The Final Battle with It

The final battle between the Losers' Club and It, fought in the creature's subterranean lair under Derry in the early morning of May 31st, 1985, is the culmination of a promise made twenty-seven years before. It is a confrontation that costs Eddie Kaspbrak his life, nearly claims Richie Tozier and Bill Denbrough in the void of the deadlights, and ends with the Spider's heart crushed between Bill's hands. The battle does not merely kill the monster; it shatters the cycle of violence that has haunted Derry for centuries, and its aftershocks—a supernatural storm, the collapse of downtown, the destruction of the Standpipe—tear the town apart even as the survivors claw their way back to the surface.

The Descent into the Lair

After Eddie Kaspbrak kills Henry Bowers in self-defense in his hotel room, the remaining five members of the Losers' Club—Bill Denbrough, Beverly Rogan, Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom, and Eddie—gather in the Barrens. They find the iron cover of the pumping-station already pushed aside, and beneath it, Beverly discovers Audra Denbrough's purse, proving that Bill's wife has been taken. Bill, half-mad with grief and rage, leads them down into the sewers. Eddie, his arm freshly broken, rides piggyback on Bill. They crawl through the dark, following the trail of the Spider's black blood and the eggs it has dropped in its flight. Ben, bringing up the rear, methodically crushes each egg under his boot, killing the spiderlings inside. The tunnel opens into a vast, cathedral-like chamber lit by a sick yellow-green glow. At its far end stands a small, child-sized door bound with iron strips, the mark upon it—a paper boat, a bird, a fist, a leper's face, a moon—different for each of them. Bill pushes it open, and they enter the lair.

The Spider and the Deadlights

The creature they find is a monstrous black Spider, fifteen feet high, with ruby eyes and a stinger dripping living poison. But behind this shape, they sense the true form: the deadlights, an insane, formless light that is the entity's real self. Bill, Richie, and Ben charge the Spider, but it is Eddie who delivers the first decisive blow. He leaps at the creature, triggering his aspirator into its eye, the mist burning into the jelly like acid. The Spider's jaws close on his arm, ripping it off at the shoulder. Eddie falls, bleeding to death, but his sacrifice distracts the creature long enough for Bill and Richie to seize its tongue in the Ritual of Chüd. Bill is hurled into the void, skidding past the dead shell of the Turtle toward the deadlights, but Richie catches his hand and pulls him back. They return to their bodies, and Bill, with Richie at his side, charges the Spider one final time.

The Killing Blow

Bill drives his fist into the Spider's body, plunging his arm up to the shoulder in its stinking flesh. He feels its heart, a great pulsing organ, and laces his fingers over it. With all his force, he brings his hands together, crushing the heart between them. The Spider shrieks once, a sound of pure agony and fear, and collapses. Its body tilts and falls, its legs twitching in random scrawls. Richie is knocked unconscious by a blow from the dying creature, but Bill finds him in the dark and carries him back. Ben has finished crushing the eggs. They gather around Eddie's body, and Richie kisses his cheek. They leave him there, in the lair, and Richie kicks the child-sized door shut. The mark on it is gone.

The Escape and the Storm

The survivors—Bill, Richie, Beverly, and Ben—stumble through the collapsing sewers, carrying Audra, who is catatonic. The water rises as a supernatural storm rages above. They emerge through a crack in the street where downtown Derry has caved into the Canal. The Standpipe has fallen, the Kissing Bridge is destroyed, and the town is in ruins. They are pulled to safety by onlookers. Eddie is dead. Audra is alive but unresponsive. The battle is over, but the cost is immense.

Aftermath and the Forgetting

In the days that follow, the survivors begin to forget. The scars on their palms fade. The names of the dead slip away. Mike Hanlon, recovering in the hospital, writes in his notebook that the forgetting is already spreading. He calls Richie in California, and Richie cannot remember Stan Uris's last name. Bill, staying at Mike's house with Audra, tries one last act of faith: he puts her on the back of Silver, the old bike he found in a secondhand shop, and rides down Up-Mile Hill at full speed, shouting "Hi-yo Silver, AWAYYY!" The wind and the speed break through her catatonia. She speaks, she laughs, she is alive again. The final battle is won, and the circle closes.