Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Season 3, Episode 10, “Revelations: Chapter Two.”
THE Of the end of season 3 reveals that Julie Matthews (Hannah Cheramy) is a “story walker”, which has major implications for season 4. Julie’s story took an unexpected turn Of season 3, episode 8, when she returned to the dungeon ruins and began traveling through time. She first saw herself, Randall (AJ Simmons) and Marielle (Kaelen Ohm) being tormented by the Music Box Monster during Of season 2 finale. She then traveled back to the Season 2 premiere, when it became clear that Julie was the one who threw the rope to Boyd Stevens (Harold Perrineau) all along.
Before Julie was pulled from the ruins, she also traveled back to the night her mother, Tabitha Matthews (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and Victor Kavanaugh (Scott McCord) escaped from the tunnels through which OfMonsters reside during the day. The last thing Julie heard before returning to the present was screams of “Anghkooey.” Since then, Julie has tried to better understand what she experienced and how she might use time travel in the future.
Julie being a “storywalker” means she can travel through time, but can’t change what happens
She can only visit previous chapters of the story
When Julie and her brother, Ethan (Simon Webster), go to the Town restaurant during Of At the end of season 3, she confides in him about her time travel. Ethan calls her “story walker”, what he explains is “someone who can visit chapters of history that have already happened.” Julie thinks this means she can go back in time and change events that have already happened, and suggests that she can go back and save Tian-Chen Liu (Elizabeth Moy) or her brother Thomas from death.
Ethan clarifies that this is not possible because history walkers “you can visit chapters, but you can’t change them.” This aligns with Lost“whatever happened, happened” time travel rule. When Julie traveled back in time and threw the rope to Boyd, she didn’t change the past. She was always the one who threw the rope, it’s just that her future self hadn’t happened yet. The history of Of Characters have already been written, with Julie only being able to visit the past without changing what happened.
Julie will likely try to prevent major tragedies, including Jim’s death, starting in Season 4
Your future self already tried to save Jim
Despite Ethan’s explanation, the last scene of the finale shows that a future version of Julie with shorter hair travels through time in an attempt to change the past. She seems to know that her father, Jim (Eion Bailey), is about to be killed by the Man in the Yellow Suit (Douglas E. Hughes). His warning is unable to change anything, as the Man in the Yellow Suit is still able to rip out Jim’s throat while a horrified Julie watches her father be brutally murdered.
After accepting that it is impossible to change events, Julie can focus on traveling to points in the past that can help her and others. Of Residents learn the information they need to survive and escape the city.
It’s currently unclear whether this is the first time this future version of Julie has attempted to change the past, although the bloody scratches on her face indicate that her time travel was once dangerous. Of season 4 will we will probably see present-day Julie trying to prevent her father’s death and other tragedies that have already occurred. After accepting that it is impossible to change events, Julie can focus on traveling to points in the past that can help her and others. Of Residents learn the information they need to survive and escape the city.