The Children’s Tragic Backstory, Deaths, Powers & Identities Explained

WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for From’s season 3 finale!Though they began the series as an unsettling mystery, the dark history of the children in From has been revealed as the key to many of the town’s horrors, peculiarities, and potentially the way back home. Beginning in From season 2, Tabitha began to have recurring visions of deceased children in tattered, dated clothing with patches of their hair missing. These children would often come up to Tabitha and touch her while repeating the word “Anghkooey.” Eventually, Jade experienced similar visions, though for him, they were more connected to From’s symbol that he frequently saw.

Tabitha later learned that she had to go to the “tower” to save the children. But, once she made it to the lighthouse, only the Boy in White was there, with her exit into the real world and subsequent return to Fromville then making her mission with the children all the more confusing. Finally, From season 3’s ending gave Tabitha and Jade the answers they had long been searching for, as the song from the faraway bottle tree’s music notes recovered their memories from their past lives in Fromville, revealing who the children were and what happened to them.

The Children Were Sacrificed So The Adults They Trusted Could Become Immortal

For decades, Victor had suppressed many of his childhood memories about Fromville, partially due to his fear of the location and its horrors, and partially due to the guilt he felt in regard to his mother Miranda and sister Eloise’s deaths. However, in From season 3, episode 8, Victor finally jogged his memory of a conversation he witnessed between Christopher and the Boy in White. The flashback to that moment revealed that the Boy in White told Christopher that “the answers to the end are in the beginning,” with the former then explaining the children’s story.

According to the Boy in White, the children were born in the dark and murdered in the dark, having been killed by the people who they loved and trusted. They were killed on the stone slabs in the tunnels, as hinted at by Jade’s vision of them there in From season 2’s ending. However, it wasn’t until From’s season 3 finale that the identity of the children’s killers and their motivations was revealed. Once Fatima gave birth to the reborn Smiley Monster, she was able to see what From’s nocturnal monsters really are and what exactly they did.

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Fatima reveals in From season 3, episode 10 that the creatures were originally humans, who sacrificed the children in exchange for eternal life. After completing their sacrifice, the adults had their wish granted, but their eternal life would be in the form of From’s terrifying bloodthirsty creatures. It’s still unclear who instigated the sacrifice, when it happened, and why that deal was proposed, but many theories speculate the Man in Yellow was involved in leading the evil ritual.

The Children Created The Symbol & Faraway Tree

Their Hope Created The Symbol’s Roots & The Faraway Tree

Given the sacrifice of the children created From‘s nocturnal creatures, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some sort of magic is present in Fromville. This magic is at the source of From’s symbol and faraway tree, which were created by the children. As Victor reveals to Tabitha and Sara in From season 3, the children created the faraway tree at the time of their sacrifice.

Before their deaths, the children were told a story by someone who they trusted, and that story gave them hope. Whether it was hope that they would be saved from their deaths or that their souls would be freed is still unknown, but it was that hope that poured into the roots of a tree, which formed the symbol over the skylight opening in the tunnels. Those same roots would eventually go on to form the magical faraway trees, which transport those who step through them to unpredictable locations around Fromville.

It’s not clear exactly why the faraway trees became a portal, but it may have something to do with the children being able to send people to certain locations to help them. For instance, the faraway bottle tree sent Tabitha to the lighthouse, which led to her finding Henry in Camden, Maine, learning about her connections to Miranda, and eventually remembering that Tabitha was Miranda in a past life. It all leads back to the children, and it all seems to be crafted in a way that helps Tabitha and Jade figure out how to save them.

Why The Children Repeat The Word “Anghkooey” In From

“Anghkooey” Translates To Remember

Arguably the most notable and confounding aspect of Tabitha and Jade’s earlier visions of the children was the fact that they would repeat the word “Anghkooey.” The word doesn’t have any translation into a real-world language, so there was no amount of research that audiences could do to figure out exactly what it meant. Finally, From’s season 3 finale confirmed that “Anghkooey” translates to “remember.”

