It: Welcome to Derry has come to an end (though there's no way we aren't getting a second season... right, HBO?) After seven terrifying and tumultuous episodes, we say goodbye to the first iteration of the Losers Club... and we recommend bringing a box of tissues along for the ride.
The eighth and final episode, written by co-showrunner Jason Fuchs, is easily the best of the season. Below, we recap the finale and answer your burning questions – with some added help from Fuchs himself.
It: Welcome to Derry episode 8 ending recap
At the end of episode 7, the only thing left on earth (besides that dagger) that can keep Pennywise at bay is thrown into an incinerator and destroyed. Thus, Pennywise is awoken from his slumber. Episode 8 begins with a terrifying fog rolling into Derry, signifying that Pennywise is indeed back. When school starts for the day, the students are called into the auditorium. Pennywise puppets the corpse of their principal before doing his little dance-y dance and locking the doors behind them. He pulls them all into the Deadlights, and the town becomes plastered with missing children posters. When Lilly, Marge, and Ronnie realize everyone is gone, Will's missing poster suddenly floats towards them. Realizing they don't have much time to save their friend, the trio (cosmic dagger in hand) first attempts to head over on bike... but ends up deciding to steal a milk truck instead.
Elsewhere, Leroy Hanlon calls his house in hopes that Will will pick up, but he receives a call back from Pennywise instead. He rushes to find Dick Hallorann, his only hope, and talks him out of committing suicide. The two head over to Rose's house, where Leroy is confronted by an understandably distraught Charlotte, a concerned Hank Grogan, and an always-calm Taniel. Rose knows that Dick is their only hope in finding Pennywise, but he explains to her that he can't think straight (due to the black box in his mind being opened in episode 6).
To help quiet the voices, she gives him a hallucinogenic drug known as the Maturin root, and it allows him to clearly see Lilly, Ronnie, and Marge fighting over the dagger before crashing the milk truck. They hurriedly climb into the van, with Dick giving them directions. As it turns out, the dagger has a strange, adverse effect on the person who is holding it for too long – and they decide to take turns from there on out. Luckily, they managed to crash near where Pennywise has parked the caravan. They run out onto the ice and see their missing classmates, who are floating in some kind of trance. The caravan opens, blood spilling out, and the girls use the dagger to keep Pennywise at bay as he maniacally circles around them.
The girls get split up, and Marge suddenly finds herself alone on the ice with Pennywise. It calls her by a last name that she doesn't recognize (but we, the viewers, definitely do): Tozier. The clown holds up a missing poster with none other than Richie Tozier's face on it, and explains that this is her future son...who, with the help of the Losers Club, ultimately defeats Pennywise and brings about his death. In an attempt to prevent this from happening, he moves to kill Marge - but is suddenly stunned in place, likely due to the cosmic dagger being nearby.
The van pulls up, the kids fall from their trance, and Leroy and Will briefly reunite. Taniel begins to usher all of the kids into the van and get them to safety. The girls hand the dagger over to Leroy, who hands it to Taniel (the rightful owner), and the two begin running towards a lightning-struck tree - the spot where the last pillar needs to be placed. They're stopped suddenly by the U.S. Air Force, who begin shooting. Taniel is tragically shot dead, and the rest of the soldiers hold the adults hostage. Realizing the army might harm him and his son, Leroy gives the dagger to Will and tells him to run to the tree. Will second-guesses himself, admitting that he's scared, but Leroy reassures him. Will then leads the charge, with Lilly, Ronnie, and Marge following behind. Because Will has been holding onto the dagger for too long, it begins to warp his personality like it did with Lilly.
Meanwhile, General Shaw boldly walks up to a temporarily stunned Pennywise and tells him that he's not so scary after all. He decides to pat himself on the back for destroying Maturin the turtle, stopping Leroy and Dick, and effectively waking Pennywise from his slumber. Pennywise, however, remembers encountering Shaw when he was a child ("I never forget a smell") and bites his head off. With Shaw dead and the army holding Rose, Dick, Will, and Leroy at gunpoint, Pennywise is free to just traipse on over and try to stop the kids from putting the dagger in place. Realizing death is near and that there's nothing else he can do, Dick apologizes to Leroy for not being able to save his son.
