Summary
Episode 10 is fast-paced, fun, emotional, and provides all the juice it needs to convince us that a third season is required immediately.
This recap of Netflix series The Umbrella Academy season 2, episode 10, “The End of Something” contains significant spoilers and gives an explanation to the ending.
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How does The Umbrella Academy season 2, episode 10, “The End of Something” open?
It begins in 2006. The young members of The Umbrella Academy mourn over the death of Ben, circling his coffin. Reginald offers a eulogy about removing evil from society for good and criticizes them all for failing and allowing Number Six to die — this is a reminder of how strange and strict their father was. The ghost of Ben suddenly appears to Klaus and he tells him he should walk into the light — Klaus explains that he can walk into the light whenever he wants and does not need to rush. You can tell Klaus is lying and he wants a secret companion.
We will be hunted
In the core story, news outlets are running the President Kennedy story — they are blaming The Umbrella Academy for the assassination. Diego states that they will continue hunting them down, including The Commission — the Season 2 ending gives the family little options. Five is surprised that Diego was good enough to be in The Commission and they argue. The family then start arguing — Vanya suddenly wants to leave because she senses that Harlan needs her help — by bringing him back to life, she has done something to him. Vanya asks her family for support but Diego says they have other priorities right now. This was a harsh moment and it seemed at that moment the family was making a mistake again, but…
Family support
Klaus joins Vanya and asks about Ben — she tells Klaus that Ben was too scared to go into the light, it wasn’t because of him that he avoided the ticket to heaven. Suddenly, the rest of the family join Vanya in the car to help her with Harlan. A quick U-turn that was effectively written into the story. When they reach the farm, there is a high energy surge coming from the barn — Sissy states that Carl is dead and wonders what Vanya did to him. Vanya introduces Sissy to her family and insists that they didn’t kill the President and are not terrorists. What a way to re-introduce your family!
It really is war
Vanya tries speaking to Harlan who is levitating in the air and unable to control his powers. In the distance, The Handler and Lila are standing watching the barn — they tell Five and Diego they are here to assassinate the person responsible for eliminating the board of the directors (Five). Lila then implies that Five killed more than just the board of directors (her parents). Diego smugly states there are seven of them so they will easily win. The Handler clicks her fingers and thousands of The Commission appear — it’s a bloody army to give a Season 2 ending that is on a large scale.
It feels hopeless
It really is war. The Commission army runs towards the barn; Vanya calms down Harlan but then bullets hit through the barn and an energy shockwave throws them aside. Five manages to get back to the house but it looks hopeless for the family. But then Vanya floats in the air and uses her powers on the entire army sending a huge shockwave to throw them all over. An eery silence follows but the moment for a breather is shortlived in the ending.
The unexpected Lila
There’s another twist that was not expected at all — Lila rises, and she appears to have the same powers as Vanya. She sends an energy shockwave back. The Handler tells Lila to let her know when she has killed them all. A brutal command by The Handler who is a worse villain in Season 2 — she has zero self-awareness and mercy.
I heard a rumor
Lila tells Luther that she wants to kill Five before launching him out of the house. As Allison fights her, it’s revealed that Lila also has Allison’s powers and says, “I heard a rumor that you stopped breathing”. Allison chokes and hits the floor and Luther begs her to fight it before doing a mouth to mouth to stop the cycle. This is a stressful moment, with the prospect of Allison dying right there but luckily, Luther’s words and mouth to mouth save her. Meanwhile, Five and Lila then start fighting.
Why does Lila have powers?
So the main twist of The Umbrella Academy season 2, episode 10 is that Lila somehow has powers and the family discusses it rather briefly before flipping back into action.
The family (apart from Five) concludes that Lila can mirror their powers so there must be more of them out there. Klaus believes she can only do one power at a time but the conclusion is Lila is part of the family somehow. Meanwhile, The Handler is trying to persuade Harlan to join her — she’s trying to obtain another Lila in the ranks from a young age, just like she did with Lila.
