HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry has fundamentally expanded and reimagined the cosmic origin story of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the ancient entity that preys upon the residents of Derry, Maine. While Episode 4 of the series stays rooted in Stephen King’s foundational concept of It as a cosmic predator that arrived on Earth via a fallen star millions of years ago, the show introduces significant new mythology and Indigenous representation that diverges substantially from both King’s original 1986 novel and Andy Muschietti’s 2017-2019 film adaptations.
The Cosmic Arrival: A Cage Becomes a Prison
The core origin remains consistent across all iterations: an ancient cosmic entity arrived on Earth encased within a fallen meteorite. However, Welcome to Derry recontextualizes this arrival as both escape and confinement. The star served as the creature’s original cage—landing on Earth freed It from that celestial prison, yet simultaneously created a new vulnerability. The meteorite’s crystallized shards became a previously unmentioned weakness, a discovery that transforms our understanding of how It can be contained or potentially defeated.
This represents a critical addition to It’s established lore. In both King’s novel and Muschietti’s films, the creature’s weaknesses were primarily psychological and spiritual, not material. Welcome to Derry introduces tangible, physical shards as potential weapons—a paradigm shift that opens entirely new narrative possibilities for future confrontations with the entity.
The Shokopiwah Tribe and the Galloo: Authentic Indigenous Representation
Episode 4 reveals It’s origin story through the testimony of Taniel (Joshua Odjick), a member of the Shokopiwah tribe, whose mind is psychically probed by Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) as part of a military interrogation. Through this connection, viewers learn the ancient history of how the Shokopiwah people first encountered the cosmic entity that they named the “Galloo”—a new term created specifically for this series.
The Galloo, in the Shokopiwah tradition, represents an evil spirit that arrived on Earth and immediately began hunting the tribe’s ancestors. Crucially, the Shokopiwah discovered that the creature could not venture beyond the Western wood—a geographical limitation that allowed the tribe to establish a fragile equilibrium with the entity. They learned to live in balance with the Galloo, remaining beyond the creature’s reach for generations.
This narrative represents a profound reimagining of Indigenous representation within the Stephen King universe. Whereas King’s 1986 novel makes minimal mention of Native peoples, and the 2019 film “It: Chapter Two” features unnamed, largely faceless Indigenous characters who serve primarily as exposition vessels for Mike Hanlon’s investigations, Welcome to Derry centers the Shokopiwah people as active, named participants with agency in their own story.
Native American actress Kimberly Norris-Guerrero, who plays Rose (a descendant of the Shokopiwah tribe who now runs a second-hand shop in Derry), spoke to Polygon about the significance of this representation: “It’s a beautiful opportunity to expand on the King universe, because undergirding a lot of the stories is the land. The land is a character itself. The land of Derry is rife with history. The land under The Shining is rife with history. The land underneath Shawshank Prison is rife with history, and that history is our history.”
The show’s creators collaborated with the Wabanaki Nation—a real Indigenous confederacy comprising five Indigenous groups (the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki)—to ensure authentic representation. Their ancestral lands stretch from Newfoundland through central Maine, mirroring the fictional Derry’s location. The production team worked with John Bear Mitchell, an Penobscot individual and cultural advisor, to ground the story in historically and culturally significant Indigenous traditions.
The Thirteen Pillars: A New Mechanism of Containment
One of Welcome to Derry’s most significant departures from established canon involves how the Shokopiwah managed to contain the Galloo. When European settlers arrived and ignored the tribe’s warnings about the creature’s territory, they ventured into the Galloo’s hunting grounds and were subsequently preyed upon. The entity grew stronger with each victim, gradually expanding its reach beyond the Western wood.
In response, the Shokopiwah collected thirteen sacred shards from the original fallen star. These shards were buried deep into the Earth at specific locations, with fires lit above each stone to mark its place—creating a barrier the Galloo could not cross. These thirteen pillars now form the foundation of a ritual containing system, with access via the Well House on Neibolt Street—the same mysterious house that appears prominently in both King’s novel and Muschietti’s films.
This introduces a crucial revelation: Pennywise’s inability to leave Derry is not merely psychological or supernatural, but literally inscribed into the landscape through this ancient Shokopiwah containment ritual. The entity is physically bound by the thirteen pillars, unable to venture beyond Derry’s boundaries.
