Netflix's The Umbrella Academy has returned for another season and boy, this one was a journey. The season begins  in 1963 Dallas, just 10 days before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. First scattered through the first years of the decade before reuniting thanks to a little luck and some of Five's (Aidan Gallagher) handiwork, The Umbrella Academy — Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Ben (Justin H. Min), and Vanya (Ellen Page) — reunite to try and prevent yet another apocalypse. They manage to do that, but end up facing off against a different, unexpected foe at the end of the season. After a harrowing battle, the team returns home to 2019, only to find things are not exactly what they seem.

The cliffhanger ending for The Umbrella Academy Season 2 raises some key questions about what is next for the team. If the show ends up getting renewed for Season 3, then those questions will demand answers — but prepare yourself, because these questions are going to twist your brain into a pretzel the more you think about 'em. Then again, that's half the fun of thinking about The Umbrella Academy, right?

The Umbrella Academy Seasons 1 and 2 are currently available to stream on Netflix. For more, check out our review of Season 2 and reviews with Ellen Page and Robert Sheehan.

Allie Gemmill is the Weekend Contributing Editor for Collider. You can follow them on Twitter @_matineeidle.

[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 2.]

Did The Umbrella Academy Accidentally Create a New Timeline?

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Image via Netflix

Before we talk about anything else, we need to address where and when The Umbrella Academy siblings now find themselves at the end of Season 2. In the final moments of the season, we are led to believe the team has successfully used a briefcase from The Commission to beam back to 2019. Better still, they've landed one day after the apocalypse, finding their home intact and the world just as they left it. Then, things take a turn. The team enters into the library and finds Sir Reginald there to greet them. Shocked to see they've arrived, Reginald tells them they are not home. Instead, they're in The Sparrow Academy.

So, uh, how the heck did The Umbrella Academy end up in the wrong timeline? How did they accidentally create a new timeline at some point in their Season 2 journey?

The strongest possible answer is yes to all of the above. In that final scene, when Sir Reginald (Colm Feore) gets up to speak with them, his first line is, "I knew you'd show up eventually." Couple this with the fact the Umbrella Academy met with Reginald in 1963 in a secret tiki-themed lounge to alert him of their existence and what awaits him in the future, and it's extremely likely the Umbrella Academy inadvertently caused this new timeline's existence. If they never met with Reginald, he might not have know what his life would become 36 years later. But giving Reginald that knowledge suddenly gave him the ability to change the future for good because he would avoid adopting the Umbrella Academy kids at birth.

The interesting twist here is that The Umbrella Academy has been responsible for the creation of alternate timelines already, so it's not necessarily the worst thing that another alternate timeline exists. Stopping two apocalyptic events — Vanya's world-ending concert in Season 1 and the Soviet attack at the beginning of Season 2 — by working overtime to make sure events go better the second time around means The Umbrella Academy is consciously creating an alternate timeline. This other endings still exist and will always exist, but The Umbrella Academy has managed to somehow circumvent continuing to live in those other timelines and find a new path to remain alive. The problem at the end of Season 2 is that if this new reality is because of something The Umbrella Academy said or did in 1963, it's going to be difficult to un-ring that bell. You can't take back something you've (like telling an your dad what is going to happen to him in the future) and to go back and try to set things straight would mean having to give the full 411 to someone, which is still telling someone possibly timeline altering details.

As a final note, there's also the slightly-less-possible possibility the Umbrella Academy have somehow been transported to an alternate universe which bears some resemblance to the Umbrella Academy world but abides by different rules and functionalities. Either way, we need to get some concrete answers right out of the gate on where the hell the Umbrella Academy is at the beginning of Season 3.

Who (or What) Is The Sparrow Academy?

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Image via Netflix

The Sparrow Academy is introduced in the last seconds of the final Season 2 episode, "The End of Something." But what is exactly is The Sparrow Academy, who is in it, and what (if any) superpowers do they have?

