In the fourth episode of the third season of The Umbrella Academy, “Kugelblitz,” Sloane spends some time with the Umbrellas, Five and Lila find the last thing they were expecting at the Commission, Klaus has an unfortunate incident, and the full story of Harlan is revealed.
Sissy and Harlan
We open with a flashback to when Sissy was driving away with Harlan at the end of season 2. They escape and find a new home, and Sissy seems to have found happiness with another woman. However, things turn sour when Harlan accidentally kills his pet rabbit with his powers, and they leave town. Harlan is bullied at his new school, and his powers go off again, hitting all of the kids surrounding him. While he was growing up, Sissy had to constantly move Harlan from town to town. Eventually, she passes away in the hospital on October 1, 1989. Harlan stands at her bedside, stricken with grief, and energy bursts from his chest as his powers go haywire.
The aftermath
Sloane wakes up on the floor at Hotel Obsidian, and she runs off when she sees what happened to Jayme and Alphonso. Sloane runs off, and when Luther finds her, she attacks him, convinced that he set her up. Diego and Allison intervene. Allison uses her powers on Sloane to force her to tell them where the briefcase is, and they learn that the Sparrows didn’t have it after all. Meanwhile, Viktor follows Harlan, who remarks that he hasn’t aged at all — which would make sense, considering it’s only been three days for Viktor since he saw Harlan. The older man explains that ever since Viktor saved him at the lake, he can hear people with powers … like a tuning fork. He explains that he doesn’t have control over his powers, though.
A strange discovery at the Commission
Five and Lila walk inside of the Commission to find that it’s been ravaged by the effects of the Grandfather Paradox. After Five finds a recording of what happened just before the timeline collapse, Lila brings him the master handbook in hopes that they can find some information inside of it. They make their way over to the operations bunker, and Five is suddenly very itchy and farting uncontrollably. Oddly enough, the bunker denies Lila’s biometric scan, but it accepts Five’s. They enter the room, which is mostly empty besides an old man laying inside of a chamber resembling an iron lung. Five realizes that the man is him; he’s the one who founded the Commission (and Lila is beyond amused). The room is paradox proof, which is why his paradox psychosis stopped once they entered. The older version of Five tells them that they must be there because of a Kugelblitz. If so, there’s no way to fix it, and all that will be left … is oblivion. He releases himself from the chamber to show the young Five what he has to look forward to, and he instructs him not to save the world. The old man dies, and Five cuts off the strange symbol tattooed on his chest.
It was Stan … in the White Buffalo Suite … with the spear gun
Diego brushes Klaus off when he tries to tell him about the “blinding orb of light” that he found in the Academy basement, and he tells “Uncle Klaus” that he’s babysitting Stan while he cleans the hotel in payment for destroying the lobby with a Molotov cocktail. The pair makes their way through the rooms, cleaning cart in tow as they dig into some heart-to-heart therapy while Stan tries to steal everything in sight. They find an intriguing room that’s not on the list, the White Buffalo Suite, and they break into it, mesmerized by its odd décor. Unfortunately, the fun and games end when Stan accidentally shoots Klaus right through the chest with a spear gun.
Diego and Allison’s night out
Allison is still keyed up over everything that she’s been through, so Diego takes her out for a drive and tries to get her to talk about what’s bothering her. Knowing that she’s in the mood for a fight, he parks in front of a rowdy looking bar with a Confederate flag hanging outside of it. A place that the two of them likely won’t be very welcome. It’s time to have some fun.
The Sparrows’ demands
In a turn of events, Sloane accuses Luther of using her to get information, but he’s able to convince her otherwise. Sloane joins Luther, Diego, Allison, and Viktor for a meeting in the lobby, and they debate what to do about Sloane and Harlan. Eventually, they agree to return Sloane to the Sparrow Academy, but in return, Ben demands that they hand over Harlan.
A dark secret
Harlan goes looking for Viktor, and he comes across the newspaper clippings with the Umbrellas’ mothers. He demands to know why Viktor has them. We flash back to Harlan’s meltdown after his mother died, and we learn that Harlan’s outpouring of power is what killed them all.
The Umbrella Academy season 3 is now streaming on Netflix. Follow along with all of our coverage on the show, including episodic recaps and more.