Leroy manages to shoot Pennywise and momentarily subdue him, giving the kids time to make it to the tree. However, placing the dagger requires more strength than they realize. Dick suddenly turns towards the van and pauses. When Rose asks, "What do you see?" Dick replies, "A motherfucking miracle." Rich appears (holding hands with the Indigenous warrior from the Galloo myth) and sprints through the ice in slow motion, making sure to flip off Pennywise in the process. Pennywise regains his strength and grows wings, flying towards Lilly, Marge, Will, and Ronnie – but Rich makes it in time, and helps his friends push the dagger into the ground. Pennywise begins to deteriorate, flesh ripping away from his face to reveal several different sickening forms before he combusts – turning into a tiny beam of light that bounces away. Tearfully, the kids recall an extra pair of hands helping them – and realize that it was Rich the entire time.
We cut to Marge speaking beautifully at Rich's funeral, where both Will and Rich's parents are weeping in the front row. Dick stands in the back, and watches Rich put his hand on their shoulders. The kids hug, and Dick sweetly tells Rich's parents that Rich is standing behind them – and that he always will be. As we begin to leave these characters, we see Marge find Rich's paper airplane in a tree, and Lilly goes to the cemetery to visit her father's grave. However, one more important conversation has to happen: back at the hangout spot, Marge tells Lilly about her scary solo moment with Pennywise. It dawns on her: If Pennywise tried to kill Marge in this timeline to prevent It's death... what's stopping him from trying to kill people who were born before them, like their parents? Season 2, anyone?
Elsewhere, Ronnie and Will lament over leaving Derry and potentially forgetting each other... but the two share an unforgettable moment: their first kiss. Elsewhere, Dick packs up to leave for London, where he's headed to be a chef at a resort. Before the Hanlons leave, Rose asks them if they want to take over the farm, arguing that they're the perfect people to stay and help keep Pennywise asleep and Derry safe. Though Leroy initially declines, Charlotte ends up changing his mind. Ronnie and Hank speed off happily in their car, headed over state lines. Hope abounds.
In the final moments of the finale, we cut to Ingrid Kersh, who is committed to Juniper Hill. We fast forward 27 years, seeing her as an old woman happily painting in her room. She hears crying down the hall, and walks into another room, where a woman has tragically hanged herself. On the floor crying is none other than Beverly Marsh, who turns around to meet a smiling Mrs. Kersh... who tells her that no one ever really dies in Derry.
What is the Maturin root?
It's more than just a nod to our deceased turtle friend. You might remember it as the hallucinogenic drug that Mike Hanlon takes in It: Chapter Two, so that the Losers can perform the Ritual of Chüd.
After the black box in Dick Hallorann's brain is opened during the sewer sequence in episode 6, his gift turns into a curse – and he is tormented by visions of screaming, moaning dead people. After Pennywise takes Will, Leroy begs for Dick's help. Unsure of where Pennywise has taken him, Rose knows that only Dick has the ability to locate Pennywise. In order to quiet the voices, she gives him Maturin root. Because of its hallucinogenic and spiritual properties, Dick is immediately mentally transported to where Marge, Lilly, and Ronnie are fighting over the dagger after crashing the stolen milk truck. Once his ability is back, he, Rose, Taniel, Leroy, and Charlotte all get in the van and head out in search of Pennywise – while following Dick's exact directions.
In It: Chapter Two, Mike Hanlon (the most researched and well-read member of the Losers Club) discovers the Ritual of Chüd after spending time with Indigenous tribes. He uses it to achieve an elevated state that allows him to see where It truly emerged from, and gives some of it to Bill. The ritual itself involves burning specific items that are special to each person involved (i.e. a rock, a shower cap, a Baseball card)... but ultimately fails.
Is Marge the future mother of Losers Club member Richie Tozier?
Yes. It was a pretty popular theory among the younger fans of Welcome to Derry – and it's safe to say the kids are alright.
The reveal comes in the middle of It: Welcome to Derry episode 8, when Marge suddenly finds herself alone in the fog with Pennywise. Always one for the theatrics, Pennywise greets her by her eventual married name, and shows her Richie Tozier's missing poster from It: Chapter One. He explains that it's her son and his friends (the Losers Club, of course) who eventually kill him. He attempts to remedy this by killing Marge – but no dice. The cosmic dagger being nearby stops him in his tracks.
I'm not sure what tipped it off, but fans have been theorizing that Marge would go on to be the mother of Losers Club member Richie Tozier since the very first episode –some were adamant about it based on Marge and Richie wearing similar glasses, but others took a closer look and even put actor Matilda Lawler's mannerisms side-by-side with Finn Wolfhard's in It: Chapter One. Plus, Richie's mother is canonically named Margaret... which Marge is indeed a nickname for.
