The Umbrella Academy season 4 post-credits scene explained: What happened to Hargreeves siblings?

All six episodes of The Umbrella Academy season 4 were released on Netflix on August 8, 2024. The official synopsis of the final episode of season 4, titled End of the Beginning, reads:

“With Ben and Jennifer in peril and the Cleanse underway, the family unites for one last fight to save the world — and end the infinite devastation.”

The season finale shows the Hargreeves siblings embracing death, as Five aka The Boy reveals to them that in order to restore the original timeline and fix the shattered ones, that is necessary. They sacrifice themselves as the Cleanse approaches and then devours them.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

The concluding scenes of The Umbrella Academy season 4 show an idyllic garden where characters from the series, seemingly ignorant of whatever has happened in the shattered timelines, are seen in a jovial mood. However, the post-credits scene shows eight marigolds blooming in the garden by a tree.

The marigolds are certainly a reference to the particle Marigold that kickstarted The Umbrella Academy. It is also a nod to the sacrifice the Hargreeves siblings offered.

By letting the Marigold in them be canceled out by the Durango contained in the body of the Cleanse, they restored the universe to a single stable timeline.

The Hargreeves siblings die in The Umbrella Academy season 4

The major conflict in The Umbrella Academy season 4 arises from the fact that the Keepers, who keep getting glimpses of the various timelines in their dreams, think that they are in the wrong timeline. And they want to fix it.

In order to get back to the timeline they belong to, the Keepers will have to find a way to make the Cleanse happen. The Cleanse is an apocalyptic event that would destroy the world, and the shattered timelines, and restore the universe to a singular timeline.

Halfway into the final episode, Five learns from a version of himself from another timeline, that the Hargreeves family is behind the creation of so many shattered timelines. Every time there is an apocalypse at hand, the Hargreeves siblings gear up and save the world.

This is one of the biggest revelations in The Umbrella Academy season 4. Equipped with this vital piece of information, Five goes to his siblings and tells them that sacrificing their lives is the only way they can ensure the fixing of the shattered timelines. The siblings team up for one last time, and let the Cleanse consume them.

A RadioTimes article dated August 8, 2024, carries the following statement from showrunner Steve Blackman:

"I always wanted to ask this question early on, can you be a superhero if no one ever knew you existed? Like, is a superhero someone because everyone knows who they are, or is it because they know who they are? How does that work?”

As the superheroes voluntarily erase themselves from history at the end of The Umbrella Academy season 4, the singular timeline is established. The final shots of the episode show characters from the series happily spending their time in a world where Marigold, and its counter-component, Durango, have no existence.

However, the post-credits scene shows eight marigolds blooming in the garden under a tree. These eight marigolds could refer to the seven who sacrificed their lives and the combined body of Ben and Jennifer that created the monster, the agent of the Cleanse.

It could also be a way of signifying a world where the word "marigold" only means flowers and no particles. At the same time, it is a meaningful and emotional tribute to the principal characters of the series, since before the credits roll, a montage of some of their moments as superheroes flashes on the screen.

Steve Blackman has refused to specify exactly what the post-credits scene means. He has told RadioTimes:

“It’s for the fans to decide what that means – I’m not gonna give my interpretation but everyone can have their own interpretation of what that means."

However, given the fact that The Umbrella Academy season 4 was the final season of the series, the post-credit scene does not imply the arrival of another season.

The Umbrella Academy season 4 episodes and cast

Contrary to the other seasons, The Umbrella Academy season 4 contains 6 episodes. The following table lists their names:

Episode number	Episode name
1	The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want
2	Jean and Gene
3	The Squid and the Girl
4	The Cleanse
5	Six Years, Five Months, and Two Days
6	End of the Beginning