Major Divergences from King’s Novel and the Films
Welcome to Derry’s origin mythology represents substantial additions and alterations to established Stephen King canon. In the original 1986 novel, there is minimal explanation of It’s origins, and Indigenous peoples play virtually no role in the narrative. The cosmic nature of It’s arrival is mentioned, but the focus remains on the Losers Club’s contemporary battle against the entity rather than its ancient history.
The 2019 film “It: Chapter Two” introduced Indigenous representation through Mike Hanlon’s investigation of Shokopiwah artifacts and the Ritual of Chüd, a mystical practice aimed at defeating It. However, this was presented as Mike learning the history through artifacts he stole from the tribe, rather than allowing the Indigenous people themselves to tell their story. The ritual itself received minimal explanation or exploration.
Welcome to Derry notably makes no mention of the Ritual of Chüd, instead presenting the pillars as a straightforward containment mechanism developed through the Shokopiwah’s observational understanding of the creature. The show reframes the relationship between the Indigenous people and the entity not as a mystical battle, but as a practical negotiation with the landscape itself—acknowledging that some threats cannot be defeated, only contained.
The series also emphasizes the destructive role of European settlement more explicitly than previous iterations. While King’s novel portrays Derry as built around an ancient cosmic evil, Welcome to Derry specifically highlights how settler colonialism directly exacerbated the creature’s threat by ignoring Indigenous warnings and violating the established boundaries of the Galloo’s territory.
Explaining Pennywise’s 27-Year Cycle
One of the central mysteries about It throughout all Stephen King adaptations has been the creature’s inexplicable 27-year feeding cycle—periods of dormancy followed by years of intense predatory activity. While Welcome to Derry provides a compelling explanation for why Pennywise cannot leave Derry (the thirteen pillars), the series has not yet fully addressed why the entity waits precisely 27 years between attacks.
This remains an open question for the remaining episodes of Season 1, with narrative clues suggesting that the mythological foundation laid in Episode 4 will eventually provide this explanation. The cosmic nature of the entity and its connection to the fallen star may hold the key to understanding this cyclical pattern.
The Path Forward: Pennywise Awaits
Episode 4 serves as a crucial turning point in Welcome to Derry’s narrative structure. While Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise remains largely in shadow throughout the episode—appearing as glimpses of the clown figure and red balloons scattered throughout Derry—the revelation of the creature’s true origin, its long history of predation, and the mechanisms that confine it to the town set the stage for the entity’s full emergence in subsequent episodes.
The expanded mythology has answered one of the franchise’s most pressing questions: why Pennywise never leaves Derry. Yet in doing so, it has opened numerous new questions about the entity’s consciousness, its understanding of the pillars that confine it, and whether it might somehow find a way to break free from its ancient bonds.
For viewers seeking comprehensive understanding of Pennywise’s nature and origins, Welcome to Derry represents the most detailed exploration yet offered—one that honors Stephen King’s foundational cosmic horror concept while substantially expanding its scope through authentic Indigenous mythology and tangible, grounded explanations for the supernatural phenomena that plague Derry
Where to Watch IT: Welcome to Derry
IT: Welcome to Derry is exclusively available through HBO’s streaming ecosystem, with availability varying by region.
United States
Streaming: IT: Welcome to Derry streams exclusively on HBO Max. All episodes are available on-demand through the platform, with new episodes premiering weekly on Sundays at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT.
Linear TV: The series also airs on HBO (the cable channel) on Sunday nights, though streaming remains the primary viewing method for most audiences.
United Kingdom and Ireland
Streaming: UK and Irish viewers can access IT: Welcome to Derry through NOW (formerly NOW TV), which offers access to Sky Atlantic’s content.
Linear TV: The series airs on Sky Atlantic on Monday mornings at 2:00 am GMT, with a repeat broadcast at 9:00 pm the same day. UK viewers with Sky subscriptions can watch through their cable service or access it via the NOW streaming platform.
Release Schedule
New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry release weekly with the following confirmed dates:
- Episode 5: November 23, 2025
- Episode 6: November 30, 2025
- Episode 7: December 7, 2025
- Episode 8 (Season Finale): December 14, 2025
Content Rating and Recommendations
IT: Welcome to Derry carries a TV-MA rating, indicating the series contains mature content including graphic violence, intense horror sequences, and disturbing imagery. The eye horror sequence featured in Episode 4 exemplifies the visceral nature of the show’s content
