Warning: This article contains spoilers for Apple TV+’s The Changeling.
By ending on an ambiguous note, The Changeling episode 4 leaves viewers with two intriguing questions: Is William human, and how Apollo’s present connects to his mother’s past? The Changeling episode 4 begins with Apollo and Patrice striking a deal with William to sell him their rare copy of To Kill A Mocking Bird. However, while they are at it, William somehow gains Apollo’s sympathy and even convinces him that he knows Emma’s whereabouts. With what follows, Apollo and William rent a boat and head to the island where the Wise Ones presumably live.
While Apollo hopes to find his wife, Emma, on the island, William seems to plot something darker. Things take a grim turn when the Wise Ones beat them up and then hold them as captives. Although it initially seems like the Wise Ones are The Changeling‘s overarching antagonists, several subtle details in episode 4 hint that there is more to their motives and William’s identity than meets the eye.
The Changeling’s William Is Likely Not Human
Cal and the other Wise Ones brutally beat William after learning who he is. However, strangely, not only does he survive fatal blows to his head but also seems unbothered by the pain from his wounds. Instead of succumbing to his injuries, William continues manipulating Apollo by telling him he knows about his wife’s whereabouts. He even threatens that if Apollo does not help him, no one on the island will get out alive, hinting that he has an army of men who will eventually arrive to rescue him. The fact that William stands upright and does not even flinch with pain after getting viciously assaulted by the Wise Ones suggests that he may not be human.
The Changeling has previously hinted that something otherworldly is unfolding in its overarching narrative. For instance, after revealing how Emma’s three wishes were actually coming true, The Changeling established that its storyline has supernatural undertones. This could mean that apart from witches, other mystical creatures also exist in its world. Since William shows no signs of pain after getting whacked in his face with a spiked baseball bat, he, too, could be a supernatural player in Apollo’s storyline. William keeps claiming that he wants to help Apollo, but somehow his heart does not seem to be in the right place.
William Is Lying To Apollo In The Changeling
William has been consistently lying to Apollo since he first met him in The Changeling episode 3. Although his background check confirmed that he is an app developer, there are many discrepancies in his stories about his relationship with his wife and daughters. He initially claimed that he has two daughters but, towards the end of the episode, confirms he has one. Even his story about his wife leaving him keeps changing. He convinces Apollo that he came to the island because he has nothing to lose after his wife’s departure. However, as soon as they land on the Wise One’s island, it seems evident that he has known about the island for a long time.
The fury with which Cal reacts after learning that William is Greta’s husband further confirms that William’s story of how his wife left him is a complete lie. It hints that he might have done something terrible to his wife and daughter, which is why Greta was seeking help from the Wise Ones. The Changeling episode 4’s ending also establishes that William and Apollo’s first encounter was not a coincidence. William had been plotting the perfect plan to meet Apollo after his wife’s involvement with the Wise Ones, and approaching Apollo as a buyer of the To Kill A Mocking Bird book was a part of his elaborate plan.
Why The Wise Ones Hate William
The Changeling episode 4 hints that the Wise Ones despise William because he did something to hurt his wife and daughter. He is not the saint he claims to be and has likely manipulated other grieving men like Apollo in the past to convince them that the Wise Ones are evil. In one of the scenes from The Changeling‘s episode 4, William also seemingly implies that he was the one sending cryptic messages to Emma before she found help from the Wise Ones. While his motives for spying on Emma and Apollo remain unknown, it seems likely that baby Brian was actually a changeling and William was responsible for switching him with something else.
The ending arc of The Changeling episode 3 reveals that Emma was not the only mother who received those mysterious messages, confirming that William has targeted other women in the past and probably switched their babies with evil supernatural creatures. He probably did the same with his wife, Greta, before she figured out what he was up to. By highlighting that William is a pathological liar and how the Wise Ones hate him, The Changeling episode 4 confirms that he is likely the show’s overarching antagonist. It won’t be long before Apollo, too, figures this out.
How Lillian’s Past Is Connected To Apollo’s Present
When Apollo meets Cal for the first time, she quotes: “The new fears are the old fears, and the old fears are ancient. But when it is our turn to face them, they are made new.” Her profound insight highlights how history keeps repeating itself, pointing out that Apollo and his mother Lillian’s pasts are connected to their present. Apollo has strange childhood memories of his father visiting him, and Lillian even implies that he tried abducting Apollo from their home. Apollo also received a box from his father with “Improbabilia” written on it when he was much younger. The box contained a book that had the story of a changeling.
These subtle clues surrounding Apollo’s father suggest that he might have also been involved in the same cult as William and wanted to switch Apollo with a changeling when he was a baby. This was likely the reason why Lillian left him. From a metaphorical standpoint, this shows how Apollo can only be a good father to baby Brian if he finds the truth behind his own father and learns to accept and confront his childhood traumas. He tried to be a great father to baby Brian by upending his father’s mistakes, but history has its way of repeating itself in The Changeling. Or, as Cal says, “old fears” have their way of becoming “new.“
What’s In The Red Suitcase In The Changeling’s Ending
The Changeling episode 4’s closing shot shows Lillian dumping a red suitcase in a river. While the contents of the suitcase remain unknown in the episode, it could be a symbol of how, like Apollo, Lillian is trying to unburden herself from her past’s hefty baggage. From unrealized dreams to unforeseeable traumas that still haunt her, the red suitcase contains reminders of it all. By chucking it in the river in The Changeling‘s episode 4, Lillian takes one step towards liberating herself and finding peace in all the sacrifices she made as a mother to protect Apollo.
