What The Flowers In The Umbrella Academy Season 4's Mid-Credits Scene Mean (2024)

Warning: spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season 4.

The Umbrella Academy ended with its fourth season, and it had an equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful ending, with a very emotional and special mid-credits scene. After facing different apocalypses and threats throughout three seasons, The Umbrella Academy has now ended, and it saw the Hargreeves dealing with another apocalypse, though one that felt very personal. After The Umbrella Academy season 3’s ending left them in a new timeline where Reginald (Colm Feore) was the most powerful man and they no longer had their powers, season 4 caught up with the Hargreeves and Lila (Ritu Arya) six years later.

The Hargreeves had parted ways and moved on, living normal lives for the first time, but they were brought back together for a rescue mission. The Umbrellas (with Lila and Sparrow Ben) had to find Jennifer (Victoria Sawal), but this mission led to shocking reveals about her, Ben’s (Justin H. Min) death, their connection to Jennifer, and the end of the world. Five (Aidan Gallagher) learned that the only way to fix the multiverse and restore the main timeline was through their sacrifice, and so the Hargreeves erased themselves from history – but The Umbrella Academy season 4 had one final emotional tribute for the team.

The Flowers Represent The Members Of The Umbrella Academy Who Sacrificed Themselves

The Flowers Glowed Like The Marigold

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Jennifer was the host of the durango particle, the opposite of the marigold, both created by Reginald’s wife, Abigail (Liisa Repo-Martell). Abigail explained to the Hargreeves that, when durango interacted with a marigold, it unleashed an unstoppable physical reaction that led to the extinction of everything, an event the Keepers called “The Cleanse”. However, Ben was unaware of this and he got too close – physically and emotionally – to Jennifer, triggering the Cleanse and thus the end of the world. Ben and Jennifer merged into a monstrous creature that consumed everything and grew more and more until it destroyed the world.

Five had an encounter with his variants at a diner in one of the subway stations, and thanks to them, he learned that the marigolds’ arrival on Earth shattered the timeline and created a multiverse. Because of this, the Hargreeves were doomed to end the world over and over again, but there was a solution. The Cleanse would destroy the broken timeline and restore the main line, but to succeed, it had to consume all the marigolds, meaning that the Hargreeves had to sacrifice themselves. The Hargreeves let themselves be consumed by the Cleanse and the main timeline was successfully restored.

The final scene in The Umbrella Academy season 4 showed the main timeline and how characters from past seasons – such as the Handler, Grace, Hazel, and Agnes – are now living completely different and happy lives without the Hargreeves. The Hargreeves’ sacrifice erased them from history, so no one remembers them now. However, The Umbrella Academy’s mid-credits scene showed eight golden flowers blossoming next to a tree, representing and paying tribute to the Hargreeves and Lila after their sacrifice made that world (and their safety) possible.

The Flowers Don't Mean The Hargreeves Siblings Can Come Back To Life

The Hargreeves Are Really Dead Now

The golden flowers in the mid-credits scene of The Umbrella Academy season 4 let out some particles just like the marigolds did, which can lead to the belief that the Hargreeves can return thanks to them. It’s unlikely the flowers are marigolds, and the sparkles were just a visual way of confirming that they represent the Hargreeves. Restoring the main timeline meant that the marigolds never made their way to Earth (though whether they were released at all is unclear) and thus the Hargreeves never existed.

It’s important to remember that the marigolds created the 43 children, as they were born to women who weren’t pregnant when the day began. Without the marigolds, none of those children existed, so there’s no way the Hargreeves can come back to life, and it’s understood that they didn’t get variants in this new timeline.

How The Umbrella Academy's Flowers Scene Fits The Show's Themes & Message

The Umbrella Academy’s Flower Scene Is There For A Reason

The themes of family, love, and sacrifice were more present than ever in The Umbrella Academy season 4. Contrary to the previous times they parted ways, the Hargreeves kept in touch this time, and they didn’t hesitate to team up again. Allison, Diego, and Lila already had families in the season 4 timeline, so they made the heartbreaking decision of taking them to safety before their sacrifice. The flowers are a way to honor their sacrifice, and though their families might not remember them now, their sacrifice definitely wasn't in vain.

The Umbrella Academy

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The Umbrella Academy is based on the comic book of the same name created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá. The Hargreeves — collectively known as The Umbrella Academy — were born with superpowers, and their adoptive father utilized their abilities. However, as they grew older, the siblings grew apart as they dealt with their trauma. They are brought back together after their father dies and Five returns from the future with grave news: The world will end, and The Umbrella Academy has to stop it before it happens.

Cast

Colm Feore , Cazzie David , Genesis Rodriguez , Robert Sheehan , Aidan Gallagher , Elliot Page , Emmy Raver-Lampman , Jordan Claire Robbins , Jake Epstein , Mary J. Blige , David Castaneda , Justin Cornwell , Justin H. Min , Britne Oldford , Adam Godley , Tom Hopper , Javon 'Wanna' Walton , Ritu Arya , Cameron Britton , Sheila McCarthy

Release Date

February 15, 2019

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix

Showrunner

Steve Blackman