The whole family is dead
Lila and Five continue fighting. She then reveals Five killed her parents — he admits to killing them but that it was never personal; he then reveals that The Handler gave the order — “She never cared about your parents, she was looking for you”. Diego then walks in and tells Lila that she’s one of them and born at the same time as The Umbrella Academy — “She’s using you, Lila” (in reference to The Handler).
Lila doesn’t want to believe them so Diego tries to reassure her again and claims she is scared of The Handler and calms her down. He walks up to her slowly as she begins to cry and says that they can all be her family. Shockingly, The Handler comes in and shoots all the family dead apart from Lila. It looks to all be over for The Umbrella Academy — the drama and action led to this shocking moment.
Start small
The Handler tells Lila that they need to get past this. Lila tells The Handler that this is her real family and asks her, “Do you even love me?”. The Handler wastes no time and kills Lila as well with her gun. Five is still alive but dying slowly, and as she’s about to finish him off, the remaining Swede kills The Handler. The Swede then heads towards Five, ready to finish him off but Five remembers his father Reginald telling him to start small — “Seconds”.
Five reverses time back to Diego talking to Lila and disarms The Handler. The Swede arrives and kills The Handler and Lila gets off with the case. Five looks at The Swede and drops the gun and says, “Enough”. Five evidently senses that The Swede’s vengeance was not at the family but at The Handler and runs off. Diego tells Luther he loves Lila and that’s why he let her get off with the briefcase.
Don’t forget about Harlan
But then there is Harlan — Vanya heads towards him and takes away the powers she gave him. The boy returns to normal (apparently). Herb and Dot arrive at the farm and sees the destruction — Diego and Five confirm The Handler is really dead this time. Herb is the new chairperson of the board. Five asks for a briefcase so they can get home — Five looks around at all the dead Commission members and asks him to take his pick. There are thousands of briefcases.
Join me
Vanya asks Sissy and Harlan to join her in the future but she isn’t sure. Sissy tells Vanya she is scared for her after seeing her powers — “Tell me we could have a normal life there”. Vanya can’t promise that — Sissy states she can’t put her child in any more danger but she tells Vanya that she made her feel alive. The couple embraces knowing it is the last time they’ll see each other. This is a sad scene for Vanya. She can never seem to find genuine companionship — very much like the rest of the family.
Ending the story in the 60s
Raymond reads a letter from Allison. She tells him that the world is safe again and although she doesn’t belong in the 60s, her time there has changed her — “It’s changed all of us”. She tells him it is going to get worse before it gets better. A series of scenes then occurs before the family head back to 2019:
- Dave joins the army so Klaus failed in stopping him.
- The Swede joins the cult that Klaus set up for a new lease of life.
- Sissy and Harlan head to New Mexico and it’s revealed that Harlan still has powers as he secretly uses them in the back of the car.
We should expect the plot points above to have some relevance and importance in future seasons.
How does The Umbrella Academy season 2, episode 10, “The End of Something” end?
The family gets into a circle and teleport to April 2, 2019 — the apocalypse never happened which Vanya initially caused. They all seem relieved and agree to have a drink. Diego notices there is a painting of Ben over the mantlepiece so something is not quite right. Reginald appears and says, “I knew you’d show up eventually” — he’s alive which should be impossible. Reginald tells them that this isn’t their home and not The Umbrella Academy — “This is the Sparrow Academy”. Behind them, on the landing above, a new group of family members is shown. An alternative Ben looks at them and The Umbrella Academy says “Shit” at the same time. What an ending to Season 2.
The Umbrella Academy season 2 ending explained
It seems that by avoiding the apocalypse, they’ve created a new timeline where an alternative family lives. What does this mean for the story? Who knows, but it does make everything complicated for the already dysfunctional and fractured family.
Episode 10 is fast-paced, fun, emotional, and provides all the juice it needs to convince us that a third season is required immediately.
