It: Welcome to Derry Episode 7, “The Black Spot,” depicts heartbreak and violence as vigilantes burn down the makeshift nightclub. The events unfold very differently from Stephen King’s 1986 novel, adding more emotional stakes and destruction.

Pennywise is expected to enter hibernation after this major bloody event, which the Shokopiwah tribe calls “the augury.” However, It adds two more victims to its growing list, as Ingrid Kersh and young Will Hanlon are exposed to the Deadlights.

What Are the Deadlights in the IT Universe?

Image via Warner Bros.

King’s novel explains that the Deadlights originate from another dimension called the Macroverse. They appear as bright, glowing orange-yellow lights that emit from within the ancient cosmic entity. Although It’s most well-known form is Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the Deadlights are what the Stephen King monster is made of. While humans could never see It’s proper form, a select few have glimpsed the malevolent energy within.

While Deadlights are prominent in the IT universe, this energy also appears in other Stephen King stories. Deadlights are featured in The Dark Tower series, which fundamentally links everything within King’s universe. They are also mentioned in the 1994 novel Insomnia and the 2021 novel Later.

In the feature films IT (2017) and IT: Chapter 2 (2019), two members of the Losers’ Club encounter the Deadlights. Young Beverly Marsh comes face-to-face with Pennywise and falls into a trance after seeing the lights. Later, an adult Richie Tozier experiences the same. While the lights can have a lasting effect, both were saved.

In the novel and the 1990 made-for-TV miniseries, Bill Denbrough’s wife, Audra, is also exposed, causing her to become comatose. However, she is later awakened from her condition when Bill takes her for a ride on his beloved childhood bicycle, “Silver.”

Ingrid Kersh Finally Faces the Truth in Welcome to Derry Episode 7

Image via Brooke Palmer/HBO

In Welcome to Derry Episode 6, Ingrid Kersh tells Lilly that Robert ‘Bob’ Gray, Pennywise’s human form, was her father. She shared a loving bond with him and traveled with the circus, hoping to perform as a clown. After It appears to Ingrid as her father in 1935, she is manipulated into helping deliver the monster victims while working at Juniper Hill as a housekeeper.

However, she is also the one who called in an anonymous sighting of accused child killer Hank Grogan, who was hiding at The Black Spot. She had hoped that the intense fear and violence would feed Pennywise, allowing her to please her father and get close to him once again. She truly believed her father was still inside the entity, somehow, and she could save him.

When Pennywise brutally kills Ingrid’s husband in front of her, she remains unmoved. However, when It says that it will go into hibernation, Ingrid becomes angry at the idea of being left alone again. No longer under It’s control, she begins yelling at the clown that it isn’t her father. Pennywise then opens its head, revealing the Deadlights inside. Ingrid’s eyes are milky as she floats in the air.

She is later seen awake on a stretcher, being taken away in an ambulance. She looks at the surviving children in a menacingly creepy way. At the very least, she might be on her way to Juniper Hill, but not as a housekeeper. The Deadlights can shatter a person’s mind, leading to insanity and mental entrapment in fear. It is also believed that the Deadlights capture the victim’s soul.

Pennywise Wakes Up from Hibernation Early

Image via Brooke Palmer/HBO

As Pennywise goes into hibernation for another 27 years, a crucial action taken by the military wakes it from its sleep. Dick Hallorann successfully finds one of the 13 pillars trapping the entity, which is then removed from the ground.

While General Shaw explained to Leroy Hanlon in an earlier episode that the U.S. government aimed to use the entity as a weapon during the Cold War, their true motives to free the being are revealed, and the pillar is destroyed. This causes Pennywise’s hibernation to end abruptly.

Right after waking up, Pennywise targets Will Hanlon in a terrifying encounter. It attacks Will in his kitchen, revealing the Deadlights. Although fans know Will survives this event, since he later fathers future Losers’ Club member Mike Hanlon, it’s still unclear what impact this will have on him or if anyone intervenes. Viewers are sure to find out in next week’s season finale, titled “Winter Fire.”

It: Welcome to Derry airs every Sunday on HBO, leading up to the season finale on December 14.