Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for the IT: Welcome to Derry finale. After six weeks of shocks, twists, and building suspense on HBO Max’s IT: Welcome to Derry, Andy Muschietti and company delivered a terrifying and heartbreaking penultimate episode. Not only does Pennywise take center stage, more terrifying than ever, but we learn more about Bob Gray, see the Black Spot burn, and say goodbye to brave knight Rich (Arian S. Cartaya). How much more can audiences possibly take in this expansion of Stephen King’s creation? In the first season finale, “Winter Fire,” IT: Welcome to Derry brings one timeline to a close, only to open the door to more.
Pennywise Is Let Loose in ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Episode 8

With one of the pillars moved, Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) is free, leading to a thick fog rolling into Derry. It heads straight to the high school, where the clown pushes the intercom button, and, as the voice of the principal, dismisses the upperclassmen while asking the younger students to report to the gymnasium. With a hundred-plus kids packed inside, a spotlight comes down on the principal. He’s only a puppet, controlled by Pennywise, who rips the dead man’s head off. Kids scream and head for the doors, but they’re locked in. With the terrified students focused on his antics, Pennywise reveals the Deadlights, stunning everyone into floating outside towards his circus wagon. Away from that horror, Lilly (Clara Stack), Marge (Matilda Lawler), and Ronnie (Amanda Christine) are cleaning up at the standpipe when they notice the fog. Outside of it, the wall is littered with “Missing” posters for their classmates, including Will (Blake Cameron James), so they head straight for school, but Pennywise, playing a tuba, is already leading his floating victims away. They try to follow the trail on one bike, but it’s too difficult, so, with Marge behind the wheel, the girls take off in an abandoned milk truck. At the base, Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) tries to call his son, but the only one on the other end is a laughing clown. “What scares a man without fear?” Pennywise asks. Losing Will scares him, so that’s the voice Leroy hears. He marches straight to Dick Hallorann’s (Chris Chalk) room, but Hallorann has his own problems, as visions of the dead have him sticking a gun in his mouth. He very nearly pulls the trigger until Hanlon breaks the door down, pleading for Hallorann to help him rescue Will, which gets Hallorann moving.
General Shaw Loses His Head to Pennywise in the ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Finale

The fog rolls over everything in Derry, covering the town in winter and turning the river into ice. General Shaw (James Remar) isn’t concerned until he finds out that Leroy Hanlon has left the base with his gifted soldier. The two friends go straight home to Charlotte (Taylour Paige), who is broken up when she finds out about Will’s whereabouts, but Rose (Kimberly Guerrero) has a plan. If Hallorann uses his ability to find the dagger and replace the lost pillar, maybe they can stop this. Hallorann doesn’t think he’s strong enough to do it, but with a maturin tea from Rose that will connect him to the dagger, he can see the girls in the milk truck, which crashes after hitting a pothole. The adults quickly load Hallorann into a van, hoping they can catch up in time because, according to Rose, the dagger will fight back and turn whoever holds it mad the farther it gets away from its home. Lilly is indeed starting to break down as she holds the weapon, leading to a fight over the shard of fallen star. Once she lets go of it, Lilly feels better, so the girls agree to take turns holding it. Behind them, in the fog, across the frozen river, their classmates float in a single-file line. Wanting to slow Pennywise down, Leroy asks Dick to get inside the entity’s mind. He’d better hurry, because the girls have reached the floating parade and found Will, leading to the circus wagon coming to a stop. The killer clown appears, but Ronnie holds him off with the dagger. That’s not going to stop him, as he runs in and out of the mist, before finally dragging Marge away. He torments her, revealing her future last name, Tozier, and that she’ll name her son after Rich — but if Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard) is never born, then he and his friends will never defeat Pennywise in the future. He opens his jaw, ready to eat Marge, but is somehow frozen in his tracks. Marge runs back to her friends as the fallen kids fall to the ground and come to, the Losers reuniting with Will right as the adults arrive.

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This all feels sadly familiar.

