‘The Umbrella Academy’: What is Marigold?

The concept of Marigold was introduced in the first season of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy. In season 4, the mysterious substance gets a complex origin story, further expanding the show’s mythology.

Warning: the following article contains spoilers for season 4 of The Umbrella Academy.

Marigold appears for the first time when Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) says goodbye to his dying wife. In the scene, which also teases Sir Reginald’s alien origin, the eccentric man opens up a jar with a strange substance made of golden particles. The substance would become the highlight of one of season 2’s main plot points, as Vania (Elliot Page) accidentally shares part of the Marigold inside of her with Harlan (Justin Paul), giving him superpowers.

In season 3, an aged Harlan (Callum Keith Rennie) finally names the golden substance, telling Viktor (Page) that it is the source of power for the 43 children suddenly born on October 1, 1989, including the members of the Umbrella Academy. Since season 3 ends with the Hargreeves siblings stripped of their powers and launched in a timeline where Sir Reginald rules, it was expected that Marigold would return. As it turns out, the fourth and final season comes full circle by explaining the origins of the mysterious substance.

Who created Marigold in The Umbrella Academy?

The Marigold inside the Hargreeves siblings was used as fuel for the Oblivion machine Sir Reginald used to reboot reality at the end of season 3 of The Umbrella Academy. He also rewrote the timeline using the machine so that Marigold would never contaminate the 43 children. That means the main characters are trapped in this new timeline without their powers, forced to live in a world where Reginald is wealthy and powerful. Finally, Sir Reginald resurrected his deceased wife in the new timeline, allowing fans to know Abigail Hargreeves (Lisa Repo-Martell). 

Like Sir Reginald, Abigail is a brilliant alien scientist with access to advanced technology. Once upon a time, Abigail tried to create a new element that contained the energy of the universe’s creation. That new element is what the show calls “Marigold.” Unfortunately, when Abigail crafted Marigold, another element suddenly appeared: Durango. These two elements would destroy Sir Reginald and Abigail’s homeworld and kick off the series’ events. That’s because Sir Reginald indeed unleashed Marigold on Earth on purpose because he felt lonely.

What is Durango in The Umbrella Academy?

As an opposite particle to Marigold, Durango represents the absolute destruction of everything. However, Durango is a dormant element that only activates when in contact with Marigold. As Abigail explains, when these two elements touch, they create an apocalypse-level event that wipes out all life on the planet.

As children of Marigold, the Hargreeves siblings can never approach Durango. Of course, season 4 revolves around this exact event, as Ben (Justin H. Min) inadvertently touches Jennifer (Victoria Sawal), the carrier of Durango on Earth. This union sheds some light on the functioning of Durango and Marigold.

Since Marigold is pure creative energy, its release creates multiple timelines. This instability of a multiverse is course-corrected with multiple apocalyptic events. So, as long as Marigold exists, the world is doomed to end, no matter how many apocalypses the Hargreeves prevent. Durango is the antidote for Marigold, a substance that literally becomes a giant monster to hunt down the golden substance and completely absorb it. By doing so, the universe is set straight, and a single timeline remains, where the existence of Marigold is completely erased from history.

Of course, that leaves some questions unanswered. Above all, how can eliminating Marigold in a single timeline fix the whole universe if there are superpowered people in every timeline? Marigold and Durango are the keys to The Umbrella Academy’s ending. Sadly, with only six episodes to wrap everything up, the substances weren’t properly explained in the show.