There are your plain old monsters of the week, and then there’s IT. The concept of the entity is so otherworldly that we don’t even know (nor can we comprehend) its real name.
But we do know what IT likes. Fear. It likes his victims scared to death, which is why he goes to the extra lengths we’ve seen in the movies and IT: Welcome To Derry series.
However, there is someone who scares the living daylights outta the dancing clown. And the show quietly dropped his name in the finale episode.
(Courtesy of HBO)
When Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) finds it difficult to focus his psychic abilities due to the ghost voices in his head, Rose (Kimberly Norris-Guerrero) makes him drink a tea made of the root of Maturin.
The beverage clears his mind. In fact, it looked like he came back stronger, as he was able to hold IT in its mental confines for quite some time.
In Stephen King’s IT universe, Maturin is the name of an entity so powerful that even IT avoids him at all costs.
Who Is Maturin?
Stephen King’s cosmic mythology is as symbolic as it is diverse. For every yin, there is a yang. The same is true in case of the seemingly invincible and incomprehensible IT.
(Courtesy of HBO)
Just like IT, Maturin is a cosmic entity who hails from the Macroverse. However, unlike IT, he is described as an ethereal sea turtle with a multicolored shell. He is so huge that there are galaxies swirling around his toenails.
Maturin has been described as a benevolent and wise entity in the IT novels, often playing the role of a behind-the-scenes protector.
His role in the cosmic macroverse is much more complex, and he plays a much more crucial role in the books. However, he has yet to make an on-screen appearance, considering how difficult it would be to depict a being of this scale.
The IT films and Welcome to Derry do pay homage to the guardian turtle. However, the series does it more directly, and quite a few times.
(HBO/Screenshot)
The premiere episode itself features a turtle mascot, Bert, who teaches kids to “duck and cover.” Matty gives Lilly a small turtle, which she wears as a charm on her bracelet.
And finally, the Maturin tea that helps Dick get back to his senses. Does this mean the natives know about Maturin as well?
If IT: Welcome to Derry gets renewed for more seasons, it would be an interesting concept to explore, and would finally bring Maturin more into the action.
How IT: Welcome To Derry Perfectly Circles Back (or Forward) to the Films
For a show that spends eight episodes digging into Derry’s rotten foundations, Welcome to Derry is surprisingly precise about where it leaves the chess pieces.
(Screenshot/HBO)
Pennywise isn’t “defeated” so much as shoved back into that long, hungry nap that will eventually spit us out in 1989 with a paper boat, a storm drain, and a terrified little boy named Georgie.
Funny thing is that IT knows about his fate in the future, hinting at how he perceives time differently.
Does this mean it was all planned, maybe by Maturin? To keep IT stuck in a time-looped prison?
The prequel doesn’t just wink at the films; it quietly reloads them, so when you rewatch Andy Muschietti’s movies, so many scenes feel like they’ve been hiding extra teeth.
A lot of that comes down to who walks away.
(Courtesy of HBO)
Dick Hallorann leaving town with his shine steadied by that Maturin root tea doesn’t only nod at The Shining and Doctor Sleep.
It also makes his future trip to the Overlook feel like just another stop on a haunted road that started in Derry.
Marge’s connection to the Tozier family, the Marsh name popping up at Juniper Hill, and even background nods like Mrs. Kersh all pull double duty.
It turns supporting players into ticking time bombs for anyone who knows exactly how badly things will go for their kids and grandkids.
And then there’s the turtle.
(Courtesy of HBO)
Once the finale says “Maturin” out loud, all those turtles scattered through the season stop being cute Easter eggs.
They start feeling like a promise that Derry’s nightmare has always been part of something bigger and stranger than one clown and one town.
If the show keeps leaning into that cosmic tug-of-war — Pennywise on one side, a tired old turtle on the other — it could make the movies feel richer every time the Deadlights switch on.
What did you spot in the finale that changed how you see the IT films — turtle clues, family names, or something else entirely? Drop your theories (and your wildest Maturin takes) in the comments.
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There’s always a bigger fish. Sometimes it’s a turtle that can even scare the living sh!t outta IT! Hey, something’s got to do it.
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IT: Welcome To Derry proves it doesn’t have to be gruesome; just emotionally gut-wrenching.
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Pennywise finally appears in It: Welcome to Derry Episode 5, delivering a terrifying twist and Bill Skarsgård’s return.
You can view the original article HERE.
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