What Happened to Ben on 'Umbrella Academy'? Season 2 May Show How He Died

Netflix introduced your next superhero obsession with one of its latest original series, The Umbrella Academy, but there’s a major mystery surrounding one of its main characters. What happened to Ben/The Horror? Not even the original comics hold the answer, but Umbrella Academy Season 2 might.

Spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 1 below.

The first season introduced and addressed several burning questions by its finale. We learned how the apocalypse came about and how time travel played a role in attempting to stop it — more than once. Whether or not Number Five’s latest attempt to travel through time (with his siblings this time) will work, remains to be seen.

We also learned that the seven adopted children all have powers (though Vanya grew up thinking she didn’t). However, by the time we caught up with them as adults, one of them, Number Six (Ben), was already dead. Through flashbacks and Klaus’ ability to see the dead, however, Ben was still around and played a major role in the later episodes.

As for Ben’s powers, we saw him use four massive tentacles to disable robbers through the frosted windows of a room in a bank. When he emerged, he was covered in blood. However, he appeared reluctant to do so, asking his siblings if he had to and saying he didn’t sign up for it before entering the room.

As explained in the comics, Ben could unleash monsters from other dimensions from under his skin.

Through Klaus, grown-up Ben tagged along for much of Season 1’s events. We even saw Klaus make him interact with others, such as when he saved Diego’s life. Then, in the finale, Klaus’ powers grew to the point that he was able to make Ben visible to the others and use his tentacles to take out members of the Commission who were attacking his siblings.

The Netflix series has yet to reveal exactly how Ben died. We don’t even have any hints with his ghost’s appearance like we did with other ghosts Klaus saw in Season 1. Ben looks perfectly normal. Is that a clue about his death? Do we just not see any wounds because they’re hidden by his clothes? Or does that have anything to do with Klaus’ ability and how he sees Ben since he knew him?

Don’t expect to be able to find the answer in the comics, either. Creator Gerard Way told Forbes that’s one of the questions he has yet to answer, as he’s still writing the comic series.

“I originally just wrote the character to be dead, that was his function,” he explained. “I always knew I was going to resolve it. The thing about The Umbrella Academy, it’s almost like improvisational jazz. You’re just making it up as you go along.”

Perhaps that’s a question The Umbrella Academy Season 2, if there is one, will answer. After all, the siblings are now traveling through time. That means they might be able to visit Ben before he died. They might even save him.

The Umbrella Academy Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

Related video: The Umbrella Academy Teaser Trailer