Rich Makes the Ultimate Sacrifice in 'Welcome to Derry,' and It’s Not Even Because of Pennywise

After the first episode of It: Welcome to Derry ends with a bloodbath involving several children, viewers kind of had an inkling that no one is safe in Derry. But they also didn't expect to lose more kids as the season went on, especially one of the core kids trying to solve the mystery of Pennywise and figure out how to save Ronnie's dad. Unfortunately, that happens in the penultimate episode when Rich sacrifices himself to save Marge.

But what happens to Rich in Welcome to Derry, and how does he actually die? Unlike the fates of other kids and even adults in town, Rich's death has nothing to do with Pennywise. Instead, it's because of a mob of angry white men in town who throw Molotov cocktails at a building that Rich is stuck inside. It's all very tragic and, despite the nature of the HBO series, pretty unexpected.

Both Rich and Marge are stuck inside the Black Spot military bar that is locked from the outside when the soldiers don't hand Ronnie's dad over to the mob. Apparently, the mob's backup plan all along was to lock everyone inside and kill them all. No one really counted on Pennywise making an appearance, but nothing in Derry happens without the killer clown around to liven things up.

For Rich, though, his death has nothing to do with Pennywise. Even though Pennywise does show up during the fire and has a bit of a feast on some of the adults, for once, the kids are safe from him. But Rich dies saving Marge when only one of them can fit into a freezer to get out of the flames and smoke around them. Like we said, super sad.

The next morning, Marge sees Rich sitting next to the freezer, dead, but not burned much from the fire. He likely died from smoke inhalation after lying on top of the freezer, and then next to it, all night. His sacrifice spares Marge's life, though, and it might even give the rest of the kids even more of a reason to right the wrongs in town.

When Welcome to Derry premiered, some fans saw similarities between the show's characters and the kids in the It movies, which take place several years in the future. While there has never been confirmation that Rich is related to the bespectacled lovable goofball named Richie Tozier in the movies, there is a theory that Richie was named after him.

On a Reddit thread about Marge, fans theorized that she grows up to be Richie's mom, Maggie Tozier, and that she names her future son Richie after Rich, in honor of him. That could be the case, and viewers might even see it, should Welcome to Derry take viewers through the years with the characters from the first season. For now, though, it's just a theory.