"The idea started with the very earliest conversations between myself and the Muschiettis about how do we create linkages between the group of characters in this show and the films, and how do we try to create some linkages that are not immediately obvious," co-showrunner Jason Fuchs tells GamesRadar+. "I pitched the idea to Andy, 'Is it possible we have a character who is the mother of one of our Losers, so we don't have a dead giveaway of a last name? And that you don't find out that reveal until later in the season, and it becomes something that the viewer can sort of begin to piece together – that was the first idea."
"The second idea was once we decided that Richie's mom could be an interesting opportunity, we decided we needed an emotional reason in addition to just the sort of fun Easter egg discovery of it. And emotionally, what I pitched to Andy, was what if the very decision to name her son Rich stems from that character's emotional journey and relationship with a young boy who maybe was named Rich, who maybe sacrifices himself to save her." Are you crying? I'm crying.
Can Pennywise time travel?
Kinda sorta. "Tomorrow, yesterday? It's all the same for little Pennywise," the creepy clown tells Marge while they're in the fog, explaining that he has seen his death and that it's her son Richie and the rest of the Losers Club who eventually kill him. Pennywise then attempts to kill Marge, in order to prevent that from happening, but is frozen by the dagger - which Ronnie is holding nearby.
According to Fuchs (who also wrote episode 8), it's not so much that Pennywise can time-travel as much as he can simply see the past, present, and future all at once. Marge later tells Lilly about the encounter, and wonders whether Pennywise will go back in time to try to kill their parents.
"I think there is a tremendous amount of mystery around that moment with the Richie Tozier missing kid poster," Fuchs explains. "All that beat suggests to me is that It has a unique relationship with, or perception of, time. I don't know about time travel... I'm not saying that that's not what it is... I just think the only thing you can conclusively determine based on that beat is that It perceives time in a mixed-up, very different way than you or I might. And I think the implications of that are tantalizing and very, very unclear."
Why do the Hanlons stay in Derry?
In short, they're good people. If there's anyone who can keep Derry safe, and potentially change it for the better, it's the Hanlons.
At the very end of episode 8, Rose approaches Leroy and Charlotte as they're about to leave Derry. Leroy explains that the military gave him an honorable discharge (in exchange for keeping his mouth shut, of course) and that he no longer has faith in them. Rose replies, "Kind of makes you the perfect person to keep an eye on them... You and Charlotte. I want you to join us. Make sure that your old friends, or anyone else for that matter, [doesn't try] to reopen that cage." She explains that this isn't the end of the story, and that the two of them could really do some good for Derry.
At first, Leroy declines. But as the family loads up the car and prepares to leave, Charlotte pauses. It's a sweet moment: Leroy says he thought this was the end of their "damn fool missions," but Charlotte posits that maybe it's time for the next damn fool mission to be together. Leroy gives her a knowing smile, and the rest is history. It's worth noting that it's also canon for the Hanlons to stay in Derry, as Will Hanlon will become the eventual father of Losers Club member Mike – who becomes a Derry historian, and whose extensive research on the town in the index of the It novel is what much of the prequel series is based on.
What happens to Dick Hallorann?
Before saying goodbye to the Hanlons, Dick tells Leroy that he's off to London to try his hand at being a chef. If you were expecting Dick to say he's headed on over to the Overlook Hotel, you're several years too early.
In the books, there's a bit of a gap in Dick Hallorann's history between when he leaves Derry and when he arrives at the Overlook. In Tabitha King's novel Pearl, which is canon to the Stephen King book universe, Dick is working as a chef at a resort in Key West, Florida. Key West is his last stop before he heads on over to the Overlook for the winter. Now, the Dick Hallorann we all know and love from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining was 70 years old during his time at the Overlook. In the novel, Dick is 59 years old.
According to Fuchs, Dick is around 43 years old during his tenure in Derry – meaning there's still a ways to go before he heads on over to Colorado and meets the Torrance family.
"I had written that both ways," Fuchs reveals. "I had a version of that scene that said I'm off to Colorado, then we had a version of that scene that said, I'm off to Key West. And I had a version of that scene that said, I'm off to London. Ultimately, the reason we went with [London] is because it felt like Dick Halloran had completed a specific journey in his life, but it didn't feel to us from an age perspective or even a character perspective, that the man we are saying goodbye to at the end of episode 8 is the man who's gonna turn up at the Overlook in The Shining."
