During Geeked Week 2021, Netflix gave us our first bits of information about The Umbrella Academy season three. Back then, we were young and innocent. We didn’t know anything about what to expect from these titles. Sure, we got hype about episode four’s title “Kugelblitz” because it is a real science term that refers to a concentration of light, heat, or radiation so intense that it becomes self-trapped, forming a black hole. But the rest were a bit of a mystery back then. Now, with several trailers and information about the Sparrow Academy, we have a better idea of what The Umbrella Academy episode titles mean. And just about every one of them hints at some big events and ties to the comics.
“Meet the Family”
This one seems pretty self explanatory at this point. We know that our Umbrella siblings are back in their timeline and realizing that things are still not right at all. It’s pretty likely that this episode will center around them meeting the Sparrow Academy members. Must really suck to come home and it’s not your home.
“World’s Biggest Ball of Twine”
We know that this show is all about very messy timelines. And things are messier than ever with the Sparrows in effect and time in flux. The crew will have to unwind the continuous mess they are making to see if they can set time back right. That is, if that’s the right thing to do at this point.
“Pocket Full of Lightning”
This episode hint, specifically lightning bolts, obviously mean something in The Umbrella Academy season three. We have seen bolts of lightning from cast and crew posts. But the most interesting place is on Christopher’s character poster. The ominous telekinetic cube has a ton of lightning bolts around it, so they are possibly connected to the character. Christopher can manipulate temperature so perhaps he is Storm-like and will bring lightning to a foe.
“Kugelblitz”
As previously mentioned, Kugelblitz has an actual real world meaning. But in the trailer, Five (who is alive in this new reality) says going back to future in a time paradox is consuming parts of reality. He surmises that their time traveling and world saving (ha) exploits causes the “kugelblitz.” Bascially, it means they are screwed, in Five’s words. We also see the possible manifestation of it with a bright ball of swirling light that they probably shouldn’t touch. Will it become a black hole eating away at Earth? Maybe.
“Kindest Cut”
We cannot be 100% sure about any of these episode titles. (Well, except maybe one.) But this one might be in reference to “unkindest cut,” an idiom used when someone has deeply insulted/betrayed a person to their great detriment. If so, kindest cut may be the opposite of that with someone doing something to defend another person. This is halfway through the season so a heartbreaking death—perhaps sacrificial?—could happen here.
“Marigold”
Marigold may also seem like a random episode title name for fans of the show. But comic readers will recognize it as the moniker for the yellow energy source that gave the siblings their powers. We actually saw this jar of particles in a flashback scene with Reginald during season one. In this season, perhaps we are getting more backstory or there is a reason to wheel out some remaining particles.
“Auf Wiedersehen”
This German phrase means goodbye. Who (or what?) is saying goodbye? There’s no way to really know for sure but Klaus does have a goodbye tattoo. Please don’t kill off our weird cult-leading pal. A few Sparrows or Brellies may bid farewell to try to fix what’s going on. Or it could be the official goodbye for someone who gives their life for the sake of fixing this time mess once and for all.
“Wedding at the End of the World”
How in the world will they throw a wedding in here? Will Viktor or Diego take the big plunge? Maybe. We bet this will be one heck of an event.
“Six Bells”
Umbrella Academy creatives, you are a tricky bunch. You’ve got us stumped with this episode title. We don’t know what these bells could mean or why there are six of them. But it is the penultimate episode so things will go awry.
“Oblivion”
We got recent confirmation in a couple teasers and The Umbrella Academy season three trailer that this episode title is probably referring to Hotel Oblivion, a very important location in the comics. For those who don’t know, Hotel Oblivion is essentially this universe’s version of Arkham—a prison created by good ole Dad to house the Umbrella Academy siblings’ enemies.
However, the Umbrella Academy show seems to be switching it up a bit, calling it Hotel Obsidian and having it be a temporary home base for the Brellies. Now, this could be a simple switch up to deviate from the comics while still giving us a wink at that location. But, considering this episode title, this is more than likely a place that isn’t what it seems. It might be this reality’s Hotel Oblivion with darker things to arise there. Who knows.
The great thing is, we don’t have to wait very long to discover the answers. The Umbrella Academy will deliver all its season three episodes on June 22.
Originally published on June 8, 2021.