, and in Vanya’s case, she was hit by a car seconds after landing and lost part of her memory. As a result, she was taken in by the woman responsible, Sissy, and quickly bonded with her and her son, Harlan. After saving him from drowning, Vanya unintentionally passed some of her powers onto him, and by the end of The Umbrella Academy season 2, he still had some powers in him. Meanwhile, the Hargreeves returned to 2019, where to their surprise, their team doesn’t exist, and instead, Reginald created “The Sparrow Academy” with Ben (Justin Min) being part of it. Although Harlan and the Sparrow Academy seem to be separate entities, a fan theory suggests there might be a strong connection between them.

Everything We Know About Harlan’s Powers In The Umbrella Academy

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Vanya became a very important part of Sissy and Harlan’s lives, and was the one who made Sissy see that staying with her abusive husband, Carl, was doing no good to her and Harlan, but there were some obstacles along the way. Sissy had a hard time leaving Carl precisely because of his abusive behavior, and at one point, she and Vanya got into an argument. After hearing that Vanya was leaving, Harlan ran away, and thanks to her powers, Vanya found him on a lake. Vanya gave him CPR and, unbeknownst to her, she passed some of her powers onto him. Harlan, with no control over these new abilities, became a possible trigger of the apocalypse, but Vanya and the rest of the Umbrella team went to his aim, and Vanya took his powers away... for the most part.

At the end of the season, Harlan was seen in Sissy’s car with a toy levitating above his hand. This revealed that Harlan kept his telekinetic abilities, which Vanya also has. Before Vanya took most of them away, Harlan displayed the same powers as her but amplified: he could manipulate sound and through it, he could repel objects, unleash bursts of sonic energy, create energy fields, and levitate. Although Vanya took a big part of his energy away, Harlan might still have most of these powers, albeit dormant, meaning they could be unleashed at some point, whether by external triggers or through proper training.

Harlan’s Powers Could’ve Attracted Reginald’s Attention

Umbrella Academy season 2 Reginald Hargreeves

The Hargreeves did a lot of things while trying to avoid a second apocalypse in 1963, and though they succeeded this time, they also made some major changes to the timeline. One of their biggest moments – and which ended up provoking one of the biggest changes – was when they met with their father, Reginald. The team explained to him who they are, what they do, and how they’re related to him, and through this, they pretty much made Reginald not adopt them when the time came. However, thanks to this meeting, Reginald also became aware of the existence of people with superpowers, though they wouldn’t be born until 1989.

Related: How The Umbrella Academy Season 2's Superpower Twist Changes The Show

With that in mind, it would surely catch his attention if a kid in the 1960s displayed superpowers. Now, it’s unknown if what’s left of The Commission did something to cover up what happened with Harlan, the Handler, Lila, and the Temps, but such a weird (and intense) event would definitely catch the attention of Reginald, more so after meeting the Umbrella Academy. Reginald, then, would have met Harlan somehow, as he would be curious about his talents and connections to the Umbrella Academy.

Theory: Reginald Created The Sparrow Academy Because of Harlan

Umbrella Sparrow Academy

With Reginald aware of the existence of the Umbrella Academy in another timeline and of Harlan’s powers, a fan theory suggests the Sparrow Academy was created because of Harlan. Reginald knew about the Hargreeves and the apocalypse of the timeline in season 1, and knowing how methodic he is, he surely took some notes for the future. By creating the Sparrow Academy as early as in the 1960s or even the early 1970s, Reginald could work on his methods while also helping Harlan control his powers. This way, by the time the 43 babies are born in 1989, he will already have the Academy up and running, and will know exactly how to train and educate them, and will thus have a better team than the Umbrella Academy.

Although there wouldn’t have been a proper Sparrow team prior to the birth of the 43 babies, with Harlan being the only superpowered kid, Reginald could have been of great help to him, and Harlan might have even helped him later on with the young Sparrow members, supposing he managed to control his powers and didn’t go full-on supervillain at some point.

What This Means For Harlan, The Sparrow Academy & Season 3

Five Hargreeves Sparrow Umbrella Academy

Harlan being the inspiration for the creation of the Sparrow Academy would give him the chance to come back in The Umbrella Academy season 3, and there are a few ways he can do so. As mentioned above, if Reginald was able to help him, Harlan could be used as an example for the proper Sparrow team, and could even help Reginald train them. Due to him being a lot older than the babies from 1989, it’s unlikely Harlan would be part of the team, but he could be a mentor to them. Of course, even with him being the reason behind the creation of the Sparrow Academy, Harlan could still be the villain of The Umbrella Academy season 3. Meeting the Umbrella team doesn’t mean Reginald became soft (and Grace leaving him surely didn’t help), and he still wouldn’t know how to treat a child, so Harlan could go rogue and become a villain, with the proper Sparrow team being Reginald’s solution to stop him – luckily, now there’s also the Umbrella Academy in that timeline.

The Sparrow Academy, then, could either benefit from Harlan’s involvement in the creation of the academy or be trained to fight him, which is a task way easier said than done. If Harlan goes full-on villain, his powers would be much stronger, and it might not be enough to have one superteam dealing with him. As for the Umbrella Academy, Vanya’s link to Harlan could get in the way of his plans as well as those of the Sparrow Academy, whether Harlan is an ally or an enemy. Having Harlan involved in the creation of the Sparrow Academy would give him a chance to return in The Umbrella Academy season 3 and would avoid leaving a loose thread that could become a plot hole at some point, while also bringing together two of the biggest reveals of season 2: Harlan having powers and the existence of the Sparrow Academy.

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