The Umbrella Academy: What Does The Ending Really Mean?

2. They're Kids Now (And Where've They Time Travelled To?)

Five is all too aware of the dangers of time travel, since he's a 58-year-old trapped in the body of a teenager. However, come the end of the season it's their only option and, unfortunately for them, the rest of the Academy go the same way. Right at the very end, just before they disappear, we can see that they've all been transformed into kids again.

This isn't just a big twist and an exciting cliffhanger, but important in terms of both plot and thematics. By going back to being kids, it should give them a greater chance at preventing the apocalypse in the present/future. But importantly, it's also a means of starting again. The problems arose from how dysfunctional they were. Of how their father created divisions between them, played favourites, and distanced them from Vanya. Now that they're kids again, but with all of this knowledge, they can build much stronger relationships. They have a chance to include Vanya this time around, and to become a proper family.

The big question is just where and when they've travelled too. It could simply be eight days ago, which is when the story started, but that hardly feels dramatic enough - especially when they've de-aged. More likely is that it goes back to the period when they were actually that age, with the Umbrella Academy at the height of their fame, and by including Vanya at that point are able to change the future. The other alternative is that they go all the way back to 1928, the time of their father arriving on Earth, and run into him them, changing history even more.