'IT: Welcome To Derry' Episode 4 Reveals Pennywise's Origins

In episode 4 of IT: Welcome to Derry, the world finally learned about Pennywise the Clown's true form and how an alien creature from outer space called The Galloo became a despicable creature on Earth.

The new information connects the curse surrounding the town of Derry to its ancient history and an out-of-this-world horror, laying the ground for a spine-tingling backstory of Stephen King's most popular evil entity.

What is the Galloo?

Pennywise's origin story unfolded when the military investigated the extent of the clown's power to determine if it could be used as a weapon for the Cold War.

A local indigenous woman named Rose (Kimberly Guerrero) knows the secret of Pennywise. General Francis Shaw (James Remar) also knew of this secret since he was a young boy, but did not know the entire story.

The general sent Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) to probe Rose's nephew Taniel (Joshua Odjick), who is not willing to cooperate. But Hallorann used his clairvoyant and telepathic skills to extract the information he needed and check if General Shaw's idea of harnessing the monster's powers as their weapon would actually work.

Upon using his Shining powers, he saw a scene from Taniel's childhood memories where Rose asked him if he remembered the story of the Galloo. Viewers of the HBO Max series can see what the Galloo is based on Taniel's recollection.

According to a legend from the Shokopiwah tribe that was passed down through generations, a meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere and crashed into the tribe, which was shattered upon impact. When the meteor broke open, an evil entity was released, but it was too weak to move.

The tribe noticed that the entity, which they called the Galloo, regained its strength by eating a person. They decided to stay away from its den to avoid getting killed, but the European colonisers who arrived in their settlement chose to ignore the tribe's warnings. The creature took the opportunity to feed and regained its strength, which later on helped make it a dangerous being.

The tribe felt helpless as the mysterious creature became stronger and more vicious over time, until the young Shokopiwah warriors worked together to stop the Galloo from taking more lives. They made a knife using Pennywise's meteor to help them fight the monster.

The young Shokopiwah warriors entered the Galloo's territory in the Western Wood and made a magical enclosure all over its territory to contain Pennywise. The tribe protected the mystic cage for centuries, but the evil alien was able to break free every once in a while based on the stories from King's supernatural horror universe.

Connection to Other Stephen King Novels

Taniel's memory reminded King's fans about the original story of It's arrival as observed by the Loser's club, based on the novels. The episode also showed the connection of Pennywise's story to The Shining based on Hallorann's special abilities.

Fans of the supernatural horror series will learn more about Pennywise's history in the next episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry on HBO.