In the latest installment of IT: Welcome to Derry on HBO, Episode 5, audiences are greeted with a multitude of unexpected turns and jaw-dropping revelations. The most heart-wrenching twist revolves around the young boy whose vanishing initially set the narrative in motion.

**Warning: Spoilers ahead for IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 5, currently available on HBO Max**

Matty Clements, portrayed by Miles Ekhardt, makes an early appearance in the series, visibly traumatized from his harrowing experience in Pennywise’s (played by Bill Skarsgård) grasp and yearning for companionship. When the newly formed “Loser’s Club,” consisting of Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack), Ronnie Grogan (Amanda Christine), Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James), Rich Santos (Arian S. Cartaya), and Marge Truman (Matilda Lawler), stumble upon him hiding in their secret hideout, their initial relief quickly shifts to terror. Matty describes the eerie lair of Pennywise and reveals that Phil (Jack Molloy Legault) remains alive but imprisoned there.

This revelation sparks the group’s determination to rescue Phil. They persuade a hesitant Matty to guide them through the maze-like sewers. Matty agrees, and in a humorous turn, the kids arm themselves with Mrs. Bainbridge’s anti-anxiety pills as a shield against Pennywise’s frightful tricks. Thus begins their daring venture, flashlights in hand, into the dark depths in pursuit of the sinister clown.

In a cruel and unexpected twist, it is unveiled that Matty has been deceased all along. Throughout the episode, he has been just another one of Pennywise’s sinister manifestations, crafted to lead the youngsters to their doom. Although the brave middle schoolers manage to escape this perilous encounter, they are left deeply shaken by the chilling ordeal.

IT: Welcome to Derry executive producer and co-showrunner Jason Fuchs revealed to DECIDER that the big Matty/Pennywise wasn’t initially conceived for the HBO show. Instead, it was concept that he, Andy Muschietti, and Barbara Muschietti were thinking about using on iconic Loser’s Club member Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa).

“So when I was working on IT: Chapter Two, there was a version of that script where Mike Hanlon — who has obviously been guiding our adult Losers the entire time — eventually takes them down into the sewers, takes them down into It’s sanctuary, where they find Mike Hanlon’s body,” Fuchs said. “And you realize that the Mike Hanlon we were with the whole journey of IT: Chapter Two was a manifestation of It.”

Ultimately, though, Fuchs and the Muschietti siblings decided the idea wouldn’t work for the film because it was too different from Stephen King’s canon.

“We thought, ‘Oh, it’s just too much of a departure from the book. We want to be closer to where the story beats.’ And so that went away,” Fuchs said. “Then when we started talking about the journey of the show, and specifically Episode 5, I remember us talking and going, ‘Wait, this is an idea that might actually have found its time and its moment.’ Matty as the guide, Matty in that context, makes a lot more sense.”

Fuchs went on to explain why the Matty twist could only work on television.

“You have more opportunities to take riskier swings. You have the opportunity to take departures that you couldn’t in the films because it all really is fresh,” Fuchs said. “Now we’re using pieces of the book, but then extrapolating and sort of inventing from there. So that was that moment was a long time coming, and it was very cool to see it real.”