The first episode of HBO’s new series IT: Welcome to Derry delivers a terrifying and tragic story for its opening character, a young boy named Matty Clements. His grim fate sets off a chain of events that establishes the show’s deadly rules.
The series, a prequel to the recent IT films, is set in 1962, twenty-seven years before the events of the first movie. Bill Skarsgård returns as the shape-shifting entity Pennywise. The premiere episode, which aired in October 2025, makes it clear from the start that no one is safe in the town of Derry.
What Happened to Matty Clements?
The episode’s cold open follows Matty Clements, played by Miles Ekhardt, on a frigid winter night. After being kicked out of a Derry movie theater for not paying, the boy is left stranded alone in the cold. He tries to hitchhike to get away, but this leads him straight into a trap set by Pennywise.
Matty is lured by an illusion and ultimately falls prey to the creature. In a brutal opening sequence, he is killed by a grotesque, flying demon that appears in the form of a monstrous baby. This event establishes the heightened threat level in Derry and shows that Pennywise is already actively hunting children.
The Investigation and a False Hope
Matty’s disappearance deeply affects the other children in the town. His friends Lilly, Teddy, and Phil, along with Phil’s younger sister Susie and the theater owner’s daughter Ronnie, begin their own investigation. Their search leads them back to the very theater from which Matty was ejected.
While watching The Music Man, the film Matty had tried to see, the children make a shocking discovery. Matty suddenly appears on the movie screen, seemingly trapped within the film itself and holding the same demon baby that killed him. The children call out to him, hoping to guide him out, but the situation quickly turns into a nightmare.
A betrayed and angry Matty blames his friends for not being there for him. The film then warps and darkens, and the demon baby leaps out from the screen into the real world, attacking the children in the theater.
A Shocking Massacre
The show’s creators subvert the audience’s expectations in a devastating climax. The demon baby monster proceeds to hunt the children in a chaotic and gruesome scene. Teddy and Phil are violently killed, and the episode ends with a blood-splattered Lilly discovering she is holding Susie’s severed hand. Only Lilly and Ronnie survive the encounter.
This massacre serves a specific narrative purpose. The show’s creators wanted to immediately establish that this world is far more dangerous and unpredictable than viewers might assume.
“You want to create an event that gives the audience a sense that if these kids were smoked at the end of the first episode, nothing is sacred. In this world, no one will be safe,” said executive producer Andy Muschietti.
Co-showrunner Jason Fuchs explained the decision was a “narrative device to basically get people in that mindset where no one is safe in this world, even clearly the ones that you’re going to follow over the rest of the show.” He added that it was about “kicking the chin, that unexpected thing that will hook the audience into wanting to keep watching.”
The Aftermath and New Heroes
With Matty confirmed dead and three of his friends murdered, the story of Welcome to Derry moves forward with its sole surviving young protagonists, Lilly and Ronnie. They are left traumatized but now thrust into the center of the unfolding horror.
The actresses behind these characters shared that filming the intense scene was a positive experience. “Honestly, I loved doing that scene,” said Clara Stack, who plays Lilly. “I love like, horror, intense scenes. So getting to scream like that and getting drenched in blood… I think it’s super cool.” Amanda Christine (Ronnie) agreed, calling the filming process “so much fun” and “action-packed.”
The premiere makes it clear that the town of Derry is a place where seeing the evil and speaking the truth comes at a great personal cost. The journey of Lilly and Ronnie as they try to understand what they have witnessed and survive the evil that surrounds them forms the core of the series moving forward.
Also Read: It: Welcome to Derry – A Cosmic Turtle Holds the Key to Defeating Pennywise
