The collective amnesia surrounding Pennywise has always been one of the most unsettling elements of the IT mythology. IT: Chapter Two memorably depicted this phenomenon when the adult members of the Losers’ Club received a fateful call from Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa), the only one who remained in their cursed hometown. That single call acts as a key, unlocking a flood of repressed childhood trauma and forcing them to confront the evil they swore to defeat. The new prequel series, IT: Welcome to Derry, is finally addressing this mystery head-on, providing the most substantial clues yet as to what power is truly responsible for wiping the memories of those who escape the town’s sinister influence.
Warning: Spoilers below for IT: Welcome to Derry, Episode 3
The newest episode of IT: Welcome to Derry establishes a historical connection between two of its new central characters, revealing that General Francis Shaw (James Remar) and the thrift store owner Rose (Kimberly Norris Guerrero) first met as children over five decades earlier. A lengthy flashback to 1908 shows a young Francis, long before he became a hardened military leader, sharing a close friendship with Rose. This idyllic summer takes a dark turn when Francis has his first terrifying encounter with the entity known as Pennywise. He only survives because Rose bravely rescues him from the creature’s grasp.
When they meet again in the show’s primary 1962 timeline, Francis admits that he had completely forgotten the horrors of that day. In fact, he only began to remember Rose and their shared childhood upon setting foot in Derry once more. This confirms that the amnesia is a geographically-linked supernatural force, but the episode still leaves its ultimate source tantalizingly unclear.
In Stephen King’s novel, the reasons behind the memory loss are intentionally ambiguous. The book suggests the phenomenon is a combination of natural psychological defense and supernatural interference. For the members of the Losers’ Club, forgetting the horrifying events is partly a coping mechanism, a way for their minds to shield them from the absolute terror they endured. At the same time, the entity itself exerts a powerful psychic influence over the entire town, blinding the adult population to the atrocities happening around them. This mental fog is a key part of its survival strategy, allowing it to hunt unimpeded every 27 years. For those who manage to leave Derry, their memories fade the further away they get, implying that the creature’s power has a limited range.
IT: Welcome to Derry builds upon this established lore by introducing a critical new piece of information. The 1908 flashback sequence strongly suggests that Pennywise is physically trapped within a specific area. This context presents two compelling possibilities for the source of the amnesia. The first is that Pennywise itself projects the memory loss as a form of self-preservation. If it is trapped and vulnerable, erasing the memories of anyone who escapes is the ultimate defense, ensuring no one ever returns with outside help to destroy it. The second possibility is that the force responsible for trapping Pennywise is also the source of the amnesia.
If a powerful external agent, perhaps a benevolent entity like the Turtle from King’s novels, imprisoned the creature in Derry, that same power could be actively wiping the memories of those who leave. This would function as a form of cosmic quarantine, a supernatural barrier designed not only to contain Pennywise’s physical body but also to prevent knowledge of its existence from spreading. By making people forget, the cage’s warden ensures no one is ever tempted to investigate the town’s dark secrets and risk unleashing the ancient evil upon the wider world.
It’s an unfortunate coincidence that Francis returned to Derry, unlocking the memories that set him on a dangerous path towards Pennywise. If he had stayed away, he would have lived the rest of his life blissfully unaware of the creature’s existence. Now, he’s using the military to hunt down a monster that could doom the whole world if unleashed.
New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry premiere on HBO every Sunday.
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