Spinning a web of mysteries over the last three seasons, the penultimate episode of the third season of MGM+’s thriller series, From, finally offers something tangible to work with, and this time around the revelation actually provides a number of answers while raising some inevitable questions. Previously, after learning about Fatima’s actions, Donna wanted to share the news with the residents of Colony House, while Boyd decided to send Fatima and Ellis into the woods in fear of repercussions. However, Fatima was abducted by Elgin, who kept her in the root cellar—apparently for her own safety.
Julie was displaced in time, visiting the ruined arch in the wilderness, while Victor was able to remember, with Tabitha and Sara’s help, that in the past, Christopher had received information about the town not from the puppet, but instead from the Boy in White, who had appeared before him to share a story about the Angkhooey kids with him. The ninth episode of the ongoing season, aptly titled “Revelations: Chapter One,” takes a major leap forward by drawing upon a connection between Tabitha and Victor, which confirms a popular fan theory that has been making the rounds since the ending of the second season.
Spoilers Ahead
Boyd’s Replacement and Search Party for Fatima
The episode begins with Boyd and Ellis frantically searching through the woods to find Fatima, when Boyd starts feeling tremors in his hand, which intensifies within moments as he stumbles and nearly falls on his face. His Parkinson’s afflictions are getting worse, and given the nature of this godless place, no one is going to be surprised if Boyd’s deteriorating condition is another one of the numerous machinations of the controllers of the town. Anyway, the search for Fatima gets halted for the moment as Ellis takes Boyd to the sheriff’s station, and as the father-son duo catch up, Ellis becomes shocked and disheartened to learn that Boyd has been diagnosed with hereditary Parkinson’s, something that a lot of people already knew except for Ellis. He cannot blame his old man that much though; it was Ellis who had decided to distance himself from Boyd in the first place. Boyd shares with Ellis details about how his role as a leader of the townsfolk has resulted in him being at the center of the psychological torture dished out by the controllers, and worries whether it is his defiance of their rules that has led so many of the townsfolk into jeopardy. Ellis assuages his father’s concerns, but during nighttime the nurse monster shows up outside the sheriff station to taunt Boyd further. Ellis handles the situation by comforting Boyd, who was eager to forget everything for a moment and simply fire his gun at the pesky nuisance. For the first time since the first season, Sara experiences a psychic connection, and the next day she goes to Boyd to inform him that the mysterious controllers of the town know about Fatima’s disappearance, and they have also predicted that she cannot be rescued in time.
Boyd goes to Colony House to share the news of Fatima’s disappearance with Donna and is a bit relieved to learn that Donna couldn’t share the truth about Fatima with the residents out of concerns for her. Donna decides to arrange a town meeting at the diner, where, without disclosing any details about Fatima’s actions, a search party is launched for her. Boyd meets with Kenny, and without beating around the bush for long, reveals his present deteriorating condition. Boyd can’t possibly hope that Kenny will forget everything from the past—especially the rift the duo had in the previous season when Boyd lied to Kenny about his father’s death and Sara’s presence—but he wishes for Kenny to take the role of the leader in case he meets his end in the near future. Kenny agrees to accept the role of deputy, a role which he had denounced previously, which assures Boyd that someone will be there to take the responsibility in his absence.
Victor Meets the Boy in White
In the previous episode, Victor had remembered sharing the details about escaping through the Bottle Tree with his mother, Miranda, in his childhood, for which he blames himself, as Miranda’s attempt to find a way to escape had resulted in her demise. The reminder of the incident shakes up the poor guy pretty badly; he goes on to throw all his stuff—his research about the town and mementoes—out of Colony House, as feelings of hopelessness and desperation have clouded his mind. Victor storms off with an axe in his hand to chop down the Bottle Tree, blaming the mysterious gateway for his mother’s demise. As he proceeds to strike the tree, the Boy in White requests that he refrain from cutting the tree. Victor is surprised, and he demands answers from him, but it seems that after his previous attempt of sharing the town’s story with Christopher resulted in failure, the Boy in White isn’t eager to provide any answers. Instead, he wants people to find answers on their own, and refusing Victor’s desperate pleas for help, he simply leaves. At this point, it seems the Boy in White is the self-projection of the writers themselves.
