The Umbrella Academy Theory: The Sparrow Academy Is Different Because Of Grace
The Umbrella Academy season 2 ended with the big reveal of the Sparrow Academy taking the Umbrella team’s place in 2019, and they look like a very different group – and it might be all because of Grace. Based on the comic book series by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy made its debut on Netflix in February 2019 and quickly became very popular. A few weeks later, it was renewed for a second season, released in July 2020.
The Umbrella Academy follows the 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 to women who weren’t pregnant when the day began. Scientist and billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves set out to adopt as many of those babies as he could, but only got seven of them. As they all have unique abilities, Reginald formed the superhero team “The Umbrella Academy”, but the siblings eventually parted ways. After not seeing nor talking to each other for years, the Hargreeves reunited 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). Unfortunately, the Hargreeves couldn’t stop the end of the world, and their only solution was to jump back to a safer place and point in time thanks to Five’s (Aiden Gallagher) time-travel abilities.
Season 2 caught up with the Hargreeves in Dallas, Texas, but they all landed in different years between 1960 and 1963. They eventually found each other and successfully prevented a new apocalypse in 1963, but they made some major changes to the timeline in the process. Ultimately, the siblings returned to their time, but all their actions in the 1960s had major consequences, the biggest and most important one being that the Umbrella Academy doesn’t exist, and Reginald instead created the Sparrow Academy. Aside from Ben (alive and well, though with an attitude) being part of this new team, everything about the Sparrow Academy is a mystery, but they do seem to be a darker team – and it might be thanks to what the Umbrella Academy did to Reginald’s relationship with Grace in 1963.
Grace Was Crucial To The Hargreeves’ Upbringing
As mentioned above, the Hargreeves were adopted by Reginald when they were still babies, so the only family they know are their siblings, Reginald, Pogo, and their robot mom, Grace. Reginald wasn’t a good father figure to the kids, focusing more on their education and training to turn them into a superhero group that could take on any type of threat rather than on being an actual father to them. Of course, some kids were easier to deal with than others, and Reginald didn’t know how to handle Vanya and her powers. He then built various robot nannies in hopes that Vanya could open up and behave with them, but she killed them all. It wasn’t until he built Grace that Vanya began to behave, but she wasn’t the only one who benefitted from Grace’s presence.
Reginald built her to be the perfect housewife and mother to the kids, and she gave them the attention, love, and protection they needed. Before she was built, the kids were referred to by numbers, and it was Grace who gave them names (except for Five, who disappeared before that). Diego was especially close to Grace, as she helped him through his personal struggles, as was his stammer. Because of this, the siblings were shocked to learn that she might have helped Reginald commit suicide, and after some odd behaviors from her part, Diego switched her off – but Pogo brought her back not long after. Grace died at the beginning of the apocalypse in season 1, when the Academy collapsed and Diego and Klaus weren’t able to save her.
The Hargreeves Changed Reginald & Grace’s Relationship
On their quest to prevent another apocalypse, this time in 1963, the Hargreeves met Reginald and explained to him who they are and what their relationship is. Reginald was unimpressed and refused to help them, proving that he had always been cold and selfish. Prior to this meeting, however, Diego met the real Grace at a gala, who turned out to be Reginald’s sentimental partner at the time. Grace was a scientist working on a space program that involved sending a chimp, Pogo, to space, but she was completely unaware of Reginald’s other works (and with that, his true nature). After the “light supper” with Reginald, Diego came across Grace again and told her about Reginald’s supposed plans to assassinate John F. Kennedy, causing her to become suspicious and investigate. Grace found Reginald’s secret lair in his office, and with that lots of evidence of his weird plans. Grace confronted Reginald, who told her there were parts of his business he couldn’t tell her about, and so she left him.
Theory: The Sparrow Academy Is Darker Without Grace
Although the first and only look so far at the Sparrow Academy (both the team and building) is the one right at the end of The Umbrella Academy season 2, there’s already a completely different vibe to the one of the Umbrella team. First off, Ben seems to be Number One, and he’s a darker version of the Ben from the original timeline, who was once described as the kindest member of the team. Sparrow Ben is rude, asking Reginald who “these assholes” are, which is far from the friendly personality of the original Ben. The rest of the Sparrow team didn’t seem too welcoming either, only appearing in the shadows without saying a word – and, most importantly, there were no signs of Grace and Pogo in the house, but Reginald is still alive and hasn’t really changed in terms of attitude.
As pointed out by a fan on Reddit, the absence of Grace will have a big impact on the Sparrow Academy, as it points at them being raised by Reginald and Reginald only, who isn’t known for his great parenting skills. The author of the theory explains that Grace was the only positive authority figure the Hargreeves had (surely, Pogo treated them right too, but he was more of a neutral figure), and without her, the Sparrow children will definitely be different, as seen with Ben. It’s also possible that the members of the Sparrow Academy don’t have names, only numbers, as giving them proper names would have created a bond between Reginald and the kids that he surely wanted to avoid. As a result of all this, the Sparrow Academy would not only be a darker team in terms of personalities but also in how they work, as they could be more of a vigilante/antihero group with more violent methods than the Umbrella Academy.
What This Means For The Umbrella Academy Season 3
The Umbrella Academy messed with the timeline so badly that the Sparrow Academy is pretty much their fault, and if their violent acts and rudeness are also a result of their actions from 1963, there will surely be some arguments between the siblings, especially with Diego. This would also make the teams complete opposites, making way for a lot of conflict between them, both personal and as teams, as they will approach threats differently. There will also be the big question of what happened to Grace after she left Reginald, and with that what happened to Pogo as well, as they could be together as she had a maternal bond with baby Pogo.
In addition to that, Grace’s absence surely had an impact on Reginald, who might have become more selfish, rude, and emotionally unavailable than he already was, which would have also affected the Sparrow Academy, who might have had an even more intense upbringing than the Hargreeves, in addition to the absence of a maternal figure. Depending on what the big threat is in The Umbrella Academy season 3, the Umbrella and Sparrow teams could find a middle ground and join forces, though the road to that will surely be bumpy, but very entertaining to watch.
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