If you’ve ever wondered why Pennywise (Bill Skårsgard) doesn’t leave Derry, Maine? Great news: HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry finally gave a massive lore dump explanation for why he, in fact, cannot leave the borders of the town in the latest episode. On the other hand, if you never really wondered about this? Umm… Sorry.
Spoilers past this point, but in Episode 4, “The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function,” the army ramps things up in their search for the “weapon” they think can help them win the Cold War against Russia. That weapon is Pennywise, and to find out more about them they end up taking Native American Taniel (Joshua Odjick), who has been scoping out the Operation Precept dig site, into custody. Not only that, they send Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) to psychically probe his mind and find out all the info they know.
And boy, do we find out a lot of info. Thanks to a memory of his Aunt Rose (Kimberly Norris Guerrero) asking younger Taniel (Tes Garcia) all about how the Native American population of Derry dealt with Pennywise centuries earlier, we — and the army — also find out the steps they took to keep the entity in check.
Derry’s Native American Population Trapped Pennywise In The Woods, Centuries Ago
The Native Americans call the monster The Galloo, and tell the kids to stay away from the Western Woods — its hunting grounds — but then further expand on why when the younglings get old enough. As Taniel tells the story, we see It (aka Pennywise) hitting down millions of years ago in Derry, the comet that brought him breaking open and setting his Deadlights form (aka his real form) free. All this we know from the previous movies, but the twist here is that the Native Americans realized the “star” that brought It was also its prison. They took a shard from the remains and created a weapon that could hurt It… But stayed away from the hunting grounds of the monster anyway.
That was all fine until settlers arrived in the area. A quick note about timeline here: in the story, we don’t get told when the settlers arrived… In the book by Stephen King, this bit of the lore happened around 1715-1716; though given the movie/TV timeline is different, this likely happened at a different time as well. Let’s say “in the 1700s” and leave it at that.
In any case, while the Natives warned the settlers about “the Galloo,” the settlers didn’t listen and hunted in the woods, and were hunted in turn. The bigger downside, It grew stronger, and knowing soon the Galloo would hunt outside the woods, the Natives decided to leave. However, a young Native girl named Necani (Kiawentiio) thought they could kill the Galloo with the dagger… And proving that you can form a Losers Club at any time in human history, traveled with a bunch of other kids to try and take down the creature that would one day be Pennywise.
Their parents entered the woods to save them, led by Necani’s mother, Sesqui (Morningstar Angeline). But of course, It was there in the form of a demonic moose (can a demonic squirrel be far behind?), and killed the war party — leaving Sesqui alone. It attacked Seqsui, taking the form of a priest with a tiny little baby in his stomach, Kuato style, because sure, why not? Nacani showed up with the dagger, but was too late to save her mom from Kuato Priest.
However, Necani wasn’t swayed from her purpose, and went back to the cave where It crashed down. She and her friends took shards of the “star,” burying 13 of them in a circle around the Western Woods, in order to trap It inside its hunting grounds. [Side note: one of the shards is inside a turtle shell, and if you don’t know, Pennywise’s greatest enemy is a giant space turtle.] The tribe marked a fire where they buried each of the 13 shards, and promised to guard the pillars — aka, the fires — and keep them secret.
The Galloo was trapped in the circle formed by the pillars, and the tribe stayed outside the circle, safe from Pennywise.
Pennywise Can Probably Leave Derry In The Book — But Probably Can’t In The Continuity Of The Movies/TV Show
Because nobody says it out loud, we’ll state it here: the pillars are the borders of Derry. There’s a shot in the episode where they zoom upwards to show you the pillars surrounding the woods, but don’t explicitly show the woods, say, dissolving into 1962 Derry or anything like that. But yeah, that’s the general idea… Pennywise hasn’t left Derry because he can’t leave Derry.
…Or at the very least, as of the action of IT: Welcome to Derry, Pennywise is trapped by these 13 pillars. With the army trying to find them at the end of the episode, it’s possible they’ve been removed by the time we hook up with the Losers Club in IT — which takes place in the ’80s — and therefore also in IT: Chapter Two — which takes place in in 2016. Pennywise still doesn’t seem to leave his regular hunting grounds, but there’s nothing that specifically says he’s trapped there in the movies.
In the King book, none of this pillars/shards nonsense exists. It’s entirely possible King could have laid out this mythology in his mind, and certainly he approves of the TV show. But there are several indications in the original novel that Pennywise can leave Derry whenever he wants, he just chooses not to because when the food is that good, why leave?
Specifically, there are a few instances where it’s implied Pennywise appeared outside Derry. Richard Macklin, the abusive father of bully Eddie Corocran, was found dead in Falmouth, MA, leaving behind a note that read, “I saw Eddie last night. He was dead.” The implication there is that Pennywise appeared as Eddie to drive Richard to death by suicide.
Similarly, there’s a pretty strong indication in the book that Stan Uris didn’t kill himself to avoid going back to Derry because it would hold his friends back, as he implies in IT: Chapter Two, but that he was also driven to suicide by Pennywise. And Henry, the main bully from IT who is in an asylum in IT: Chapter Two, escapes thanks to Pennywise… In the show it seems that asylum is Juniper Hill, which has presumably been moved inside the Derry town line; in the book, Juniper Hill is closer to Augusta in Maine, versus in Derry proper.
So sure, a lot of assumption going on there. But the bigger question I would throw out is, does it make it more or less terrifying if Pennywise can’t leave Derry? I would argue: less. The whole idea here is that It is our unknowable, darkest fears come to life, and the fact that he’s decided hunting children in Derry every 27 years is perfectly fine is way scarier than “he’s trapped by 13 mystical pillars.” The point of It is that even with some hints of the backstory, he’s primal terror made flesh. Explaining that, giving him limitations and weaknesses doesn’t expand what we know about him, it lessens the horror.
How do you beat Pennywise? Conquer your fears, a near impossible prospect that is aspirational for the reader. In the movies, and now the TV show? Get a knife made of the comet prison he crashed down in, and you’ll be pretty much fine.
Maybe there’s a twist coming by the end of the season, and we’ll dispense of the whole pillars/shards thing. Heck, maybe Pennywise will conquer his own fears. As is, though, that’s what’s driving the plot now… And like a lot of the additions IT: Welcome to Derry has made, explaining Pennywise doesn’t make him more powerful or scary. Instead, it brings him down to the level of manageable alien creature. Or Kuato Priest.
IT: Welcome To Derry Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of IT: Welcome To Derry premiere on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max at 9pm ET.
Here’s the full list of episodes in IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1 with premiere dates:
- Sunday, October 26, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 1
- Sunday, November 2, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 2
- Sunday, November 9, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 3
- Sunday, November 16, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 4
- Sunday, November 23, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 5
- Sunday, November 30, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 6
- Sunday, December 7, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 7
- Sunday, December 14, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 8 *Season Finale*
Where To Watch IT: Welcome To Derry
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