Two memorable character moments also feature in this episode, on two separate occasions with Jim and Henry as they learn to be good paternal figures to their children. As Julie’s predicament comes to the attention of Jim and Tabitha, Jim rushes to question Randall about his experience in the arch ruins, and Randall advises him to spend time with his kids instead of trying to make sense of things none of them can fathom anyway. Jim follows the advice as he shares his own feeling of failure with Ethan, who has been feeling down ever since his advice to visit the ruins resulted in Julie getting seizures. On the other hand, Jade advises Henry not to impose his preconceived notions about Victor on the man, who has gone through the worst among all of them during his prolonged stay in this town.
Fatima’s Fate
On the other hand, a captive Fatima finds no answers from Elgin despite questioning him repeatedly as to what he hopes to achieve by keeping her in the root cellar. Elgin remains rather cryptic with his answers, saying it is for the good of Fatima, the monster baby inside her, and for the townsfolk. For reasons unknown, he is convinced that the Kimono Lady is going to free the townsfolk from their nightmarish existence, and for her to do so, Fatima needs to give birth to her demon baby in seclusion, away from the prying eye of the people, which will ensure her and her baby’s safety. Elgin offers his blood, which he had previously extracted, to satiate Fatima’s cravings, and after her initial unwillingness, Fatima is unable to resist the urge and eventually drinks it up. Her attempt to break free ends in vain, and Elgin leaves her locked in the root cellar to join the search party. Fatima finds a trapdoor in the root cellar, which she tries to open in hopes of finding an escape route, but fails in her attempt to do so. Elgin seems really concerned about the well-being of Fatima as he goes on to comfort Ellis about how Fatima’s disappearance might be a signifier of something positive, which means he genuinely believes whatever the Kimono Lady had promised to him. However, in reality, the Kimono Lady appears to be a nefarious presence through and through, as she appears in front of Fatima and pins her to her bed with the intention of killing her. Fatima’s fate remains in question, and it seems Elgin’s predicament is going to match that of Sara, who was manipulated by the forces of the town to bring misery. Whether or not the predictions of the controllers turn out to be true will be revealed in the final episode of the third season.
Could Tabitha Be Victor’s Mother?
However, the most significant reveal was reserved for the final moments of the episode. Tabitha catches up with Julie, who reveals her sordid experiences in the arch. Moments later, Tabitha spots one of the Angkhooey kids, who asks her to follow, and going in her direction, Tabitha finds Victor standing at the gates of the root cellar—the same one where Fatima is having a hell of a time with the Kimono Lady at present. Seeing Victor in a miserable state, Tabitha tries to comfort him by sharing a hug, when flashes of Miranda’s final memories appear in her mind’s eye—completely catching her off guard. Throughout the episode, Tabitha felt a strange connection whenever she came into contact with Victor but decided to shrug it off. But this time, she sees vivid visions of Miranda bidding adieu to her kids, Victor and Eloise, and venturing towards the Bottle Tree at night, where she gets ambushed by the Smiley Monster (which Boyd killed last season) and meets her tragic end. In a way, these memories feel personal to Tabitha, and she breaks down in shock and agony as the episode comes to an end.
The first speculation that comes to mind is that Tabitha is a reincarnation of Miranda, and she, probably along with a bunch of other townsfolk, has entered an unforgiving cycle of rebirth where she is forced to get trapped, tormented, and killed inside Fromville. Ever since Tabitha’s escape in the second season, viewers speculated about her being connected with Victor, which gets confirmed in this episode, along with the rebirth theory, which assumes that every major character like Boyd, Jade, and Sara has been assuming the roles of their past birth and dying with each survival cycle of Fromville. Tabitha’s childhood dreams confirm the rebirth theory, which means that as the only survivor of the previous cycle, Victor could be an anomaly. Alternatively. Miranda and Tabitha could exist in different planes of reality; in heightened simulations, someone’s experiences differ in each reality, but the consciousness remains the same. In any case, the final episode will definitely provide greater insight into this, and here’s hoping the puzzle of Fromville gets partially resolved with that one.
