In Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy, the show dives into yet another apocalyptic event, introducing the Cleanse—a complex and destructive force with dual purposes.
The Umbrella Academy season 4: The Cleanse Explained
Season 4 introduces us to the Keepers, an underground group who believe their world is fake and aim to unleash the Cleanse to return to the “original” timeline. This group thinks that the Cleanse will erase the current fake reality and restore everything to how it was before.
As the season unfolds, we learn that Marigold, the substance giving the Hargreeves siblings their powers, was originally created by Abigail (Lisa Repo-Martell), Sir Reginald’s (Colm Feore) wife. Abigail intended to create a substance reflecting the universe’s creation energy but accidentally created Durango as well. When Marigold and Durango come together, they birth a monstrous entity capable of destroying the world. This comes to fruition in the series finale when Ben (Justin H. Min) and Jennifer (Victoria Sawal) merge, giving rise to the Cleanse monster.
What Is the Cleanse?
The Cleanse is both a world-destroying beast and a timeline-resetting mechanism. Abigail’s creation of Marigold inadvertently led to the emergence of Durango. The Cleanse monster’s goal is to find and absorb Marigold, as it needs to merge Marigold with Durango to cancel each other out. Left unchecked, the Cleanse would grow increasingly powerful and devour the world. To prevent this, the Hargreeves siblings decide to sacrifice themselves, allowing the Cleanse to consume them and the remaining Marigold.
The merging of Marigold and Durango has significant consequences for the timeline. Sir Reginald’s initial use of Marigold to trigger the births of the 43 children set off a chain reaction that led to the creation of countless timelines, all destined to end in disaster. The Hargreeves’ meddling has caused all these apocalyptic events across the multiverse.
By allowing the Cleanse monster to absorb them, the siblings effectively erase themselves from existence and eliminate all the alternate timelines, leaving behind a single, stable timeline. This means they are wiped from history entirely, making their sacrifice the key to restoring the original timeline and undoing Marigold’s impact. In the end, the Cleanse, while monstrous, achieves what the Keepers desired: a return to a single, continuous reality.
So, while the Cleanse is indeed a destructive force, its role in nullifying Marigold’s influence makes it a critical element in restoring order to the timeline.