IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3 ending explained: What was in the photograph?

IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3, offers a prequel to the legend of the cursed town of Derry. Set in 1962 and rooted deep into the terror that has haunted the residents of this town for generations, the series explores how the monstrous force known as Pennywise exerts its influence. The episode also connects past and present through stories of fear, memory, and survival.

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for the show. Reader's discretion is advised.

The mystery thickens with the kids' seance at the graveyard in IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3, which yields an eerie photograph. They see a blurred image after developing the film, which Will identifies as being of a clown. The moment confirms their worst fears that Pennywise has returned.

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What happened in the graveyard in IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3?

Blake Cameron James, Clara Stack, Amanda Christine, Matilda Lawler, and Arian S. Cartaya at the "IT: Welcome to Derry" Q/A during the 28th SCAD Savannah Film Festival on October 31, 2025, in Savannah, Georgia. (Image via Getty)

In IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3, young protagonists Lilly Bainbridge, Ronnie Grogan, Will Hanlon, and Rich Santos form their version of the "Losers’ Club". Determined to solve the mystery of the deaths and prove that Ronnie’s father, Hank, is innocent of the crimes for which he has been imprisoned, they resolve to confront the unknown.

They plan to conduct a seance in the graveyard, summon the presence haunting them, and photograph it as evidence. Under flickering candlelight, the ritual starts as a skeptical enterprise, quickly escalating into chaos. The ground shakes, headstones crack, and ghostly figures materialize, chasing children through the dark.

In the chaos, Will becomes separated from the others and stumbles into a crypt, where he instinctively snaps a photograph of a looming figure in shadows. When the film is developed, a blurred image emerges that unmistakably resembles a clown. The sequence confirms the kids’ fears and marks the first physical trace of Pennywise’s presence, binding them to the horror that stalks Derry.

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What was Dick Hallorann's vision in IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3?

A still from the episode (Image via Instagram/@it_official)

The narrative of the kids runs parallel to the unnerving storyline involving Dick Hallorann, a psychic airman who possesses "the shine." General Francis Shaw instructs him to identify the sources of a string of paranormal occurrences in Derry. In his effort, Hallorann is given an old slingshot, one that was used to injure the entity in the past.

Upon touching the slingshot, his psychic abilities activate through the excitement of a sequence where he is taken into a spellbinding, nerve-twisting vision of Pennywise's occult domain. In this trance state, he finds himself deep underground in Derry, a place surrounded by drifting corpses, broken toys, and a wagon with "Pennywise" scrawled on a side.

From the shadows, he sees two eyes glow, and a mechanical face slowly appears to say, "Who are you?" Hallorann is shaken. The weight of the evil that was just described is intolerable. While trying to snap back, mid-flight, Hallorann almost falls from the helicopter out of sheer fear.

It's clear the entity was not just watching, but also felt Hallorann's presence. This vision places Hallorann in a perfect position in the story as the tie-in between the psychic, military, and cosmic threads of the overall narrative, while expanding knowledge of Pennywise's ancient evil and unease.

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What did Francis and Rose's flashback mean in IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3?

IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3 opens with a flashback to 1908, showing the childhood of Francis Shaw and his friendship with a Native American girl named Rose. During a carnival, Francis went into a funhouse and was confronted by a grotesque old man with one eye, marking the first of his face-to-face encounters with the evil entity.

Later, as Francis ventured into the woods, the entity hunted him toward his eventual death, but Rose intervened. After taking a slingshot once given to her by Francis, the young girl struck the monster, making it back down. Through this experience, Francis realized what the entity was capable of.

Flashing forward many years, General Shaw returned to Derry, reenacting a military operation to dig up the entity. The flashback serves as a reminder that many more people are aware of the evil that lurks in Derry and that General Shaw is on track to find Pennywise and destroy him.

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IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 3, is available to stream on HBO Max.