Summary
The final season ofNetflix’s UmbrellaAcademyhas finally been released. Though there are more unanswered questions about its convoluted plot, most of the old questions we had that started with season one have finally been answered. One of the biggest mysteries back in the early days of the Umbrella Academy was Ben’s death, one of the original Hargreeves siblings.
His death was always explained as being a failure on the part of the team. We never got any concrete event that triggered it, and it was only ever known as the Jennifer Incident. Season four’s new episodes have finally shone light on exactly what happened and what led to Ben’s death.
What Was The Jennifer Incident?
Ben’s powers in The Umbrella Academy are very interesting, giving himtentacles extending out of his body,like Doctor Octopus. In season three,he was accidentally reviveddue to the Hargreeves siblings messing with the timeline toprevent the apocalypse.
As a result,when they left the 1960sto return to their time,they realized that their actions had permanently altered the timeline.The Sparrow Academywas created instead of the Umbrella Academy, andBen was brought back from the dead.
But theUmbrella Academy’s Benand theSparrow Academy’s Benaretwo different personalities. The Umbrella Academy’s original Bendied on a mission back when they were kidsin an event known asthe Jennifer incident.
It was a tragic accident. Ben died because we failed as a team. Nobody was responsible, yet we were all responsible. Ben Hargreeves represented the best of us. Ben was the Umbrella Academy.
-The siblings trying to recall how Ben died
In season four of the Netflix show,the siblings realize that they have no memory of the missionand only know it by name. Their memories had been alteredthanks to their father, the original Reginald Hargreeves. When the alternate Reginald Hargreeves reveals thathe has a device that could do the same, he offers to insteadbring their memories backso that they can figure outexactly what happened to Ben.
When they were strapped in,they witnessed the day that Ben died from start to finish. They are all about toembark on a missionwith an awfully relaxed attitude and are instructed by their fatherto intercept a weaponthat could destroy the world. Once they are at the location, Ben hears the voice of a girl coming from inside thecontainer containing the weapon.
Ben decides to help her out as he has been given incomplete informationregarding the nature of the weaponand interacts with herby pulling her out. A minor energy spike goes off in front of the siblings, and, out of nowhere,Reginald kills both Ben and the girl(whose name is Jennifer) by puttinga bullet through their heads.
After that, Reginald wipes their memories and paints Ben’s death as something that happened because ofthe siblings' failure to listen to his orders.
Why Did Reginald Hargreevs Kill Ben?
The shooting was revealed out of nowhere, but some lore explanationjustifies Reginald killing his own son. Reginald’s wife, Abigail, initiallycreated and discovered Marigold, the unique elementthat gives powersto seemingly ordinary humans.
Reg is not responsible for what happened to your brother and that poor girl. I am. Years ago, I synthesized a new element, and at the same time, unbeknownst to me, a second particle was created, Durango. When Marigold and Durango interact, they cause…a reaction, a physical reaction. Unstoppable, irrevocable. The extinction of everything we know.
-Abigail explaining why Ben and Jennifer needed to die
But as she created this element,she unknowinglycreated Durango, an element opposite of Marigold, and was unaware of this elementuntilit was too late. When Marigold and Durango collide, the result is the Cleanse,an apocalyptic event that creates a Lovecraftian-looking monstercapable ofdestroying entire worlds. Thegirl in the containerwas avessel for Durango, andBen was a vessel for Marigold, and their interaction wouldinevitably lead to the Cleanse.
Reginald and Abigail’s home planetwas destroyed by the cleanse monster.Toprevent the cleanse from happening the first time aroundin the original timeline,Reginald shoots Ben and Jenniferbeforethe monster has a chance to form. Though he killed his own child and an innocent Jennifer,he potentially saved Earth from an apocalyptic eventthat destroyed his home planet.
Who Is Jennifer In Season Four Of The Umbrella Academy?
Jennifer is a new characterintroduced in season four of The Umbrella Academy, a girl whose entire life was built around a small town inReginald Hargreeves’ revised timeline. The Jennifer from the original timeline was, as established,shot in the head before she was a full-fledged character, but this time around, Reginald keeps her protected so thatMarigold and Durango never have the chance to reactagain.
After the Umbrella Academy kids drink Marigold again andregain their powers, they are guided by a strangerinto saving Jennifer, since the stranger pretendedit was his daughter. This coercion led to Benforming a connection with Jenniferin a small town after they discover her. Arriving in this town led to Reginald’s goonsopening fire at the siblings, since he didn’t want to risk another interaction betweenDurango and Marigold.
Unfortunately,they fail to eliminate the Umbrella Academyor save Jennifer sinceshe’s kidnapped by Gene and Jean. Ben breaks her out, and thetwo are extremely drawnto each other.
Unaware that their interactionwill cause the Cleanse monster to be released, they embrace each other and decide to run away. Their constant interaction makes themsicker and sickeruntil they devolve intothe Cleanse monster, which eventually leads to an inevitable apocalypsethat Viktor fails to prevent. The world is thrust into chaoswith a world-ending eventuntil it’s finally revealed thatAbigail manipulated events from the startto have Jennifer and Ben interact with each other.