"It felt like there was still story, there was still stuff that he's going to go through – adventures and demons to face between the end of our show and the beginning of The Shining. And so even putting him, you know, in Key West to suggest that this is the stop before The Shining... he's not there yet. I think there are many other adventures for him to go on between now and the beginning of The Shining."
How does the final scene of It: Welcome to Derry episode 8 tie directly into It: Chapter One? What happened to Beverly Marsh's mother?
Ingrid Kersh was initially introduced in It: Welcome to Derry as a sweet older woman who is not only kind to Lilly, but also believes her versions of Pennywise. We later learn that the reason Ingrid believes Lilly is because Pennywise is her father (kind of). 27 years earlier, It lured a circus performer named Bob Gray into the woods and took over his body – with the dancing clown becoming It's favorite form. As it turns out, Ingrid still believed that her father was still in there somewhere...and initiated the Black Spot fire in order to wake Pennywise from his slumber, knowing that he wouldn't be able to resist the fear and terror.
You might remember a scene in It: Chapter Two where Pennywise appears in the form of a sinister old woman named Mrs. Kersh, who we think is just a manifestation of the trauma surrounding her abusive father. At the end of It: Welcome to Derry episode 8, we fast forward to It: Chapter One, where Beverly Marsh finds that her mother has committed suicide in her hospital room. Ingrid, now an old woman, appears behind her and tells her, with a smile, that no one ever really dies in Derry.
"It also changes the context of that scene in It: Chapter Two, because now you're understanding, 'Oh, wait, the reason that It takes that guise in Chapter Two is not just about tormenting Beverly as it relates to her traumatic relationship with her dad,'" Fuchs explains. "It's actually scratching a very deeply repressed piece of trauma in the back of her brain, which is Mrs. Kersh is the person she met the day she suffered the most traumatic event of her young life to that point, which was the suicide, obviously, of her mom."
Who dies in It: Welcome to Derry episode 8?
Pretty bold to assume that evil is an entity that you can reckon with or befriend – and that it'll somehow spare your life. I'm looking at you, General Shaw.
After a fatality-filled first season, the finale of Welcome to Derry only sees the loss of two central characters (and two Derry residents: RIP to the Milk Man). Though Pennywise kidnaps the high school children with the intention of leading them to their deaths – all of their lives are spared thanks to Lilly, Marge, and Ronnie's quick thinking, and that cosmic dagger. The U.S. Air Force appears, unfortunately, in an attempt to stop Leroy, Charlotte, Rose, Taniel, and Dick from defeating Pennywise – and ends up shooting Taniel dead.
Believing that they've succeeded in preventing Pennywise from another 27 years of sleep, General Shaw boldly walks up to a momentarily frozen Pennywise and tells him he's "free" now. Pennywise suddenly remembers his encounter with Shaw from 27 years prior, creepily saying that he "never forgets" a smell, and bites Shaw's head off.
The total death count for main characters in season 1 is around eight, including Matty Clements, Teddy Uris, Phil Malkin, Susie Malkin, Captain Pauly Russo, and Rich Santos.
And if we're counting the rest of the fatalities from the Black Spot fire, children, killed off-screen by Pennywise as evidenced by their missing posters, various soldiers and Derry residents, and Ingrid Kersh's awful husband – the death toll is somewhere around 90.
Will there be an It: Welcome to Derry season 2?
Though, at the time of writing, there has been no official greenlight from HBO – a second and third season of Welcome to Derry has been part of Andy Muschietti's master plan since the show's inception.
While the finale does fast-forward 27 straight into It: Chapter One, the direction of the next season is more or less revealed during Marge and Lilly's conversation at the hangout spot. After Marge reveals to Lily what Pennywise said to her when they were in the fog, she posits the theory, "What if he goes back in time and tries to kill someone from before the time we were born?" And that's exactly what Muschietti has in mind.
Earlier this year, the filmmaker revealed his three-season plan for Welcome to Derry (which spawned a conversation about whether or not red balloons existed in 1908 – yes, rubber was already around). Season 1 takes place in 1962, with season 2 jumping backwards 27 years to 1935, and then another 27 years to 1908 in season 3.
If the show is renewed, we'll be headed to 1935, which is the time of the infamous Bradley Gang massacre (which we see an animation of in the opening credits, as well as the recovered car in episode 2).
All eight episodes of It: Welcome to Derry are streaming now on HBO Max. For more, check out our guide to all the It: Welcome to Derry episode 8 Easter eggs you might've missed.
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