As far as I can tell, there are no clear answers about The Sparrow Academy in the Umbrella Academy comics, which makes it seem like we're in uncharted territory. Despite the implication with the reveal of Sparrow Academy Ben that the rest of this alternate team is made of alternate versions of the rest of the team, Umbrella Academy creator Steve Blackman has confirmed this is an all new team. Speaking with Inverse, Blackman remarked, "I will only say this given the fact that some of this is in the graphic novel. But they are new people. They're not our characters. They are different people, and that's all I can really say."

When Collider's Christina Radish spoke with the Umbrella Academy cast about Season 2, cast member Robert Sheehan touched on the cliffhanger finale and the implications of The Sparrow Academy's existence. He commented, in part,

"I don’t know how disappearing up its own ass the time travel can get, but it does make you wonder if we were in the 1960s, and then we time-leapfrogged back to 2019, did those women still have us in 1989? And then, you’re opening up a whole different can of worms because then there are mirrors of us, walking around. But that’s too much folding in on itself. But I think the Sparrows are the new version of us."

With both of these things in mind, we know The Sparrow Academy is comprised of all new characters, plus Ben. In a very fun twist, Ben is probably in The Sparrow Academy because, when the Umbrella Academy met Reginald in 1963, dear old Reggie couldn't see Ben's ghost and thus, didn't know of his existence. So, Ben ends up getting adopted by Reginald in two different timelines. Neat-o!

Confirmation of this new set of superheroes adopted from the same back of 43 children born in 1989 leads to curiosity around the superpowers each Sparrow Academy member possesses. Does Ben still have the ability to summon tentacles out of a portal in his stomach? Does the other Sparrows have the same powers as the Umbrella Academy? Or will they show off new powers? Fingers crossed it's the latter, because I'd love to see some new tricks in Season 3.

What the Heck Is Up With The Sparrow Academy's Green Cube?

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Image via Netflix

Did you happen to catch a glimpse of the mysterious floating green cube in the final moments of Season 2? That was totally weird, right? Like, is the green cube supposed to be The Sparrow Academy equivalent of an aide, like Pogo or Grace were for The Umbrella Academy? Is it actually a member of The Sparrow Academy?

There's so much to process at the end of Season 2, so it's no wonder the green cube moment just kinda flew by in the show and was possibly overlooked by viewers. The mystery of the cube definitely needs to be addressed in Season 3. Until then, Umbrella Academy cast members Aidan Gallagher and David Castañeda offered up their own comments on the cube and what it could mean for Season 3 while chatting with Collider. For Gallagher, he told us that "I have a theory that the cube’s name is Rubiks. I have a theory that that’s gonna be how that plays out."

Castañeda also touched on the green cube and his reactions to seeing it appear in the Episode 10 script, telling Collider, "I remember reading the script and there was a cube, and I thought, 'I have a feeling that’s not gonna make it into the final draft, but I also really hope that it will,' because it just opened up a can of questions. With Carmichael being a fish in a male’s body, it just really makes the whole universe beserk. So, that’s what I thought. I was like, 'Just give me the cube. Stay with the cube. I wanna see what the cube is.'"

Even though there are no concrete cube answers to speak of, it is definitely something on the minds of the cast. It will be mighty interesting to see how this one pans out.

Where Are the Other 35 People Born on the Same Day as The Umbrella Academy? 

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Photo by Christos Kalohordis/Netflix

Alternate timeline or not, we still need answers about where in the hell the other 35 children born on the same day as The Umbrella Academy and Lila (Ritu Arya) are as we head into Season 3.

We know that there are 43 children born on the same day in 1989. Seven of them were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves. In Season 2, it is revealed The Handler (Kate Walsh) was searching for children either born on the same day (as is the case with Lila) or with special abilities (as is the case with Harlan, Sissy's son). While Season 2 make a damn good effort to expand the world of The Umbrella Academy, those horizons were not widened to include the remaining 35 children who are likely scattered around the world. Are any of them still alive? Do they still have — and use — their superpowers? And, if so, is there a chance we could see The Umbrella Academy attempt to seek them out in Season 3, since the alternate timeline theory would still allow for those other 35 people to exist?

Speaking of Sir Reginald, What's Up With Those Rockets From Season 1?

