Perhaps like always, From season 3 ends with an explosive episode, revealing a number of things about Fromville and the monsters that lurk there after dark, leaving us wanting for more answers right away. The supernatural science fiction thriller series has become quite popular among viewers for its particularly mind-bending nature and, even more so, for its style of explaining things very slowly, almost at a creeping and non-existent pace. While the ending of season 3 does present a few possibilities and theories that can be used to understand some general matters of the show, it also leaves us with a number of new questions to ponder over till From season 4 arrives sometime in the future.
Spoilers Ahead
Does Elgin die?
Elgin takes a very important role throughout the entirety of From season 3, particularly because of the ghost that he starts seeing, which remains invisible to everyone else. It had already been established, back in season 2, that Elgin was much more sensitive than the other characters, because of which he is able to sense a lot more things than the others. This still seems to be the particular reason as to why the kimono-wearing spirit appears to him and asks for his help, and it might also be related to the fact that he is more gullible than the others. While Elgin is not really the most desperate character who cannot wait to get out of Fromville, he does seem to suffer from a hero complex by the end, as the spirit easily convinces him that listening to her orders will allow him and the other humans to leave the town and return to their original lives. Therefore, Elgin kidnaps Fatima and holds her hostage in the underground cellar, while his unsubtle show of innocence and good-hearted nature also alert Ellis that he must be up to something.
Ultimately, Elgin has to face the wrath of a small group of characters, and it is hard to imagine his fate being any better if all the townsfolk actually knew what he had been up to. The young man’s unwavering conviction about the kimono-wearing woman being a guiding angel who is helping save everyone in town by kidnapping Fatima is all part of the manipulation that is in the works against him. Sara attests to this, stating that nothing can change Elgin’s mind now that he completely believes the monsters, for she too had gone through the same experience. It is because of her personal experience that Elgin has to suffer a terrible fate, and it is up for debate whether he deserves such a bloody end. By the time Sara is done extracting information from him, the young man looks to have been blinded in one eye, horribly bruised and tortured, and it will be a wonder if he actually survives.
As of now, it does seem like Elgin dies at the end of From season 3, since nobody pays any attention to helping him after Fatima’s location is revealed. Acosta is probably the only person who would rush Elgin to the clinic and try to save his life, although Donna might actually join her as well. Despite going through emotional breakdowns, Donna has still not lost control over her feelings, which was evident from her hiding Fatima’s crime from the townsfolk in the earlier episodes. However, whether Elgin can make a recovery from the state that he is in is a different question altogether, especially with the limited resources and experts in the matter. Kristi is the only doctor at the place; that too is only based on her experiences as a paramedic, and Marielle will not be much of a help either.
Irrespective of whether Elgin survives or dies, how this whole incident impacts the townsfolk will be interesting to watch since they will find out about the truth, at least to some extent. As discussed by the imaginary ghost of Father Khatri, Boyd’s decision to use brutally violent measures on a seemingly innocent townsperson is definitely questionable. Although Elgin had actually kidnapped Fatima, he is in a confused state, almost brainwashed by the monsters, and so pretty much in the same shape Sara once was. Yet Boyd had supported Sara but tortured Elgin simply because of his bias towards saving his daughter-in-law. Sara does take the blame for killing or beating up Elgin, but it is seriously Boyd who must take responsibility for her actions. Donna had already started to question whether Boyd was getting too biased towards his family members, something that a town sheriff must not do, and it is possible that the townsfolk, led by Acosta, might stand against him in the next season.
What does Smiley’s Return reveal about the monsters?
In From season 3’s ending, we are shown a ritualistic gathering of all the monsters in Fromville, taking place in the chamber underneath the underground vault. In this ritual, the object that Fatima gives birth to takes its actual form, revealing itself to be the Smiley Creature, as seen earlier in the series. The Smiley Creature had been killed by the Sheriff Boyd in From season 2, with the help of an intelligent plan that he had to come up with, but the monster now returns to life through his very daughter-in-law. This return is explained by Fatima, who claims to have found out a deep secret about the monsters in the town. She says that the monsters were basically humans who had once sacrificed their children in order to gain immortality.
The fact that the Smiley Creature gets reborn and gets to continue his life from adulthood proves that Fatima’s claim is very true, and it is most possibly through her birthing process, during moments when the monster inside her actually synchronized with her body, that she had found out about this secret. It is also not made clear whether the people had sacrificed their children in their respective realities or had done so after coming to Fromville, although the latter seems more probable. But in that case, why did they want to turn immortal since there were no monsters haunting the place before them? Was there something more demonic and evil trying to hunt them down? Perhaps some of the residents who had first come to the place had put up totems and statues to ward off this evil, and these are the totems that Jim and Kenny find near the cabin in the woods.
The children that had been sacrificed were surely the ones that now keep appearing to Tabitha, and more about this sacrificial ritual can be expected to be revealed in From season 4, whenever it will arrive. The fact that the monsters have to be reborn through a somewhat long process of a human becoming pregnant and giving birth to them instead of just being invincible might come in handy for the human survivors trying to escape the place, if such a day ever comes. But the fact that the Smiley Creature is given (re)birth by Fatima might also be another cruel act of mockery directed at Boyd, for the monsters are clearly targeting the sheriff now. After teasing and manipulating Boyd throughout this season, the monsters probably had one last joke on him by making his daughter-in-law give birth to a monster.
