How IT: WELCOME TO DERRY Wrapped Up Each Character’s Story

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The first season finale of IT: Welcome to Derry (now known as Chapter One) concludes in a way that directly leads into the story of It, which jumps forward 27 years to 1989, as depicted in the Stephen King movie. In the finale, General Shaw’s attempt to unleash IT fails dramatically. IT covers Derry in a mysterious fog and kidnaps dozens of children from Derry High School—including Will Hanlon—trapping them in the Deadlights to consume their energy.

Okay, so the finale really hinged on Lilly, Marge, and Ronnie successfully grabbing that weird rock-dagger – the one that originally trapped Pennywise. They raced to this ancient tree, a sacred spot for the local Native tribe who first imprisoned the creature millennia ago, hoping to rebuild the cage. It wasn’t easy, though. The Hanlons, Dick Hallorann, Rose, and even her nephew Taniel all pitched in to slow Pennywise down, buying the Losers Club – our original heroes – precious time. Ultimately, they managed to recreate the cage, which the tribe calls the Galoo. That’s where we left things: the Losers, the town of Derry, and Pennywise all hanging in the balance.

Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider)

Having narrowly escaped prison after being wrongly accused of murder and surviving a devastating fire, Hank cleverly uses the situation to disappear. With Rose’s assistance, he obtains new identification and a fresh start, taking his daughter, Ronnie, to Montreal to build a new life for themselves, free from suspicion.

Ronnie Grogan (Amanda Christine)

Ronnie says goodbye to Will with a kiss before leaving Derry with her father. They promise to stay in touch, hoping she won’t forget him or their town. Some viewers speculate that she eventually returns, marries Will, and becomes Jessica Hanlon. However, many hope she finds lasting happiness and stays far away from Derry, perhaps building a life in Canada.

General Shaw (James Remar)

By the season’s end, it’s clear that General Shaw is a dangerous and foolish man. His supposed plan to capture IT was a deception; he actually intended to release it, hoping to create a world living in constant terror. However, he underestimated the power he was dealing with when he tried to control Pennywise. Pennywise recognized him from their shared past, transformed into the terrifying figure from Shaw’s childhood, and ultimately killed him by biting his head off.

Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo)

Leroy joins the fight against Pennywise primarily to protect his son, Will. Although Pennywise traps him with his terrifying Deadlights, the others manage to free him. After promising to stay silent about General Shaw’s strange plan, Leroy receives an honorable discharge. The Hanlon family originally plans to leave Derry, but Rose unexpectedly offers them her farm. Despite their reservations, they decide to stay and join Rose’s group dedicated to protecting the town. This decision is largely due to a scene in IT showing an older Leroy owning a sheep farm in 1989 and raising his grandson, Mike. Maintaining this continuity, the Hanlons remain in Derry.

Charlotte Hanlon (Taylor Paige)

Charlotte Hanlon is the one who persuades her husband to remain in Derry. Following Rose’s suggestion, she purchases a farm just outside of town, even after all the tragic events that occurred there. The ending suggests that Charlotte and her husband become part of Rose’s mysterious group, dedicated to protecting Derry. While Leroy appears in the original IT film, Charlotte does not, so it’s unclear if she lives to see the 1989 resurgence of Pennywise. Unfortunately, as established in the original IT, Charlotte will eventually suffer the heartbreaking loss of her son, Will, in a house fire.

Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James)

Despite everything happening in Derry, young Will seems content because he’s made new friends. He tells Ronnie he’ll write to her, worried she’ll forget him, as people who leave Derry often do. We later learn Will grows up, gets married, and has a son named Mike. However, tragically, Mike is raised by Leroy Hanlon because Will and his wife die in a fire while saving their son. It’s a very sad situation.

Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack)

Even though the dagger’s influence made Lilly paranoid and prone to outbursts, she managed to overcome its effects with support from her friends and played a key role in stopping Pennywise. She and Marge Truman rekindled their friendship by the story’s end. Her future remains unknown, but a hint in the credits suggests she might be Beverly Marsh’s mother from the original IT – the same woman who tragically took her own life in 1988, though this connection isn’t definitively confirmed.

Richie Santos (Arian S. Cartaya)

It’s still heartbreaking that Richie Santos is gone. He died a heroic death in episode seven, sacrificing himself to save Marge during the fire. Though he’s no longer with us physically, his spirit returned to assist his friends, completing a crucial task and even offering a funny gesture of defiance. His memory will live on, and now we’re turning our attention to another child from Derry.

Marge Truman (Matilda Lawler)

Marge Truman plays a key role in trapping Pennywise again, forcing him back into his 27-year cycle. However, Pennywise attacks her and almost succeeds in killing her, revealing a shocking prophecy: Marge will one day become Marge Tozier, and her son Richie – named after the boy who originally saved her – will be the one to ultimately destroy him. By the end, Marge realizes Pennywise exists throughout all time, a crucial piece of information she perhaps should have shared with her son years later.

Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk)

After IT awakened his psychic abilities, Dick uses them to help the other kids find the dagger and restore it. His powers prove crucial in defeating Pennywise, as he’s able to enter the creature’s mind. Following these events, Dick tells Leroy he’s moving to the UK to work as a hotel cook. We later learn this leads him to the Overlook Hotel in Colorado, and those familiar with The Shining and Doctor Sleep know what happens to him after that – both in life and beyond.

Rose (Kimberly Guerrero)

Rose, who runs the local pawn shop, is heartbroken when her nephew, Taniel, dies fighting the Galoo. Overwhelmed with grief, she sells her farm to the Hanlons and asks them to become part of the secret society, hoping they’ll help watch over the town of Derry. It seems she dedicates herself to guarding Derry, preparing for the next time the evil returns.

Ingrid Kersh/Periwinkle the Clown (Madeleine Stowe)

Following the devastating Black Spot fire, in which her husband died, Ingrid is drawn into Pennywise’s terrifying realm. As the daughter of Bob Gray, the original Pennywise, she suffers a complete mental breakdown and is committed to Juniper Hill Sanitarium. She spends the rest of her life there, painting and listening to records, until the late 1980s, when she is an elderly woman. Eventually, Pennywise uses her form to haunt Beverly Marsh, suggesting that the original Ingrid has long since passed away.

Pennywise/Bill Skarsgård

The creature known as Pennywise, or “It,” is defeated again at the end of the season, forcing it into a period of dormancy. However, It reveals to Marge that it knows the date of its demise (or rebirth) in the current cycle. This suggests that It is trapped in a time loop, existing throughout all time, similar to Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen. It also implies that Pennywise is traveling backward in time with each feeding, attempting to avoid being defeated by the Loser’s Club in 2016. Therefore, the next two seasons of Welcome to Derry will probably focus on It trying to eliminate the ancestors of the Loser’s Club in the years 1935 and 1908.

The complete first season of It: Welcome to Derry is now streaming on HBO Max.

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2025-12-15 06:07