The Umbrella Academy Season 4’s Ending, Explained

Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 4, Episode 6, “End of the Beginning.”

The Umbrella Academy just wrapped up its fourth and final season in typically mind-bending fashion. To help you wrap your head around it all, we’ve explained The Umbrella Academy Season 4 ending’s biggest twists and turns below!

Why Does Abigail Betray Reginald Hargreeves?

While The Umbrella Academy Season 4’s climax doesn’t skimp on the blockbuster action, Reginald Hargreeves and his wife Abigail still find time for a heart-to-heart chat. Here, Abigail reveals why she seemingly betrayed Reggie earlier in the fourth season: accountability. Everything that’s happened up until this point is their fault. Abigail created the Marigold substance that gives the Umbrella Academy their powers; she also unwittingly created Marigold’s opposite, Durango. And wherever Marigold and Durango combine, annihilation follows. Meanwhile, Reginald unleashed Marigold on Earth, splintering the timeline into millions of alternate versions that shouldn’t exist. So, Abigail worked against her husband because it was the only way to undo the damage they’d caused.

What Is the Cleanse?

The Cleanse is the name of the monster formed when Marigold and Durango combine. Said beastie is virtually invincible and will eventually destroy whatever planet it springs up on. A Cleanse monster previously destroyed Reginald and Abigail Hargreeves’ homeworld; another almost does the same to Earth in The Umbrella Academy Season 4’s finale. The Cleanse is also central to the Keepers’ belief system. These quasi-cultists are convinced that the Cleanse’s arrival will reset the timeline to its original, unshattered state – and they’re ultimately right!

Related: How Many Episodes Is The Umbrella Academy Season 4?

What Happens to Ben and Jennifer?

Ben Hargreeves and Jennifer become a Cleanse monster in The Umbrella Academy Season 4’s final episode. How does that work? Well, Ben has Marigold in his system (like all the Brellies, that’s how he got his powers) and Jennifer has Durango in hers. So, when they make skin contact midway through Season 4, it kick starts their gradual fusion into a hybrid entity: the Cleanse. This transformation is apparently irreversible, and neither Ben nor Jennifer can control their abominable shared form. That said, the pair’s personalities – and even their likenesses! – occasionally bubble to the surface.

Why Do the Brellies Have to Sacrifice Themselves?

Easily the biggest shock in The Umbrella Academy Season 4’s ending is the revelation that the Brellies have to die to save the timeline. Actually, it’s worse than that: they have to erase themselves from existence. Why so severe? Because the Hargreeves siblings (and Lila Pitts) were never supposed to be born; Reginald Hargreeves releasing Marigold on Earth is what caused their conception. This is what broke the timeline. It’s also what makes the Cleanse an inevitability, since the attraction between Marigold and Durango will eventually result in a Cleanse monster. As such, the only solution to both of these problems is for the Brellies to surrender to the Cleanse, vanish from reality, and reboot the original timeline.

What’s With All the Cameos at the End?

The Umbrella Academy wraps up its four-season run with an epilogue set in a sunny park in the reinstated, single timeline. It’s full of familiar faces from previous seasons, all of them leading happier (and decidedly more mundane) lives. The meaning here is clear: this is what the Brellies sacrificed themselves for. For those keeping score, here’s a list of every Umbrella Academy character who cameos in Season 4’s final scene:

• Claire
• Grace
• The Handler
• Hazel and Agnes
• Dot and Herb
• The Swedes
• Diego and Lila’s family

The Umbrella Academy co-creator Gabriel Bá also cameos as an artist sketching Dot and Herb. Bá’s twin brother (and fellow comic book artist), Fabio Moon, appears in the scene, as well.

Related: The Umbrella Academy: How Does Season 3’s Ending Set Up Season 4?

Is There a Post-credits Scene?

Yep, The Umbrella Academy Season 4 does indeed have a post-credits scene. Stick around when the credits roll and you’ll be treated to a brief stinger in which eight marigold flowers – seemingly representing the seven Hargreeves siblings, plus Lila – sprout in the park. Does this mean The Umbrella Academy Season 5 is happening after all? Not at this stage. So for now, Season 4’s post-credits scene is simply a symbol that some part of the Brellies lives on in the restored timeline.

The Umbrella Academy Season 4 is currently streaming on Netflix.