These matters will hopefully become clear in the next season, while we will also get to know whether Boyd actually gets spotted by the Smiley Creature in the end. Although the revitalized monster looks around the room with his characteristic smile, he does seem to look towards the spot where Boyd is standing as well. In case Boyd is spotted, he might be tormented even further, this time directly. Or, it might be that he will be let go so that he can inform the other townsfolk, and the monsters will boast about their supernatural powers.
Will Tabitha and Jade be able to finally break the cycle?
From season 3 confirms that Tabitha and Jade are actually reincarnations of Miranda and Christopher, respectively, two central characters who had played very important roles when people first started coming to Fromville. It is also revealed that Miranda and Christopher in their past lives were actually in a romantic relationship and had even had a daughter together. This girl had also been sacrificed, seemingly by the others, and the couple had tried to save the children because their own daughter was also among them. While we do not know details about the relationship between the two, it seems likely that Miranda and Christopher had started a relationship that Victor and Eloise did not know about. This is why Victor saw Christopher reject the appeals made by the Boy in White and told his mother about the children trapped in the tower, after which Christopher actually made an effort to save the kids. The man possibly changed his mind in order to save his beloved from getting hurt. However, it also seems quite improbable that Miranda and Christopher met at Fromville, fell in love, and even had a daughter there, considering that this would have taken a great many years, and so it might be that they were already lovers in the real world. In that case, Eloise seems to have been their daughter, which Henry did not know about. The fact that adult Victor shows Henry the place where he had buried his sister’s mangled body might also be significant, for it might be that the body belonged to someone else, while Eloise had been sacrificed by the evil humans. Victor categorically mentions that he could not really identify his sister’s body, and therefore the possibility that Eloise was his half-sister still remains a secret from him and from Henry.
It now becomes clear that the purpose of Tabitha and Jade’s lives has always been to be pulled back to Fromville so that they could save the children in the tower. They have been returning in every one of their incarnations, and this iteration (Tabitha and Jade) might be the one when they finally break the cycle and save the children. Tabitha and Jade are going to be the pair at the heart of all the action in From season 4, and this is also seemingly why Jim gets conveniently removed from their path, as he is killed at the end of season 3.
Can Julie somehow prevent her father’s death?
At the end of From season 3, Julie has to witness the brutal murder of her father at the hands of the stranger in the yellow suit. However, Julie also learns in this episode that she is a ‘Story Walker,’ as termed by young Ethan, meaning that she can witness certain events from the past. Although Ethan says that she cannot really change the past and can only witness it, Julie had clearly interacted with events from the past when she threw in the rope for Boyd to climb out of the well. While this was exactly what had happened in the past timeline, as Boyd had been given the rope by someone from above, almost magically, Julie performing the action at present means that there is a time loop in the works, and she can somehow interact with it.
It might be that Julie cannot just go about changing the basics of the past, or there might be some specific rules to the whole story-walking ability of hers, but it seems possible that she might be able to change some small things from the past. The teenager will surely try to explore more about these possibilities in From season 4, especially now that she has lost her father. A simple step to somehow ensure that Jim would not have been in the forest at that specific time will prevent his death, but that might still be an impossible feat for Julie. Perhaps Randall and Marielle also possess similar powers, since the three of them had been trapped by the evil forces at Fromville together, and how they might put their powers to use will be interesting to watch.
Who Is The Man In Yellow?
In From season 3’s ending, we also see the introduction of a new character, who is clearly way more evil and powerful than the rest of the monsters at Fromville. There are a number of theories that could be spun about this man’s identity, as he might be Martin, the old guy chained to the walls met by Boyd in the previous season. It might be that Martin was once trapped inside the chambers in the ruins by the works of some heroes earlier, and by guiding Boyd out of the place, he somehow ensured that he too could get out and regain his powers. The man in yellow might also be the very creator of the monsters, who first came up with the idea of turning humans with evil intent into the creatures of the night.
The character is definitely much more powerful than everyone else, as evident from the fact that he is able to roam around freely while there is still light, unlike the other monsters. His introduction makes it seem like there is certainly a higher power in control of things at Fromville, and he seems to be the rule-setter at the place. Based on how his eyes seem to be glowing, it is also possible to think of the man as Satan, or at least the devil in control of the mysterious happenings in From. Season 4 would have Jade and Tabitha take on the roles of Adam and Eve, going by that comparison, and their main task would be to save the helpless children from any more torture at the place.
Ultimately, there will probably be a bigger divide between the good and the bad sides in From season 4, as it is possible to think that a few of the townsfolk might actually want to turn into monsters in order to become immortal. The fact that Sara had been told to kill a young boy might have also been her reckoning towards becoming an immortal monster. Tabitha and Jade will anyway launch their attack against the evil monsters and try to save the sacrificed children, so that the loop of suffering and torment will end for everyone. But whether From chooses to resolve matters finally or stretch on for longer will only be clear when the next season arrives in the future.
