What Lila's Big Reveal Means For Umbrella Academy Season 3

Contains spoilers for season 2 of The Umbrella Academy

If you're anything like us, your head is still spinning after binging season 2 of Netflix's The Umbrella Academy. But even if the first nine episodes of the new season didn't have your jaw on the floor, there's little question the series' twist-a-minute finale did. With the season 2 finale, showrunner Steve Blackman proved there's still much to explore in the ongoing trials and tribulations of the super-powered Hargreeves family.

Many of season 2's biggest surprises came not from the Hargreeves' themselves, but from the new faces who joined and/or opposed them on their time-hopping adventure. Few of those fresh characters had as large an impact on The Umbrella Academy's second season as Lila Pitts. Portrayed with manic glee by Ritu Arya, Lila turned up as a seemingly unstable mental patient opposite Diego Hargreeves (David Castañeda) on the first episode of season 2. As the season unfolded, so too did an intriguing backstory that made Lila one of the series' most compelling characters.

While Lila doesn't appear in Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá's graphic novels upon which the show is based, as conjured by The Umbrella Academy's creative team, she feels as authentic to the series' increasingly wild world as the titular heroes. She even scored one of the biggest twists of the season when it was revealed she had super powers herself, and could mimic the abilities of those around her.

That particular power obviously made Lila's showdown with the Hargreeves crew incredibly interesting, but it also signaled that the super-powered world of The Umbrella Academy could get even more super with season 3.

Now, the potential for The Umbrella Academy to introduce more and more super-powered individuals has existed sine the very beginning of the series. Luther (Tom Hopper), Vanya (Ellen Page), Allison (Emily Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Number 5 (Aidan Gallagher), Ben (Justin H. Min), and Diego (Castañeda) aren't the only special kids in the world. There are 43 potentially-powered beings who were born on the same day the Hargreeves kids were: October 1, 1989. Sir Reginald (Colm Feore) adopted only seven children, leaving the other 36 unaccounted for ... at least at the start of the show. Prior to the Lila reveal, fans had wondered exactly what became of all those other kids.

Season 2 reveals that Lila was born on October 1, 1989 to mother Anita Gill and father Ronnie Gill. However, the Commission's powerful leader the Handler (Kate Walsh) had Lila's parents executed when she was just four years old. The Handler then raised Lila herself, knowing her powers would one day come in handy. When that vile deception became clear, Lila understandably freaked out a bit, and promptly used one of those handy Commission suitcases to vanish into time. It's highly unlikely we've seen the last of Lila, given she'd developed genuine feelings for Diego by the end of season 2. 

While we wait to see what season 3 of The Umbrella Academy has in store for her, a much bigger question was raised in season 2's rug-pulling final moments. The puzzling reveal of the Sparrow Academy –  another set of seven children adopted by Hargreeves, nearly identical to the Umbrella Academy – may prove Lila was just the tip of the super-powered iceberg given that the surprisingly alive, alt-version of Ben doesn't recognize his siblings when they turn up. That twist signals that the six shadowy figures behind him are indeed different powered individuals. 

The question now becomes not just why another version of Sir Reginald adopted different kids, but also how many more powered people are in play for season 3 of The Umbrella Academy.