It: Welcome to Derry ending explained – who died and who survived the wrath of Pennywise?

**Warning: Contains full spoilers for It: Welcome to Derry season 1 episode 8.**

HBO's It: Welcome to Derry knows no bounds when it comes to horror. Concluding in a gloriously gory fashion, Pennywise, free from the shackles of the 13 pillars, embarked on his most terrifying rampage yet, proving once again that in the town of Derry, no one is ever truly safe.

While the penultimate episode saw fan favourite Rich Santos sacrifice himself to save Margie Truman from a blazing inferno, the grand finale left no time for grieving.

With Derry plunged into the darkness of an oppressive fog, courtesy of a newly-liberated Pennywise, and Will Hanlon taken hostage by the killer clown, it was up to Margie, Lily Bainbridge and Ronnie Grogan to save their friend.

Meanwhile, the adults – Dick Hallorann, Hank Grogan, Leroy and Charlotte Hanlon, Rose, and her nephew Taniel – followed closely behind, hoping to buy the kids some time.

Proving relentless, It: Welcome to Derry went full throttle in its final act, with key players killed off and the lore of Stephen King's universe taking an unexpected shape.

Here, we break down the chaos and carnage of episode 8 – keep reading to find out who died, and who survived the wrath of Pennywise…

It: Welcome to Derry season 1 ending explained

Why did Pennywise kidnap the children of Derry High School?

Following General Shaw's dastardly plan to destroy the 13th pillar, and unleash Pennywise on the rest of the US, the killer clown was all-powerful, sending a great fog over the town.

Pennywise, who feeds on the fear of children, headed to Derry High School, where he lured all the kids into the auditorium, and after performing a menacing routine with the body of Principal Dunleavy, unleashed his psychic powers, hypnotising each and every child, so he could transport them to the outskirts of Derry, where the town's river had frozen over.

Realising that he was no longer trapped, Pennywise intended to spread as much fear as possible across the rest of America, while taking as many children as possible from Derry.

What was the dagger doing to Lily?

The dagger may have protected the kids from Pennywise, but it was polluting Lily's mind in the process. After realising that their classmates had been taken, Lily, Ronnie and Margie were determined to stop Pennywise and save the missing children, including Will.

Armed with the dagger, the girls followed a bloody trail left behind at the high school, driving the murdered milkman's truck into the woods. What they didn't realise, however, was that the dagger, which wanted to return to the crash site, was fighting back and had been slowly driving Lily insane the further it got from Derry.

When Margie accidentally crashed the milk truck near the town's border, Lily dropped the dagger and became frantic when anyone else tried to hold it. Realising that something wasn't right, Ronnie and Margie confronted Lily, and when she ran away, they chased after her, with Margie managing to wrangle it from her hands. Free from the artifact's influence, a tearful Lily apologised.

When the dagger began to glow in Margie's hands moments later, the girls realised that Pennywise was close, and walked to the edge of the river where they saw the missing children levitating above the ice.

How did the adults track down the girls and find Pennywise?

Leroy Hanlon, still on the army base, received a call from a taunting Pennywise and realised that Will had been taken. After finding Dick Hallorann – who, armed with a pistol, had been planning to end his own life – Leroy managed to convince Hallorann to put down the gun and help him save his son.

As Leroy and Hallorann reunited with Charlotte, Hank, Rose and her nephew, Taniel, to explain what happened, the adults came up with a plan. Rose, whose Native American ancestors had caged Pennywise, revealed that Hallorann could use his psychic abilities to track the dagger, which could be used as the 13th pillar and relock Pennywise's cage.

She added that they'll need to bury the dagger in the earth to trap the clown before he reaches the great deadwood pine on the southern bank of the river, which is the furthest possible point that the dagger can connect with the other pillars.

Rose promises to quiet the voices in Hallorann's head by giving him a special tea, which connects him to all things related to Pennywise's realm. She reminds him that not everything there is evil, and insists that by opening his mind to this realm, he'll be able to close the door on others.

After drinking it, Hallorann connects with the dagger, and sees Lily, Margie and Ronnie in the woods. The group jumps in Taniel's van, as Hallorann continues to track Lily, Margie and Ronnie.

What was Margie's link to Richie Tozier and The Losers' Club?

Lily, Ronnie and Margie crossed the ice, where they found Will levitating next to Pennywise's circus caravan. As the clown emerged, taunting the trio, he grabbed Margie and dragged her away from her friends.

Preparing to kill her, Pennywise referred to a confused Margie as 'Margaret Tozier' and told her that one day she'll get married and be known as Margie Tozier, before welcoming a son who she'll name Richie Tozier.

