Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Umbrella Academy.
Finally, through The Umbrella Academy Season 4, fans get to uncover how Ben Hargreeves died. According to the show's timeline, Ben (played by actor Justin H. Min) died during a mission back in 2006. It was called the "Jennifer Incident."
He was shot and killed by his adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy. It was in an attempt to retrieve a deadly weapon. He found a girl inside a container named Jennifer. Reginald thought Ben might contract with Jennifer and be the cause of some catastrophe, so he took extreme measures.
Well, more than uncovering the mystery of Ben's death, it is this piece of unexpected information that exposes the reality of Reginald on The Umbrella Academy. He was the one who manipulated the situation by wiping out the memory of that incident from the siblings' minds. So they couldn't ever realize the actual situation that surrounded the death of their brother.
How did Ben die in The Umbrella Academy?
One of the major questions from the start of Umbrella Academy was indeed what happened to Ben Hargreeves, and it finally unwraps its tragic details in Season 4. Ben, portrayed by Justin H. Min, was murdered by no other than his adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves.
That is quite a stunning revelation, reaching back to a mission dubbed the "Jennifer Incident" in 2006, briefly described above. They had been tasked with retrieving a weapon of mass destruction from an arms dealer who had hailed from Moldova. He had entered the container, where he found a girl named Jennifer, and he acted on impulse to save her.
Reginald Hargreeves shot Ben and Jennifer both because he was of the view that their interaction together would cause the direst of the worldly side effects. Due to Jennifer, an element is added to The Umbrella Academy, termed Durango. Such a thing, taken and mixed with Marigold—what had created the powers held by the Hargreeves children—might begin this chain reaction.
It would have distorted its proportions and be called "The Cleanse" to wipe humanity off the face of the earth. Following the death of Ben, Reginald lies to the siblings about the cause of death. He then manipulates them into thinking that they simply "failed as a team."
What was Ben's power in The Umbrella Academy?
In the series The Umbrella Academy, Ben is also called Number Six. He can summon eldritch creatures from another dimension through a portal that opens in his belly. The creatures manifest in large, tentacle-like appendages he may manipulate and use as tentacle bludgeons. His powers are impressive but very gory.
The tentacles appeared strong enough to lift a fully grown human being and shred them. Ben, with his tentacles in the comic, uses them mainly to take hold of villains or people and things that need to be grabbed. However, in Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, Ben uses the tentacles more violently. The flapped tentacles can hit something or someone nearby.
Ben would probably not be a hero since he does not like exerting his power because of his violently crazed nature. In the flashback scenes of the comics, Ben comes out of a bank vault shaken and covered in blood after having dealt with some robbers. A glimpse is given into "The Horror," which famously earned him the same nickname.
Since Ben is a ghost in The Umbrella Academy, he is only able to harness his powers through the tentacles. Klaus projects this into a physical form. Thus, many times, Ben saves the Hargreeves siblings from a tricky situation by killing many agents from The Commission to prevent the apocalypse in 2019.
Why is Ben always with Klaus? Is that what makes his ghost older?
In The Umbrella Academy, Ben Hargreeves is seldom seen without his brother Klaus at his side. This has several meanings for both characters. After his freak accident death, the ghost, Ben later becomes able to manifest himself only to Klaus, who happens to have the ability to channel him.
This unusual connection comes from the fact that they were very close during Ben's lifetime, when they shared a deep, albeit complicated, relationship. Being a psychic, Klaus can raise the spirit of Ben, so they can interact and collaborate in all areas, most importantly, in high stakes situations.
Ghost Ben is an integral part of Klaus's development. Their interaction spells out Klaus's addiction problems and other emotional baggage in the way he often turns to Ben for advice and solace. In this way, it forms a dynamic where Klaus feels responsible for the legacy left by Ben, which gives both humor and importance. As for the age of Ben, while he died as a teenager, his ghost seems to appear like that of an adult.
If one goes by this imagery, then indeed, the passage of time and emotional maturing gained by talking to Klaus become salient themes. The close relationship that these people share in some way keeps Ben alive. They wade through themes of family and loss, there to support each other as relationships change, even in death.
Catch all the episodes of The Umbrella Academy Season 4 on Netflix.
