The Umbrella Academy season 3 episode 2: recap: The World’s Biggest Ball of Twine

This article contains SPOILERS for The Umbrella Academy season 3 episode 2.

Klaus and Five go on a road trip, and since Marcus is gone, The Sparrow Academy takes a hostage in the second episode of The Umbrella Academy season 3.

Catch up here on everything from the last episode!

This second episode of The Umbrella Academy season 3 begins with a chipper Luther exiting Hotel Obsidian so he can go for a run. Chet is mourning his dog, Mr. Pennycrumb, but Luther pays him no mind.

As The Umbrella Academy’s Number One runs, he notices ravens following him, so he begins running away from them. Luther ends up tripping which is perfect for Fei, Sloane, and Ben to incapacitate him.

Allison arrives at her home to finally be reunited with her daughter, but this heartwarming moment turns sour when Claire is not the child in the bed. This child’s parents come in and demand Allison leaves since this is not her home, her family, or her daughter.

While checking out the books at their new residence, Vanya finds a history book where she reads about her siblings being the Kennedy Six. This is all so she can find out what happened to her former lover Sissy, who unfortunately died on October 1st, 1989, the same day the Umbrellas, Sparrows, and Lila were born.

The Umbrella Academy season 3 episode 2: “…it’s who I have always been.”

Following this trip down memory lane, Vanya hears Sissy’s words reminding her that sometimes one person can make you realize you are stuck in one box that you do not belong in. Vanya goes for a walk and ends up at a barbershop.

She admires the shorter hairstyles before taking a seat in the barber’s chair. At the hotel’s dining area, Klaus, Diego, and Five are figuring out what to do next.

Diego informs them Lila dropped off Stanley, but she disappeared just as fast. This is when a familiar face walks in with a new haircut and informs the brothers they talked to Marcus last night.

Diego asks, “Who elected you, Vanya?” to which his sibling responds, “It’s Viktor…it’s who I have always been.” The three Hargreeves instantly accept their trans brother but are still upset with him that he spoke for the Umbrellas.

Viktor trusts Marcus so he is not worried. Five is thinking about retirement since there is no more apocalypse and they are not responsible since the Sparrows are around.

The ball of energy in the Sparrow Academy’s basement gives off another pulse of energy that makes the electricity flicker at The Hotel Obsidian. Here, Klaus is trying to convince Five to go on a retirement trip and see the world, something Five agrees to do.

Stanley is caught stealing from a buffet, so Diego has to be a father. When he notices some liquid oozing out of Stanley’s ear, he takes his son to get medicine.

This distracts Diego away from Viktor’s plan to lay low until the briefcase handoff, leaving him alone in the hotel’s lobby. Luther wakes up at The Sparrow Academy in Grace’s care.

He puts on his defenses as he leaves the medical room, but he is greeted with courtesy, care, and a fresh smoothie from Sloane. The Sparrows want Marcus back since they believe the Umbrellas took him, so they tell Luther he is a hostage until their Number One is back.

The Umbrella Academy season 3 episode 2: Klaus’ real plan

Viktor goes to check on Allison upstairs, where she is mourning her daughter who never even existed. He explains his plan about Marcus, and Allison instantly states she is going too, something Viktor is more than happy with.

Lila tries using her briefcase to go to Berlin, but it does not work. In response, she smashes the case on a park bench while yelling expletives for the whole park to hear.

On their drive, Klaus remarks about how Five’s retirement is suiting him. This is short-lived, however, when Klaus informs his smallest and oldest brother that they are looking for Klaus’ birth mother.

Five, who is upset about Klaus’ mission, takes control of the wheel so the two of them can go see The World’s Biggest Ball of Twine. After Viktor explained how they were trans, Allison is looking inward and blames herself for not noticing her sibling’s true self.

He explains that Allison could never have known since they did not see it fully themselves until Sissy. But now Viktor can look in a mirror and see their true and real self.

At The World’s Biggest Ball of Twine, Five asks how Klaus knows about his birth mother. The Vietnam vet and former cult leader explained how he found check stubs during the 2000s in Reginald’s office that traced back to a woman, Rachel, who was paid for her baby whom Reginald called “Number 4.”