Pennywise showed her a missing poster of Richie, who is portrayed by It: Chapter 1 star Finn Wolfhard, and said that Richie won't exist if he kills her first. He said that Richie and his friends – aka The Losers' Club – will bring him his death one day, or perhaps his birth, noting that for him, the past, present and future are all the same.

Hallorann, who was still tracking the girls, managed to stop the clown before he could kill Margie, using his psychic abilities to tap into Pennywise's mind and freeze him.

With Pennywise unable to move, the stolen children dropped to the ice and awakened from their trance, just as Taniel, Hanlon, Charlotte, Rose, Hank and Hallorann finally arrived at the frozen lake. The adults redirected the high school kids back to the north shore.

Did the group defeat Pennywise?

In short, yes, but it was a tough race to the finish line. After Taniel and Hanlon attempted to reach the deadwood and bury the dagger, they were shot at by the military, led by General Shaw. As Taniel died on the ice, Will rushed over to Leroy, who was thankfully OK. Putting his faith in his son, Leroy, who knew the military were coming for him, told Will and his friends to use the fog as cover, and plant the dagger themselves.

While Will, Lily, Ronnie and Margie rushed to the deadwood, Shaw ordered his men to extract Hallorann, before he walked over to a frozen Pennywise himself. When Hallorann was pulled from the van, however, and his psychic connection to Pennywise was broken, the killer clown unfroze and after recognising Shaw as the boy from 1908, took great pleasure in killing him.

In a final push, Will and the gang were steps from the deadwood when the dagger began manipulating him, sending him in the other direction. As Margie, Lily and Ronnie forced Will and the dagger back to the tree, Pennywise began his pursuit towards them. Buying the kids some time, Leroy, Grogan and Hallorann took down the surrounding soldiers, and Leroy, armed with a gun, shot at Pennywise, causing him to slow down.

With Lily, Ronnie, Will and Margie at the tree, the dagger fought back, preventing them from lowering it. Just then, Hallorann spotted the Native American warrior who had led him to the 13th pillar, with Richie's spirit at her side.

Richie ran on the ice, giving the finger to Pennywise before helping his friends plunge the dagger into the ground, and putting Pennywise back in his cage. With the clown cast far away, Margie, Lily, Ronnie and Will agreed that they all felt another pair of hands, suspecting it was Richie.

What happened after the battle on the ice?

Lily, Ronnie and Will attended Richie's funeral, sitting by his grieving parents as Margie delivered a eulogy. Hallorann, who was also in attendance, noticed Richie in the crowd, with one arm on his dad's shoulder and the other resting upon Will's.

With the funeral concluded, Hallorann, who had found some peace with his psychic abilities thanks to Rose's tea, sat next to Richie's parents and told them that the hand they felt on their shoulders was Richie, bringing them some comfort.

As the kids headed to their meeting spot one last time, Margie told Lily what Pennywise told her about her son, and muses that if Pennywise saw time differently after dying at the hands of Richie Tozier and his friends, he could be going back in time to find their relatives and stop them from being born. Lily replied that if that is the case, and he goes back even further, it'll be someone else's fight.

While Margie and Lily had no plans to leave Derry, Will and Ronnie prepared to leave town with their parents, but not before they shared a goodbye kiss. While the Hanlons were loading their car, Hallorann bid adieu to Leroy and said the voices in his head had gone quiet, before revealing that he was off to London to take a job in a hotel.

As they said their goodbyes, Hallorann remarked, 'How much trouble can a hotel be?', which as Stephen King fans well know, is a reference to his future job at the Overlook Hotel in Colorado, which is the setting for The Shining.

Before the Hanlons leave, Rose told Charlotte and Leroy that with Taniel gone, she's selling the farm, and asked them to join her in keeping watch over Pennywise. She told them that it will be 27 years until he wakes up again. As the couple got in the car, Charlotte had second thoughts about leaving, and with Leroy and Will in agreement, the family decided to stay and live on the farm.

Meanwhile, Ronnie left town with her dad, Hank, and it's implied that she'll likely forget everything that's happened. But, with Will now staying, he wrote Ronnie a letter, hopeful that he could keep her memories of him alive. In the final scene, we also saw Ingrid Kersh, now insane and living in Juniper Hill asylum.

Flashing forward to October 1988, an older Ingrid is still there, when she hears a commotion and sees Beverly Marsh and her father mourning the loss of her mother. Ingrid tells Beverly not to worry because in Derry, no one ever really dies.

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