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Image via Netflix

Hey, remember that random flashback in the Season 1 finale episode which gave us some backstory on Sir Reginald Hargreeves? Let's brush up, shall we?

So, at the end of the Season 1 finale, "The White Violin," we open with Reginald at his dying wife's bedside. She is moments from passing and gifts Reginald with the white violin he will give to Vanya years later. As his wife dies, Reginald gets up and goes to the window, where we see rockets lifting off as he undoes a jar containing golden light. This scene, coupled with the ominous late Season 2 scene where Reginald appears to remove his face, hints at what Umbrella Academy comics fans already know: Reginald is an alien. It explains why he's been alive for decades and why he still looks like a handsome, middle-aged man to boot.

But what still needs to be explained is what was in those rockets and where they were heading. This might tie back in with our questions around the whereabouts of the other 35 children born on the same day as The Umbrella Academy and Lila. It will be a huge revelation, no matter what.

Did The Commission Betray The Umbrella Academy?

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Image via Netflix

The current problem facing The Umbrella Academy — being stuck in what appears to be an alternate timeline — is not because Five’s powers of time travel were faulty. Instead, it's possible The Commission had a hand in the creation of this alternate reality The Umbrella Academy now finds themselves stuck in.

Here's the rub: It's made clear from the start that The Commission is in charge of keeping the timeline in order and ensuring key historical events continue to go off without a hitch. One of the implications of The Umbrella Academy landing in the right time but not their time is that, somewhere along the way, The Commission did not step in to make sure the timeline would stay in order.

This is the part where you'll probably try to tell me the creation of The Umbrella Academy isn't on the same level of historical importance as, say, ensuring the Hindenburg goes up in smoke or President Kennedy gets shot driving through Dealey Plaza. But there is some time dedicated to Commission underling Herb expressing his gratefulness for The Umbrella Academy taking out The Handler and putting an end to any Commission assassin brought back to 1963 to kill the team. So, there is enough goodwill there to reasonably imagine a scenario where Herb and The Commission would give a shit about The Umbrella Academy and make sure nothing went awry. Like, say, the creation of an alternate timeline where Reginald avoided the future Umbrella Academy like the plague and instead adopt the children which form which The Sparrow Academy.

What gives? Was The Commission ever made aware of the alternate timeline branching off in the 50-plus years since The Umbrella Academy's time in Dallas? Is this all just a clerical error? Or is something more sinister at work?

Couldn't Five Just Time Jump the Team Out of This Alternate Timeline?

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Image via Netflix

Look, Five could technically just zap the team out and try to find a way to set things straight. But using Five to go back and forth through time is draining for him and risky for the rest of the team. The Umbrella Academy was lucky to be scattered just a few years apart in the same city in Season 2. If Five were to try and transport them all out of this new timeline again, it could mean the team gets scattered across time in a life-altering way.

And here's the part where you remind me that The Umbrella Academy still has the briefcase they took from The Commission. Sure! Fine! They could use the briefcase to zap out of the alternate timeline and regroup! But is that really the smartest thing to do at this point? The team is already back in their own time, so zapping out via the briefcase and risking ending up who knows where is just as risky as using Five. Additionally, The Umbrella Academy is last seen facing off against The Sparrow Academy, which is undoubtedly a highly-skilled, well-trained team. I doubt the briefcase will stay in the team's hands for long and their only way out will be shot.

What Happened to Lila?

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Image via Netflix

Lila's inevitable reappearance after her sudden disappearance in Season 3 will definitely be a primary plot point in Season 3. After her battle with The Umbrella Academy on Sissy's (Marin Ireland) farm, where she revealed herself to be a superhero like the rest of the team with the ability to mirror another super's powers and use those powers against her opponent. After a contentious stand-off between Lila and The Handler versus The Umbrella Academy in the barn, The Handler ended up dead and Diego implored Lila to stay with the team and become part of a real family. Lila decided against this, grabbed a Commission briefcase and disappeared.

Is Lila disappearing to lick her wounds? Is she plotting against The Umbrella Academy in the safety of another decade? Does she have a hand in messing with the timeline and mucking it up so badly that when The Umbrella Academy makes it back to 2019, it's an alternate timeline?