Leroy and Taniel (Josh Odjick) head forward with the dagger, but their journey is short as the military arrives, shooting and killing Taniel and leaving Leroy with a wounded leg. He gives Will the dagger and tells him to bury it and put the thing to sleep. As a few soldiers advance on Leroy, General Shaw heads for Pennywise. It’s then revealed what’s keeping the clown frozen in his tracks. He’s now in 1908, with the other carnival performers calling him Bob Gray. When he stands up to them, he’s slapped down and dismissed. Out in the real world, Shaw stares at the clown’s form in awe. As Pennywise’s world shakes, he figures out who is controlling him, kicking Hallorann out of his mind and coming to in front of Shaw. The general tells him he’s free, and Pennywise is about to walk away until he smells a familiar scent — the boy from the woods all those decades ago. The entity changes its face, revealing Shaw’s ultimate fear before devouring his head in one bite.
Rich’s Ghost Helps His Friends in the ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Finale

Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) running through the fog in ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’Image via Warner Bros. Television

The Losers reach the tree where the dagger needs to be buried, fighting against its powerful resistance, but their strength isn’t enough. Pennywise is skipping through the fog and heading right for them, which drives the adults to fight back against the soldiers and take their guns. Leroy puts a few bullets in the clown’s head, blowing it off, only for the entity to freeze him with the Deadlights, but then Hallorann spots a familiar figure running through the fog. Rich’s ghost heads straight for the tree, flipping off Pennywise as he goes, to help his friends push the dagger into the earth. Pennywise transforms into a giant creature with bat-like wings, but reaches his prey a second too late. With the dagger buried, every pillar lights up the sky, and the clown is tossed to the ground. He sits up, in pain, as every one of his previous forms begins to peel away from his face. “Lively crowd,” Pennywise says, before disintegrating and scattering away like a speck of ember. All of the Losers agree that they felt Rich’s presence with them as they cry and smile, knowing his spirit is still out there.

At Rich’s funeral, Marge gives a eulogy about the boy she loved as Hallorann watches from afar. He sees what no one else can: Rich’s ghost with his arms around his father and Will. After the service, Hallorann goes to Rich’s parents and offers them peace by telling them that their son is there. When Marge is walking downtown later on and sees one of Rich’s planes perched in a tree on Main Street, she smiles. Lilly finds her own peace as well by finally visiting her father’s grave and sharing that she’s made some new friends. Back at the standpipe, Marge tells Lilly what Pennywise revealed to her. The entity said his death was his birth, and now Marge wonders if Pennywise can travel back into the past to kill their parents and stop them from being born. At the Hanlon home, the family is packing up to move when Hallorann arrives to say goodbye; he’s going to take his buddy up on a job offer and cook at a hotel in London. The two friends hug and promise to keep in touch. As the family heads out, Rose comes to them with an offer to stay and help protect Derry’s barrier. They respectfully decline, while across the yard, Ronnie says goodbye to Will with a kiss. In the car, Charlotte is behind the wheel, ready to drive away, but she can’t do it, and the family agrees to stay in Derry, with Will promising to write to Ronnie as she and her dad leave town. It’s not a happy ending for everyone, though. 26 years later, Ingrid Kersh (Madeleine Stowe) is still in Juniper Hill when she hears screams in the hall. She goes out to investigate and finds that a patient has hung herself in her room. At her feet are her husband and her daughter: Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis). “No one who dies here ever really dies,” Mrs. Kersh tells her with a creepy smile.

Release Date

December 14, 2025

Episode Number

8

Season

IT: Welcome to Derry – Season 1

Series

It: Welcome to Derry

As a dense fog engulfs the town – and General Shaw pushes ahead with his mission – the Hanlons, Rose, Dick, and the kids must work together to save Derry.

Pros & Cons

This generation of Losers has a thrilling final showdown with Pennywise.
Rich’s return brings a happier ending to a heartbreaking moment.
Pennywise’s perception of time lends itself to an intriguing premise for future seasons.
Beverly’s cameo perfectly ties into the first IT film.

The CGI is a little overdone in certain scenes.