The prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry has spent its runtime meticulously peeling back the layers of Stephen King’s cosmic horror. While early episodes focused on the extraterrestrial nature of the entity and its crash landing on Earth, the narrative has recently pivoted to the specific adoption of the Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård) persona. The show is also systematically defining the creature’s abilities, illustrating how it’s trapped by the town’s geography and its shapeshifting prowess to entrap victims. However, the seventh episode introduces a significant deviation regarding the monster’s most devastating weapon.
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Warning: Spoilers below for IT: Welcome to Derry, Episode 7
IT: Welcome to Derry recently confirmed that the clown is the stolen face of a real man named Bob Gray. Gray was a circus performer devoured by the entity in 1908, leaving behind an orphaned daughter, Ingrid. In the show’s primary 1962 timeline, an adult Ingrid (Madeleine Stowe) has been consumed by the trauma of that loss, leading her to dress as a clown and stalk the children in a desperate bid to reconnect with her father. This obsession culminates in a horrific tragedy in Episode 7, where Ingrid tips off the police that Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) is hiding at the Black Spot.
The resulting raid sparks a racist arson attack that burns the club to the ground, with all its patrons inside, creating a feast of fear that inevitably summons the monster. Amidst the flames, Ingrid finally confronts the entity wearing her father’s face, only to realize the heartbreaking truth that the man she loved is long gone. The creature responds to her realization by opening its maw and unleashing the Deadlights, paralyzing her instantly and making her float above ground. Yet, the aftermath of this attack defies the established lore, as Ingrid is later seen being wheeled into an ambulance, battered but seemingly conscious.
How Do the Deadlights Work in IT: Welcome to Derry?
In the cinematic adaptations of IT, the Deadlights represent the truest form of the creature’s existence, a cosmic energy often perceived as three bright orbs located within the monster’s throat. Traditionally, exposure to this light is a death sentence. Upon witnessing the Deadlights, victims are instantly rendered catatonic, their minds severed from reality and forced to float in a void of their own worst nightmares while their physical bodies are consumed. It is the ultimate weapon in Pennywise’s arsenal, a method of harvesting souls that leaves no room for survival. The films also established that looking into the lights meant joining the floating dead, a trance from which only a strong emotional connection can break.
Ingrid’s survival in Welcome to Derry disrupts this established continuity. If the Deadlights function as they do in the movies, Ingrid should be mentally shattered and floating. Her ability to remain conscious suggests that the mechanism of this power is either different in this timeline or operates uniquely when applied to adults. Alternatively, it is possible that the creature, which feeds on fear, intentionally left Ingrid alive to serve a grim purpose in the season finale.
New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry premiere on HBO every Sunday.
Do you think the Deadlights are weaker in this timeline, or did Pennywise let Ingrid go on purpose? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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