It: Welcome to Derry Episode 5 Trailer Reveals Pennywise’s Ancient History

The new mid-season trailer for It: Welcome to Derry has arrived, confirming that the next episode will show much more of Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise and the ancient evil’s origins. The preview sets the stage for a deeper look into the creature’s crash-landing on Earth and its long history of terrorizing the town of Derry, Maine.

The Story of The Galloo

Episode 4 laid the foundation by revealing the creature’s ancient backstory, known to the local Shokopiwah tribe as “the Galloo.” Through a vision experienced by Dick Hallorann, the show explains that millions of years ago, an evil spirit was cast down from the sky, bound inside a falling star. When the star struck the earth, it broke open and released the spirit, which then roamed the woods for countless moons. The wisest members of the Shokopiwah tribe took a shard from the star and carved it into a dagger to protect their people from the monster. They learned to live in balance with the Galloo, staying outside of its territory in the Western Wood. This fragile peace was shattered when European settlers arrived, ignored the warnings, and entered the woods. The Galloo fed on them, growing strong enough to eventually hunt beyond its original territory.

A Connection to the Main Story

This origin story directly connects to the modern-day narrative of the series. In 1962, the U.S. Air Force, led by General Shaw, is excavating Shokopiwah land in an attempt to locate and capture Pennywise to use as a weapon during the Cold War. The military brings in Dick Hallorann for his psychic “Shining” ability to help track the creature. In a key scene, Hallorann uses his powers on Taniel, Rose’s nephew, and witnesses the legend of the Galloo. The vision reveals that the Shokopiwah eventually used more shards from the star to build a fortress around the woods, preventing the monster from leaving. Adult Taniel then reveals that the entrance to this prison is through the well house on Neibolt Street, the same creepy house featured in the original It films.

Fixing Past Mistakes

This expanded origin story serves to improve upon one of the most criticized elements of It: Chapter Two. In that film, the portrayal of the Indigenous tribe and the “Ritual of Chüd” was seen by many as relying on harmful stereotypes and was a narrative weak point. Welcome to Derry is consciously working to fix this. The show reframes the Shokopiwah from nameless victims into active heroes who understood the threat and fought to contain it. The production team worked with the Wabanaki nation and brought in Penobscot elder John Bear Mitchell as a cultural consultant to ensure authentic and respectful representation. Actress Kimberly Guerrero, who plays Rose, highlighted the importance of this, stating:

“It’s a beautiful opportunity to expand on the King universe, because undergirding a lot of the stories is the land. The land is a character itself. The land of Derry is rife with history… and that history is our history.”

What the Book Says

The origin story in the show expands significantly on Stephen King’s original novel. In the book, the entity that becomes Pennywise is an ancient alien that arrived on Earth around 1,000,000 BCE. There is no mention of Indigenous tribes or a meteor that acted as a cage. The series takes the basic premise of an ancient, extraterrestrial evil and builds a new mythos around it, incorporating the Indigenous history of the land where Derry would be built. This change provides a clear reason for why Pennywise has remained confined to Derry for centuries—the prison made from the star shards creates a boundary it cannot cross.

What Comes Next

The trailer for Episode 5 promises that Pennywise will finally appear after being teased in the first half of the season. Fans on social media have expressed excitement for the slow-burn approach, with one commenting, “I actually like the slow reveal and seeing It in its many forms. We have seen a lot of pennywise so it doesn’t bother me that he was MIA the first half of the season.” The stage is now set for the modern-day characters to confront the creature, with the knowledge of the ancient dagger and the star-shard pillars potentially offering a key to defeating it. The upcoming episode will air on November 23 on HBO and HBO Max.