'Welcome to Derry' eerie post-credits scene, explained

IT: Welcome to Derry has closed the chapter on its first season with quite the bang. Thanks to the military’s stupid plan, Pennywise unleashed terror all over Derry as Lilly, Ronnie, and Marge came together to take a stand. The final moments were filled with sadness, new beginnings, and the conclusion of the 1962 cycle… until the credits rolled. That’s right, Welcome to Derry has a post-credits scene that appears to debunk a theory about Lilly Bainbridge’s connection to Beverly Marsh… or does it? 

Welcome to Derry‘s Post-Credits Scene Goes to 1988 and Features Beverly Marsh

In the clip, we go to October 1988, which is 26 years after this cycle. That means it is time for Pennywise to wake up once again. We are in Juniper Hill with Ingrid, who is now an old woman. She’s peacefully painting a portrait until screams down the hallway attract her attention. Ingrid walks towards another room and we overhear staff saying that woman named Elfrida Marsh has died by suicide. 

Sadly, two of Elfrida’s family members are on the floor crying. A man shoves a young woman away and she turns around to see Ingrid standing there. It is none other than a young Beverly Marsh, whom we met in the 2017 IT film. In that movie, we only heard that her mother died and her abusive father, who is the man in the room at Juniper Hill, blames her for the death. Now, we get more of a glimpse at her origin story in this Welcome to Derry post-credits scene. 

Ingrid smiles creepily at her and says that no one in Derry ever dies. It’s an interesting moment considering that Mrs. Kersh was a manifestation of IT that Beverly encountered in the Chapter Two movie. This is a different way to connect those two characters together and kinda explains why IT would use that form for Beverly.

Lilly Bainbridge Is More Than Likely NOT Beverly Marsh’s Mom

But, what’s really intriguing about this scene is that it appears to debunk the ongoing theory that Lilly Bainbridge would grow up to be Beverly’s mother. If it were Lilly who hung herself in that room, it would’ve made more sense for us to get a more explicit connection. Perhaps we would’ve seen her turtle bracelet on her wrist or maybe even the orderly revealing that her full name is Elfrida Lillian Marsh.

Sadly, it would have made sense for someone with so much trauma like Lilly to possibly marry an abusive man and end up back at Juniper Hill where she meets her death. A lot of things can happen to a person after 26 years, including friendships dissolving and other traumatic events. It is not impossible that the hanging woman in Welcome to Derry’s post-credits scene isn’t Lilly, but it seems rather unlikely. 

Welcome to Derry Could Introduce Us to a Character With Connections to Elfrida and Beverly

In the finale, Pennywise did tell Marge that time is not linear for him and he literally tried to kill her to prevent Richie from being born. Marge and Lilly pondered whether IT would go back in time to possibly kill one of their ancestors and rewrite the future. And of course the show plans to go back to 1935 and 1908 to see what happened in Derry.

We could meet a character who is related to Elfrida and Beverly Marsh perhaps meet a younger version of her, too. The show’s creators are very intentional about weaving the cycles together, so that scene is probably more than a fun Easter egg. For now, we are not so patiently waiting for Welcome to Derry to get a second season.