6 Unanswered Questions the IT: Welcome to Derry Finale Left Hanging

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The series recently wrapped up, revealing a surprising family connection (Richie’s mom is Marge!), but many storylines remain unfinished. We don’t know what happens to characters like Lilly Bainbridge or Ronnie Grogan after the events in Derry, and the show intentionally leaves their fates uncertain. Some returning characters, such as Leroy Hanlon, are different from how we remember them in the movie, raising new questions. Plus, Pennywise’s unpredictable behavior and the confusing rules about lost memories add to the puzzle. With unexplained creatures, unsettling clues about what’s to come, and unresolved emotional issues, this prequel continues to leave fans thinking long after the credits roll.

As a huge fan, I’m eagerly awaiting any news about a potential continuation, but in the meantime, I’ve been thinking about all the big questions the last episode left us with. It’s fun to revisit those lingering mysteries!

What happened to Lilly after the events of 1962?

Lilly Bainbridge was initially presented as the main character in the first episode, and the story revolved around her being the only person who survived a mysterious event. However, as the season went on, the show’s focus changed. It was eventually revealed that Lilly’s friend, Marge Truman, had a direct connection to a character from the IT movies.

So, thankfully, Lilly and most of the gang make it out alive – though we did lose Rich, which was rough. They actually manage to stop Pennywise from ever escaping Derry. We get a clear picture of what happens with Mike and Marge, but Lilly’s story is left totally open-ended. Honestly, it feels strange not knowing what happens to her next, especially since she’s the character who kicked everything off in the first place. I really hope they revisit her story sometime.

And what about Ronnie?

The film ends with Ronnie and her dad, Hank, leaving Derry to escape unfair treatment, after a touching goodbye kiss with Will. Will promises to stay in touch, hoping Ronnie won’t forget him or their summer together, even though it seems like people who leave Derry tend to lose their memories. Ultimately, as the story shows, Will grows up and marries someone else, meaning their childhood romance didn’t last.

It feels odd that the show didn’t fully resolve Ronnie’s story, especially if we won’t see what happens to him later on. It would have been nice to at least know that Ronnie and Hank found peace and happiness after everything they went through in Derry.

Why did Leroy Hanlon become the bitter old man we saw in IT?

Leroy Hanlon is a unique character in the Welcome to Derry story. He’s one of the few people who showed up in both the IT movies (along with Pennywise, Mrs. Kersh, and Beverly Marsh). Viewers first encountered Leroy in the 2017 film It and its sequel, It Chapter Two (2019). In those films, he’s taking care of his grandson, Mike Hanlon, after Mike’s parents, Will and Jessica, sadly died in a fire.

The Leroy we see in the films is a far cry from the man we first met. He’s become angry and resentful, and isn’t very nice to Mike. While his grief over losing his son (and likely his wife, Charlotte, who isn’t shown in the films) could explain his behavior, there are suggestions that something else has changed him from the strong, caring father he once was.

Who is this lady?

Okay, so everyone online is buzzing with theories about this character, and honestly, the show itself doesn’t give us a single clue about who she actually is. That unsettling smile definitely suggests she’s connected to ‘It’ in some way, but the big question is why? Is there a specific person she’s targeting, or is this just a random act of terror? It’s a frustratingly open-ended mystery, and I’m really hoping the show will give us some answers soon.

Why didn’t Pennywise just kill all the kids at the school?

I’ve talked about this before, but it still bothers me that Pennywise seemed to specifically target Marge to stop Richie from being born. He went to all the effort of terrifying all those students – was it to eliminate the possibility of the future Losers’ Club parents being among them?

Someone wrote ‘Alvin Marsh’ on a bathroom stall early in the school year, suggesting he’s a student there. Considering Pennywise knows everything – like that Marge is Richie’s mother – why didn’t he also recognize the other kids’ parents? Is there a hidden reason why Richie is special compared to the rest of the Losers’ Club?

How exactly does the memory wipe thing work?

The movies and the prequel series don’t clearly explain how remembering encounters with It works. Generally, people forget the terrifying experiences with Pennywise if they leave Derry for a while—most of the Losers’ Club forgets for this reason. However, Mike Hanlon stays in Derry, becoming the town librarian, and eventually brings the others back when It reappears.

However, the backstory in Welcome to Derry complicates things. It’s strange that Marge doesn’t recall, as an adult, that her son Richie will eventually help defeat the clown, especially considering she’d likely warn or help him once Pennywise returned. The character of Leroy Hanlon in the It films appears to have some knowledge of the town’s evil, informing Mike that Derry is cursed, but his memories aren’t complete. It’s even more confusing that Rose and her tribe do remember The Galloo. This raises the question: are there any consistent rules for what people remember, or is it all just chance?

IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1 is now streaming on HBO Max.

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2026-01-12 04:37