The series IT: Welcome to Derry released a surprise standalone episode titled "A Story of Derry" on Halloween. This installment travels back to pre-Colonial times to explore the origins of the town's ancient evil and its first encounters with indigenous peoples.
The Shokopiwah tribe's ancient war with the Galloo
According to the report, the episode introduces the Shokopiwah tribe, whose warriors—specifically Necani,Maneese, and Kino—hunted a malevolent spirit known as the Galloo. This entity is depicted not as a static monster, but as a force that reconfigures itself to mirror the specific societal dangers of whatever era it inhabits. By centering the narrative on these indigenous defenders, the show establishes a lineage of young outsiders fighting supernatural forces long before the events of the 1960s setting of Season 1.
The conflict between the Shokopiwah tribe and the Galloo serves as a foundational piece of lore for the series. The narrative emphasizes that the history of this struggle was preserved through oral traditions, contrasting this with the coerced military interrogations seen in earlier episodes. This shift in storytelling suggests that IT: Welcome to Derry is interested in correcting the historical perspective of the town's horror.
Zahn McClarnon's Mativ and the betrayal of the tribe
A central plot point involves the character Mativ, played by Zahn McClarnon, a Native American warrior who serves as a mentor to the young hunters. In a significant twist, the episode reveals that Mativ was corrupted by the Galloo, leading him to commit a massacre against his own people. This betrayal underscores the theme that the evil in Derry manipulates trusted community figures to ensure the destruction of those who resist it.
The episode further suggests that the Galloo utilized colonialism as a mechanism for its own evolution. As the report says, it is implied that the entity took the form of white colonizers and was further awakened when the military appropriated Native American magic for their own purposes. This connection links the supernatural horror of the Galloo to the real-world historical trauma of colonization and land appropriation.
Maturin's debut and the link to The Dark Tower
The most significant expansion of the show's mythology is the first on-screen appearance of Maturin, the cosmic turtle. Within the broader Stephen King literary universe, Maturin is one of the 12 ancient guardians in The Dark Tower series responsible for maintaining the pillars of reality. In the original IT novel, Maturin provides the ritual that Bill uses to expel Pennywise, and his appearance here elevates the conflict from a local haunting to a cosmic struggle.
By introducing Maturin, IT: Welcome to Derry signals an intention to weave together disparate elements of King's bibliography. this move transforms the series from a simple prequel into a larger exploration of the "Macroverse," suggesting that the horror in Derry is merely one symptom of a much larger, inter-dimensional instability.
The gap between the pre-Colonial era and the 1930s
While this surprise episode journeys into the distant past, the series timeline remains complex. Season 1 focused on the 1960s, and Season 2 is expected to explore the 1930s during the Great Depression. This chronological jumping allows the producers to build a comprehensive history of the Galloo's influence across different centuries, though it leaves several gaps in the timeline that fans are already analyzing.
Several specific details remain unverified or unexplored, such as the exact nature of the "Native American magic" the military attempted to steal to awaken the entity. Additionally , the source reports on the Shokopiwah tribe's perspective but does not clarify if other indigenous groups were affected by the Galloo's presence. It remains to be seen how these pre-Colonial revelations will directly impact the plot of the upcoming 1930s arc .
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