'The Umbrella Academy' season 1: Why is Ben aka Number 6 missing from the family?

'The Umbrella Academy' season 1: Why is Ben aka Number 6 missing from the family?

'The Umbrella Academy' became a huge success even before it first aired on TV. 'The Umbrella Academy' was first a graphic novel; the brain-child of Gerard Way, who won an Eisner-Award for his wonderfully weird graphic novel. As the story goes, 43 children were born on the same day to women who showed no signs of pregnancy and seven of them were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who believed they were special, and he was right in believing so. He brought them up together, calling them 'The Umbrella Academy' students. 

'The Umbrella Academy' consists of Luther Hargreeves aka Number One, Diego Hargreeves aka Number Two, Allison Hargreeves aka Number three, Klaus Hargreeves aka Number four, The Boy aka Number five, Ben Hargreeves aka Number Six and Vanya Hargreeves aka Number Seven. All these unrelated family members have their own unique powers, with Vanya being placed last as their adoptive father implied that she was not special at all, but we know otherwise.

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'The Umbrella Academy' with a bloody Ben Hargreeves (second to last) after the foiled a bank robbery in 'The Umbrella Academy'.
(Source: Netflix)
'The Umbrella Academy' with a bloody Ben Hargreeves (second to last) after the foiled a bank robbery in 'The Umbrella Academy'.
(Source: Netflix)

Ben Hargreeves has one of the strangest powers of the family, being able to summon tentacled creatures from another dimension, Ben's powers were comparatively violent compared to the rest of the family members. In the series, we do get a glimpse of a young 13-year-old Ben during the academy's attempt to foil a bank robbery. While all the kids seem to be enjoying their new, found superhero status, Ben seems a bit disheartened and displeased with himself, he just killed a bunch of bank robbers and didn't really seem to fit in with his brothers and sisters.

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In the graphic novel, we are told that Ben was a kind boy, who really wanted no part of the superhero business, but his love for Sir Reginald and his aim to please him may have cost Ben his life. Through both the graphic novel and the live-action series, we can see that Sir Reginald is a strict disciplinarian, and it's quite possible that he may have just pushed Ben over the edge.

There's also the little fact that Luther was somehow involved with Ben's death, and Luther was Sir Reginald's favorite out of the lot. We clearly hear Allison telling Luther "It wasn’t your fault, you know. I know everyone blames you for what happened to Ben. But none of us knows what really happened that day.” This signifies that Luther was definitely there at the time of Ben's death, though he may have not caused it.

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The Academy saying a last goodbye to their adoptive father in 'The Umbrella Academy'. (Source: IMDB)
The Academy saying a last goodbye to their adoptive father in 'The Umbrella Academy'. (Source: IMDB)

We really believe that Ben may have died due to Sir Reginald pushing him to the limit, in that, he may have lost control of the creatures, or else the guilt of killing people would have weighed heavily on a young boy like Ben (who's been killing people since he was 13 as far as we know), and he would've welcomed death in any form.

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But currently, we know that Ben would be alive, as we see him shift from a 20-something-year-old man to a 13-year old boy when Number Five uses his powers of time-travel to take the Academy back in time. For now, we know that he's safe and sound, but the next season will definitely touch upon his death as well, especially if someone from the family is involved in it.

'The Umbrella Academy' season 1 is available for streaming on Netflix.



 

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