Here’s Why Alphonso’s Face Is Disfigured in Season 3 of Umbrella Academy

Alphonso Hargreeves’ face appears to be affected by his powers in Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy. Though each Hargreeve adopted by Sparrow Academy is endowed with unique abilities, Alphonso’s abilities are perhaps the most mysterious. 

His powers are based on reflecting damage onto his opponents. Any injuries he sustains will bounce back at them. In spite of deflecting damage, he still has a heavily deformed face. 

He’s referred to as the “blob.” Several scenes in Season 3 suggest that he may not have as much power as it seems.  

Season 3 introduces the Sparrow Academy, which is the Umbrella Academy’s counterpart. They are built up to be the better Hargreeves team, a seed planted by Reginald Hargreeves.  

Number Four in the Sparrows, Alphonso is one of the morally corrupt members of the group. Despite many Hargreeves children having rocky relationships with Reginald, Alphonso absolutely despises him. As a result of his ability, Alphonso deflects his own pain in order to blame others for it. 

Alphonso’s abilities, which he calls Empathetic Masochism, first appear during the fight between the Umbrellas and the Sparrow Academy. When he dares Allison to punch him, the punch has a recoil effect, hurting Allison instead.  

It would seem with a power like this, he would be unmarked, but that is not the case. In a flashback, he has a less disfigured face, suggesting that his powers are having an effect on him.  

The flashbacks indicate that Alphonso didn’t always look like this. His face might have been disfigured because he’s sustained repeated injuries to his face or his powers have changed his appearance in some way over time. 

Perhaps he is vulnerable to damage, but his powers have a cumulative effect. His body shows wear and tear as he suffers damage over time. His abilities are also not automatic.  

In his fight with Diego, it was evident he can take damage over time, as Diego’s blows did not always recoil. We also saw that Viktor was able to blast the Sparrows, including Alphonso, without taking any damage.  

It indicates Alphonso must be conscious and focused to activate his ability. Moreover, this is also evident when he is unconscious or tired, as he is more vulnerable to damage then. This suggests that his seemingly melted face may have resulted from damage caused by enemies, combined with the toll his power has taken. 

While contextual clues throughout Season 3 make some sense of why Alphonso’s facial appearance seems to be declining, it is never completely explained. His powers at the first glance seem as if they would make him invincible, but now we know that they come at a price.  

About The Umbrella Academy

The Umbrella Academy is an American superhero series based on the comic book series of the same name written by Gerard Way. The series was created for Netflix by Steve Blackman and developed by Jeremy Slater.

The series revolves around seven children gifted with superpowers., who billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves turns into a team called The Umbrella Academy. The superhero siblings reunite to solve the mystery of their father’s death and the threat of an imminent apocalypse.

Source: Netflix