Titled "The Thing in the Dark," Episode 2, which debuted Friday on HBO Max, two days early in celebration of Halloween, saw the children of early 1960s Derry continue to be haunted by some of the most terrifying iterations of It to date. Meanwhile, over at the Derry Air Force Base, town newcomer and Korean War veteran Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo)—a.k.a. the future grandfather of Losers Club member Mike Hanlon—was brought in on Operation Precept, a classified DOD crash program focused on retrieving a weapon long ago buried in Derry that generates debilitating fear. General Shaw (James Remar) told Leroy this supposed weapon could help the U.S. win the Cold War before a single missile is fired and that Leroy himself is uniquely qualified to help the military secure it, as he is a man without fear. Unfortunately, this mission just doesn't seem likely to go as planned for some reason.