The Kid

Nobody knows who the kid really is.

## History

### 17th Century: Angel

In 1619, in the French-speaking settlement of New Jerusalem, the being appeared to Amity Lambert, the exiled daughter of the settlement's leader, at the cliffs of what would later become Castle Lake. Amity claimed to have met an angel and became his prophet, after they miraculously gained prosperity and their crops grew. She led a "holy crusade" in his name, in which people were burned on upside-down crosses. Finally, the followers committed ritualistic suicide with the promise of rebirth in four hundred years.

### 20th Century: Confinement in Shawshank

The Kid was found and captured in 1991 by Warden Dale Lacy, who believed him to be the devil because he was told so by God. He was imprisoned in a cage underneath the disused Block F of Shawshank State Prison. In the following years, the Kid did not age.

Lacy committed suicide on his last day as warden and The Kid was found by prison guard Dennis Zalewski. He appeared timid and did not speak when questioned about his identity, but merely uttered the name Henry Deaver, as Lacy previously instructed him to do.

Since The Kid was not in any records, Warden Porter decided to keep him imprisoned. Zalewski, watching the monitors, saw The Kid escaping his cell and leaving a trail of dead prisoners in his wake, but it turned out to be visions. The Kid was moved to a cell with a Neo-Nazi inmate and warned the inmate not to touch him. The Nazi died from cancer shortly after.

### Release and Mayhem

Believing that The Kid requested Henry Deaver as his lawyer, Zalewski conspired with Deaver to make The Kid's unjust imprisonment public. Molly Strand (Henry Deaver as witness) broke the story on live regional television. Simultaneously, Zalewski committed a mass shooting in the prison, following a visit with The Kid where he had given him a "fistbump."

Shawshank released The Kid, and Henry arranged a room for him at Molly's workplace. Upon his release, severe forest fires broke out, causing many deaths and injuries. The Kid roamed the neighbourhood at night, and his presence at a birthday party caused it to descend into violence and murder. Standing on a roof top, he seemingly considered jumping. Molly approached him and could sense the voices of people in pain all over Castle Rock. The Kid said he should have stayed in the hole, but Molly comforted him and said he was "just a kid."

The Kid headed to Ruth Deaver's house, where he met Alan Pangborn, who questioned why he had not aged since he last saw him in Lacy's trunk 27 years ago. The Kid claimed he could help Ruth and sent Alan to retrieve warden Lacy's old car. During his stay at the Deaver residence, The Kid watched old home movies from Henry's childhood and wore Matthew Deaver's old suit. He appeared to have a special interest in Ruth Deaver.

Henry Deaver was unnerved by The Kid's behavior and admitted him to Juniper Hill, where a dead crow fell to the ground upon his arrival. Shortly after, a fire broke out at the psychiatric hospital and The Kid escaped, returning to Ruth's house. He played her wedding song and danced with her, made her food when she was light headed and drew her a bath. Ruth, struggling with her mind going back and forth in time, was disoriented by his behaviour and believed him to be her late husband Matthew Deaver, resurrected. Thinking she had to protect herself, she stabbed The Kid, ran away and hid in the garage, where she accidentally shot and killed Alan. The Kid cleaned up the crime scene, allegedly in order to protect Ruth, and put her to sleep.

### Alternate Backstory

Henry's son Wendell called the state police and The Kid escaped to Molly Strands' parents' house. Molly was drawn there by his presence and he told her that he was from an alternate timeline where *he* was Henry Deaver and where Molly died in the woods.

According to his story, he was the biological son of Ruth and Reverend Matthew Deaver, a child who in the present timeline was stillborn. In The Kid's childhood, Matthew took him to the woods in an attempt to make him hear the "voice of God," and Ruth eventually took the Kid and left with Alan Pangborn. In adulthood, he worked as a doctor in Boston, looking for a cure to Alzheimer's and attempting to become pregnant with his girlfriend.

He returned to Castle Rock following Matthew's suicide and found a black child locked in his basement. The child was 11-year-old Henry Deaver, whom Matthew had believed to be a servant of the devil and locked up for 27 years; similar to The Kid's own experience. According to The Kid, he got lost in this timeline whilst helping young Henry find his way home.

