HBO Max’s It: Welcome to Derry Episode 3, titled Now You See It, arrives November 9, 2025, with substantial connections to Stephen King’s broader literary universe. The episode introduces critical plot developments that bridge the 1962 prequel series to the 2017 and 2019 It films while expanding King’s interconnected multiverse. Episode 3 features at least 9 confirmed Stephen King references:
- Dick Hallorann’s aerial search sequences connecting The Shining mythology
- Shawshank Redemption prison subplot involving Hank Grogan
- Bradley Gang massacre visual callbacks from the opening credits
- Orixá ritual spiritual elements
- Military Operation Precept subplot
- Pennywise carnival barker visions
- Dark Tower’s implicit connections through Hallorann’s visions
- Maturin turtle symbolism continuations
- Juniper Hill Asylum institutional references
The episode airs after Episode 2, maintaining HBO Max’s weekly release schedule through the eight-episode first season, concluding December 14, 2025.
It: Welcome to Derry Bridges 1962 Terror to the 2017 and 2019 It Movie Events
Episode 3 directly connects 1962 events to the Losers Club’s experiences in 1989, the setting for the 2017 film It: Chapter One. The show operates on Stephen King’s established 27-year cycle, where Pennywise awakens, feeds, and returns to dormancy (via Radio Times). By positioning the narrative exactly 27 years before the children first encounter the entity in 1989, the prequel establishes how earlier trauma shaped Derry’s supernatural landscape.
General Shaw’s Operation Precept represents the military’s attempt to weaponize Pennywise for Cold War purposes, a subplot that introduces the government’s knowledge of the entity decades before the Losers Club discovers it.
Episode 3 features Dick Hallorann conducting an aerial search for massacre sites, using his psychic abilities to locate beacons left by past Pennywise victims. His encounters include visions of carnival imagery, toy piles, and the entity’s glowing eyes.
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The Black Spot fire serves as the season’s central climax, connecting directly to Mike Hanlon’s family history detailed in King’s original novel (via Black Girl Nerds). Will Hanlon, portrayed by Blake Cameron James, co-founded the nightclub as an Army cook before the 1962 arson attack. This event establishes why Mike Hanlon becomes the de facto historian and leader of the 1989 Losers Club in the films.
Stephen King’s Connected Universe Comes Alive Through It: Welcome to Derry
Dick Hallorann’s appearance marks the most significant multiverse integration in Episode 3. Hallorann’s psychic abilities, established in The Shining, directly enable Operation Precept’s supernatural tracking capabilities.
Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane and creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti positioned Hallorann as a bridge between the Overlook Hotel’s horrors and Derry’s terrors (via ComicBook), suggesting King’s supernatural threats operate on shared cosmic principles.
Maturin the Turtle represents the multiverse’s opposing force to Pennywise. According to King’s cosmic mythology, Maturin exists as one of twelve Guardians of the Beams supporting the Dark Tower (via CBR). The prequel series features persistent turtle imagery, including Bert the Turtle Cold War propaganda and a Cracker Jack turtle charm worn by character Lilly. These visual references hint that Episode 3 and future installments may introduce Maturin as an active mythological presence.
Juniper Hill Asylum’s appearance in Episode 3 connects Welcome to Derry to at least 13 other Stephen King stories, including The Tommyknockers, Gerald’s Game, and 11/22/63 (via Slash Film).
What Stephen King references did you catch in Episode 3? Share your thoughts on the multiverse connections in the comments below.
IT: Welcome to Derry is currently streaming on HBO Max.