The Umbrella Academy season 3 episode 2: Diego bonds with his son

Diego and Stanley are at the pharmacy to get some meds for Stanley’s ear when Diego notices Alphonso and Jayme. After sneaking away from his son, Diego instigates a fight with Alphonso where audiences see again his ability to cause pain to the person trying to cause pain to him (when Diego punches Alphonso’s face, only Diego’s face hurts).

After he gets a slight upper hand on Alphonso, Jayme steps in and tries to use her hallucinogenic venom but it is dodged and blocked by Diego and Stanley. The second that Jayme and Alphonso are on their heels is when Diego flees to fight another day.

Klaus and Five arrive at the address from the check stub and it turns out to be an Amish community. Five makes his brother go at it alone so Klaus tries asking for his birth mother by asking for Rachel.

This upsets one couple with the husband pushing Klaus down for asking upsetting questions. Luther is having a grand ol’ time at the much more impressive Sparrow Academy while bonding with Sloane.

The security camera behind Luther turns so Sloane explains how she wants to leave and see the world. This is something Luther admires since he has seen the world on the moon.

The camera turns back however, and Sloane’s demeanor becomes less warm so Luther thinks this whole thing was a trap. Fei comes in before Sloane can explain anything to take Luther to talk to Ben.

As she reflects on her likely feelings for Luther growing, Lila can use Sloane’s power to levitate up to the roof of The Sparrow Academy.

The Umbrella Academy season 3 episode 2: The truth of their birth mothers

The energy orb in the basement pulses again, with an increased radius. This enables Five to see a field of cows disappear in an instant.

At this point, he realizes he is not staying retired. Grace is down in the basement again, worshipping the orb and believing it is God.

Klaus tracks down the woman he spoke to in town since he knew she had some information that could help him. The woman, Sarah-Beth, explains how the woman was her sister but she died 30 years ago on October 1st, 1989.

Allison and Viktor arrive at the diner where they plan to meet Marcus. They discuss how Five will understand why they want to use the briefcase and leave the timeline.

They are anxious about Marcus arriving since every time the door swings open and that bell rings, they quickly dart their eyes. As Five is trying to figure out the anomaly he witnessed with the cows, Klaus comes running out of the woods with a horde of Amish men chasing after him.

Before Klaus gets in the car, Sarah-Beth gives him a journal filled with notes. As they drive off, Klaus finds one which proves this woman died before Klaus was even born, something Five is upset about.

While Marcus is running very late, Allison sees visions of the diner where she had her sit-in protest back in 1963. This sparks a slew of traumatizing memories becoming anxiety-inducing for Allison.

To combat this, she has to leave the restaurant to cool down her apparent panic attack. Outside, she sees the man from the last episode who was on the bus listening to bee-themed white noise, staring at her.

She chases him but loses him in an alley. Viktor comes to check on his sister and the two return to The Hotel Obsidian.

The Umbrella Academy season 3 episode 2: Luther’s new flame

Luther enters the main hall at The Sparrow Academy where Ben explains to him that they are letting him go as a gesture of goodwill. This is also with a message and that is to let Marcus go or they will attack and take down every Umbrella.

Audiences then see a raven flying down to the basement, retrieving the Commission briefcase, and flying upstairs. While some might have thought it was Fei, it was Lila mimicking Fei’s powers to get the tool she needs to get out of here.

Allison, Viktor, and Diego are hanging out in the hotel lounge drinking away their miseries when Klaus and Five return. Five gathers everyone around, sans Luther, and informs them they created a massive time paradox that Five calls the grandfather paradox.

With his complimentary tote bag in hand, Luther begins leaving The Sparrow Academy but is waved down by Sloane. She uses her powers to bring Luther to her terrace.

She explains how her siblings were watching but she meant every word. Luther makes sure they are alone now before going in for a kiss as the two float within Sloane’s bedroom.

How do you think Luther and Sloane’s relationship will impact the rivalry between the Umbrellas and the Sparrows? What the heck is a grandfather paradox?

Let us know your answers and opinions in the comments below!

Watch all of The Umbrella Academy season 3, only on Netflix!