WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Lovecraft Country Season 1, Episode 2, "Whitey's on the Moon," which aired Sunday on HBO.
In the series premiere of Lovecraft Country, Atticus "Tic" Freeman returned from war to search for his missing father, Montrose Freeman, with the only clue to his whereabouts being a mysterious letter. This set Tic, his uncle George and his friend Letitia on the road to Ardham, Massachusetts. Along the way, an unseen force protected them from racist police officers, monstrous creatures known as the Shoggoth and other dangers. At the end of the episode, they took refuge at a mansion in Ardham.
Now, in the HBO series' second episode, "Whitey's on the Moon," Atticus learns the mansion belongs to the Braithwaite family and the Sons of Adam, a group of men who are part of an ancient cult known as the Order of the Ancient Dawn. And they need Atticus to achieve their goal.
Upon their arrival, Atticus, George and Letitia are welcomed as guests and settle into their respective rooms. However, Tic is quick to notice not all is as it seems. He realizes that they are captives, not guests, and that their hosts are wizards with nefarious goals. In truth, the Braithwaite family kidnapped Tic's father and sent him a letter to lure him to them because the Sons of Adam's leader, Samuel Braithwaite, has a very specific use for Atticus. It turns out Atticus is the last descendant of their ancestor, Titus Braithwaite, and Samuel intends to use him to perform an ancient ritual that will open a portal to the Garden of Eden, a place where he will be able to achieve immortality.
Come night, the Sons of Adam coerce Atticus into willingly participating in the ritual: he's given a ring that indicates he's a member of the Order, and he's taken to a room where the Sons of Adam are waiting for him in ceremonial robes. When the ritual begins, the gate to the Garden of Eden starts opening, and luscious plant life emanates from it. For a moment, it truly seems like Samuel will get his wish.
But then, everything goes wrong: a darkness spreads from Atticus' ring and body. It consumes the portal and kills the new life it had just brought forth. The darkness wipes out the portal, and in a blast, it kills all members of the Sons of Adam in proximity. Worse still, it destroys the estate, which caves in. Luckily, Tic is able to get out alive -- leaving viewers to wonder just what happened.
The ritual seemed like it worked at first, but then it didn't. Some might consider that this is because of Tic's lineage. After all, in this very episode, a conversation between George and Montrose hints that the latter may not actually be Tic's biological father. In fact, George might actually be his blood relative. This could lead to the theory that Tic was not actually a descendant of Titus Braithwaite -- but it's important to remember this genealogy comes from his mother's side of the family, which means his status as a Braithwaite wouldn't be affected by the identity of his father.
No, the most likely reason the ritual didn't go as planned is Christina Braithwaite. The young witch crossed paths with Atticus on multiple occasions in her family's castle, and she made it clear that she was angry at not being able to become a member of the Sons of Adam simply because she was a woman. She resented her father Samuel and the Order's old customs because of it, and it's possible she decided to intervene to prevent them from getting what they wanted.
The darkness that cause the destruction of the portal -- and Braithwaite castle -- seemed to have originated from Atticus' Sons of Adam ring, a trinket that was given to him by Christina. Therefore, since she is a witch, she could have hexed the ring to insure the ritual's failure.
If that is the case, then Christina truly got her revenge for being excluded from the Sons of Adam. We don't have all the answers yet but since Christina was nowhere to be seen when the castle collapsed, it's possible she made it out alive and might return to continue her family's mission.
Starring Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Aunjanue Ellis, Abbey Lee, Jada Harris, Wunmi Mosaku and Michael K. Williams, Lovecraft Country airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.