When Tabitha and Jade finally remembered their past lives, including as reincarnations of Miranda and Christopher, they were able to remember all the details associated with their original incarnations as a couple during the time before the children’s deaths. Once those memories flooded back, they were able to translate what the children were saying, revealing that the word “Anghkooey” meant “remember.” All along, the children had been trying to tell Jade and Tabitha to remember their past lives and what happened to them during their many life cycles in Fromville.

One Of The Children Is The Daughter Of Jade & Tabitha From A Past Life

Jade & Tabitha Have Been Reincarnated Several Times After Their Daughter’s Death

The reason that the children needed Jade and Tabitha to “remember” is because the pair’s original incarnations were the parents of one of the sacrificed kids. Jade and Tabitha were alive when the children were sacrificed, but they tried to stop it and save the kids because one of them was their daughter. Those versions of Jade and Tabitha failed to stop the others in the community from sacrificing the children for eternal life.

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Rather than turning into From’s creatures, however, Tabitha and Jade received their own twisted eternal life sentence of being destined to return to Fromville until they finally succeeded in saving the children. Tabitha and Jade would be reincarnated over and over again each time they failed to save the kids, and the children would have to appear in visions and repeat the word “Anghkooey” to help the new versions of them remember. It still hasn’t been officially confirmed exactly which child is Jade and Tabitha’s daughter, but they likely won’t be able to end the cycle until she’s saved.

Saving The Children Is Key To Finding The Way Out Of From’s Town

“The Answers To The End Are In The Beginning”

Calling back to the Boy in White’s message to Christopher that “the answers to the end are in the beginning,” the way to get out of Fromville traces back to the deaths of the children. Tabitha, Miranda, Jade, Christopher, and others before them have been sent to Fromville with one task: save the children. The problem is, it’s unclear what exactly saving them entails.

While Julie can time travel in From as a “story walker,” Ethan revealed that she can’t go back in time and change things – a story can’t be changed once it’s already been told. Therefore, Julie can’t simply go back in time to stop the sacrifice of the children in order to free everyone. Saving them means something different, perhaps indicating that Jade and Tabitha have to save them by setting their souls free. If the children’s souls are freed, the monsters will likely be destroyed, and the entrapping powers in From’s town might cease to work.

From is a series revolving around a mysterious American town that ensnares newcomers, forcing its inhabitants to maintain order and find an escape amidst nighttime perils from the surrounding forest. The residents face threats from terrifying creatures emerging after sunset, complicating their struggle for survival.

Cast

Harold Perrineau , Catalina Sandino Moreno , Eion Bailey , David Alpay , Elizabeth Saunders , Scott McCord , Shaun Majumder , Ricky He , Chloe Van Landschoot , Pegah Ghafoori , Corteon Moore , Avery Konrad , Hannah Cheramy , Simon Webster , Elizabeth Moy , Deborah Grover , Angela Moore , Vox Smith , Paul Zinno , Kaelen Ohm , Robert Joy , A.J. Simmons , Samantha Brown , Benjamin Clost , Sam Haynes

Character(s)

Boyd Stevens , Tabitha Matthews , Jim Matthews , Jade , Donna , Victor , Father Khatri , Kenny Liu , Kristi , Fatima , Ellis Stevens , Sara Myers , Julie Matthews , Ethan Matthews , Tian-Chen Liu , Tillie , Bakta , Boy in White , Nathan , Marielle Sinclair , Henry , Randall , Acosta , Guard #1 , Creature #2 (Jock)

Release Date

February 20, 2022

Seasons

3

Network

Epix , MGM+

Streaming Service(s)

MGM+

Writers

Vivian Lee , Kristen Layden , Brigitte Hales

Directors

Jack Bender , Brad Turner , Alexandra La Roche , Bruce McDonald , Jeff Renfroe

Creator(s)

John Griffin

Producers

André Nemec , Anthony Russo , Jeff Pinkner , Joe Russo , Josh Appelbaum , Michael Mahoney , Scott Rosenberg , Mike LaRocca , Adrienne Erickson

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