IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3 ending explained: Did Lilly and her friends manage to find proof to save Hank?

The third episode of IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 begins in 1908, focusing on Francis and Rose, who come across Pennywise — not as a clown this time, but as an old, creepy man.

In the present day, Lilly returns from the asylum and decides to help Ronnie bring her father back. Earlier, she had lied about being a witness to the theater massacre just to protect herself from being called crazy. But after the grocery store incident, everyone already thinks she’s insane, so now she chooses to tell the truth. She and Ronnie make a plan together. Meanwhile, Hallorann’s psychic powers almost kill him when they were up in the air looking around for IT’s location. 

The episode opens with young Francis and Rose playing together. While playing, Francis wanders into the forest, where he sees the same old man he had earlier seen in a tent at the fair. Rose uses her slingshot to hit the man in the eye, saving Francis.

In the present day, Hallorann uses a similar slingshot and his psychic abilities to find the way. Major Hanlon doesn’t understand how Hallorann is giving directions using his powers. Later, Hallorann falls under Pennywise’s control and suddenly finds himself inside the sewer pipes where Pennywise lives. Pennywise forces him, using his powers, to jump from the helicopter, but Hanlon manages to save him in time.

After returning, Hallorann tells General Francis, “It was supposed to see us. It wasn’t supposed to know.” He warns Francis that if they keep digging deeper, something terrible will happen. But Francis stays firm on his plan: to find IT.

Lilly and Ronnie’s plan leads them to the clown in IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3

Hank is in jail for the theatre massacre. Lilly gave her statement saying she saw Hank there, which means he didn’t have an alibi and got trapped in the case. Now, Lilly wants to help Ronnie. She says they need to capture IT’s image on camera — whatever form it appears in — to prove Hank’s innocence and get him out of jail. To do this, Lilly takes help from Will and Rich. 

Rich and Will agree to help Ronnie develop the roll films. They follow Rich’s plan, who suggests performing a ritual his uncle once mentioned when he was a Santeria priest. To do this and get proof, everyone goes to the graveyard.

A clown had eaten the children at the theatre, and no one believed it. But by the end of the episode, the kids manage to escape the scary graveyard and collect proof for themselves.

The ritual seems silly and pointless. Soon after, Ronnie finds it useless and decides to leave. Everyone gets on their bikes to escape the cemetery, but Pennywise creates fear with his powers. The ghosts of the dead kids, Phil, Teddy, and Susie, appear, along with creepy visions of Rich’s uncle. The ground cracks open like lava, and the kids barely escape while trying to take pictures for proof.

Will manages to grab the camera and run, but something, probably Pennywise, almost catches him inside the crypt. Later, when they develop the photos, one picture clearly shows a clown in the shadows with Will. “It’s a clown,” he says. 

General Francis uses Hallorann’s psych abilities to find IT in IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3

Francis comes back to Derry as a lieutenant general, claiming to find a weapon to end the Cold War. But he has his personal motives. He wants to find it and capture the monster that once terrified him. He even meets his childhood friend Rose and lies to her about the digging. He says he is in charge of soil surveys and is overseeing where to lay pipes to bring in water from the Kenduskeag. But Rose, who is against this and believes that their digging will disturb the sacred remains and will ruin Derry once again. But little did she know that he was really trying to find Pennywise and use its power as a weapon.

The episode also brings in the famous concept from Stephen King’s novel, The Bradley Gang Massacre (1935). The Bradley Gang was a real group of robbers who came to Derry in the 1930s. The people of the town got tired of their crimes and killed them in a big shootout. But Pennywise was also there, feeding on the chaos and fear. Years later, the military finds one of the cars from that shootout, full of bullet holes. Shaw realizes Pennywise was involved and that the car is cursed with his dark power.

Shaw sends Hallorann on a flight with Major Hanlon and Russo to search for Pennywise. During the flight, Dick uses his powers to connect with Pennywise through an old slingshot from Rose and Francis’s childhood. But when his spirit reaches Pennywise’s lair, the monster attacks his mind and fills him with fear. Dick almost jumps out of the chopper, but Hanlon saves him. Hanlon realizes Shaw doesn’t care about their lives; he only wants results.

Later, Hanlon invites Dick to his home for dinner. There, he learns that Dick can read minds and that Shaw once used him to test Hanlon’s fear. Dick also finds out that Hanlon is different; he feels no fear, which Shaw believes could help fight Pennywise. Both are being used for the General's own selfish plans.