Absolutely brilliant ending! I love how everything comes together while still leaving our characters in just some of the worst mental spots imaginable. A few steps forward for some, while others are thrown right back. In this issue we open on an odd scene, it’s the umbrella academy so far back into their past that five is still there. Today is the day of a science fair Hargreeves setup to show off the children…and as rebellious as ever Five decided to make him look like a fool. Instead of showing off his amazing temporal powers, he made a model of the solar system…bur perfectly falling in line with the current present day…the Earth is missing.
We now jump to Dallas, 1963 where five is currently engaged with a shootout with his previous older self. A few of the time agents are already dead, but without five standing down and listening…the agents get a call from their boss to really take things seriously. As olde five is injured by a blast, younger five receives the same scar. Young five of course freaks out, that’s not the plan…but plans change and according to Carmichael they have no need for him. Right before the last two time agents can blast five…Luther crashes in and smashes their heads together! Luther isn’t exactly happy to be here though, he wants to know where Rumor is and as five isn’t giving him anything, he lifts his body up and threatens to crush his head. It’s so funny seeing that five can fit in the palm of Luther’s hand. But no one else is going to get a chance to kill the president today either, Luther gives older five the go ahead to do what he needs to do. And just as it’s supposed to play out, older five takes out the other assassins then uses a time agents both to go back in time. But that’s not the end of it, as five puts it:
“Space—I’ve killed a lot people. I mean, a lot. But this one’s something special. He’s an idea. And what you can’t take down with bullets…you have to take down with words. That’s why I needed her.”
Remember she five needed those surgeons, turns out it was so he could restore rumor’s vocal cords!! They swapped her out with Kennedy’s wife!! And she heard a rumor that the back of his head is about to explode. OMG HIS HEAD REALLY CAN JUST DO THAT, lol. And just like that, time plays it should. Rumor swaps out with the really Jackie at the hospital then slips out into the ambulance with white team…only to find Luthor, Klaus, Diego, five, and the puppy waiting for her. Luther is beyond disappointed, and immediately sees her actions in this as a selfish way to get her voice back. But she didn’t just do this for herself, the agency went back in time and out a gun to the head of one of the mothers…the one that was going to bear twins. Five and number 1!! She did all of this to save Luther, because she loves him! But Luther has changed, he’s spent time in Vietnam and put his life on the line and doesn’t see how their lives are worth more. As the ambulance travels through time, they suddenly find themselves back home…and everything is the same. It’s as if nothing has changed. Well not for everyone, but Luther sees it all in a completely different light and he no longer feels like he has a place there. As Luther heads off to be on his own, back to his own jungle, Carmichael shows up. they did a great job, which means it’s time for a reward: ice cream! Everything is the same because they “correct” the timeline, it’s supposed to be this way. Technically they also saved the world, with JFK dying he never met Reginald and Hargreeves never got the nukes that would end up in the hands of the two psychopaths the time agency sent after them…which ultimately resulted in the world blowing up. Congrats, you saved the world again. But five isn’t having any of it anymore, he full on attacks Carmichael and breaks him out of his bowl. They cut him up and took his humanity and everyday he has to fight against his impulses…until today, when he decides to break and then swallow Carmichael whole. Holy s&$%! That is brutal. As everyone goes there separate ways, five enjoys an ice cream, seance finds a nice quiet spot at a bar, Diego finds a nice spot near a gargoyle to sulk, and Allison goes and cuddles up next to her sister. As five sits by the curb after finishing his ice cream, he looks in his pocket to find none other than the planet earth from his model.
What a fantastic issue, this series did leave the door open for quite a few things. Especially whatever the hell is going on with that mysterious company. But there is one thing that I’ve only just realized…Diego has been wearing an eye patch the entire time?! As sarge in Vietnam he had a very noticeable eye patch. But if you read the vol 2 collected edition it includes a mini comic from the past that shows Diego had an eye patch even when Ben was still alive. Looking back at his character when he was running around with kraken, I can now see through the dark glooming that his right eye was always blacked out because his mask includes a patch the entire time!! Speaking of that Perseus organization, the mini story talks about a time when Diego and Vanya were in a punk rock band together with Body the chimp as their drummer. They ended up getting in trouble with their father after they made news when they busted the jaw of the John Perseus’ son, the current CEO we’ve seen running around in the present. Hopefully he doesn’t hold a grudge, lol. Of course Hargreeves made them disband the group and attempted to send Vanya off to France to study classical music and leave Diego to continue his special work. But with another gig that night Diego said screw the old man, they are going to that gig. Except that night the time of their gig came…and Diego was no where in sight. Without a complete band they ended up having to call it, and Vanya ended up seeing on the news on the walk home that Diego was aiding the umbrella academy in some big mission. It was then that she decided that’s where he belongs, and she belongs to be as far away as possible. Damn.