Believing The Kid's story, Molly arranged a meeting between him and Henry at Harmony Hill Cemetery, where The Kid waited in front of the grave of Ruth and Matthew's stillborn son. However, Henry had contacted state police and The Kid was seized. He was placed in a cell with Henry, who was a suspect in the death of Odin Branch. The Kid used his powers – for the first time overtly – to influence riot among the prisoners and murder of the police officers. The Kid led Henry to the woods at gunpoint, but Henry overpowered him and took the gun. In a flash, The Kid appeared to Henry in his aged form; several hundred years old, with an aged and deformed face.

The Kid was brought back to the cage beneath the now closed Shawshank Prison, with Henry as his new jailer, visiting and feeding him. The Kid told Henry that he knew he had doubts.

### Return of the Followers

The following year, four hundred years after their collective suicide, the followers from Amity's group were resurrected, though using recently deceased people as their vessels. Pere Augustin, in Ace Merrill's body, returned to Shawshank to look for the "angel" as Amity had instructed him to, but he had disappeared from the cell. The followers created a statue of The Angel which mesmerized the townspeople.

## Personality and nature

The Kid inspires destruction and chaos in his surroundings. He is aware of this, but it usually does not appear to be intentional and he seemingly feels guilt and remorse for this.

* touch causes cancer, Zalewski's massacre. Did not want to touch prisoner.
* Does not age VS true age.

## Identity

The Kid's true identity and background remains a mystery.

The Kid himself presents a back story in which he was a normal man who got lost in this timeline while trying to help young Henry Deaver return home, and now wants to return to his own reality. Though it could be a story concocted by The Kid to deceive Henry and Molly, his behaviour is consistent with the story in many ways;

The first thing he asked Henry when they spoke was "can you hear it?" He is referring to the schisma, which Matthew Deaver from both realities called the voice of God and tried to make both Henry and the Kid hear. The Kid would be in this, because if Henry could hear it, it would indicate that she schisma was strong and The Kid could possibly return home.

Upon his arrival to the Deaver house, he seems to know the place and acts as if he has returned home. He watches Matthew's old home movies, which in this reality features Henry Deaver, but in his own reality would have featured himself. He also wears Matthew's old suit and lays down in his bed. He is also apparently very interested in Ruth Deaver, who according to his story is his mother. He told Alan he could help her, which goes in line with his story of being an Alzheimer's doctor and researcher. When the two of them are alone, he seems to be knowledgeable about her life and understanding of her condition. He knows where a family photo originally hung on the wall, he knows her wedding song, how she likes her eggs and the combination to the safe. He appears to care for her by laying her down and making her a meal when she feels light headed and giving her medicine, and seems very happy to help when she asks him to draw her a bath. When she asks who he is, he says "I'm smaller than a tea cup," something Henry said when they would play the game "Who am I?"

When Henry confronts him, the Kid says he never wanted any of this and mentions that he rescued Henry from a cage.

## Notes

* There were several references to angels over the course of the second season, prior to The Kid's appearance in "The Word." *The Ravening Angel* is the title of Annie's father's novel. Ravening means to be predatory and/or voracious, a description which might fit the Kid.
* Before The Angel appeared to Amity, she heard the schisma. This might indicate that he has travelled from another dimension, or even through time, to meet her.
* The mural in the Marsten house depicts an angel flying above a burning town. This might reference the fires The Kid caused in season one, or it could be a prophecy of things to come.

## King Connections

This character is still shrouded in mystery, but fans have many theories about which characters from King's works he could represent. Fans have noted parallels with some of King's most famous antagonist.

* It from It, an evil demonic being? The Kid's confinement for 27 years before release draws parallels to the clown, who reappered in Derry every 27 years. Skarsgård portrayed him in the recent film adaptation.
* Randall Flagg
* Crimson King

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 7: "The Word"
2. ↑ 1x01
3. ↑ 1x04
4. ↑ 1x05
5. ↑ 1x06
6. ↑ 1x06
7. ↑ 1x07
8. ↑ 1x09
9. ↑ 1x10