WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Locke & Key: In Pale Battalions Go #3 by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, Jay Fotos, and Shawn Lee, on sale now.
In Pale Battalions Go has been an incredible ride so far, showcasing not only some of the Locke family's earliest days, but also the generational tension created by being the keepers of such immense power. John Locke, disillusioned with his family legacy and frustrated that they aren't helping in the war effort takes it upon himself to set right two wrongs.
After stealing some of the most powerful keys and artifacts, he takes himself to the frontlines, only to lead the enemy right through his own front door. Luckily, his family is well versed in how to use magic keys, and one of them just made Five Nights at Freddy's look like a walk in the park.
After a group of German soldiers storm their home via a door opened with the Anywhere Key, they immediately set out to ransack any other artifacts of power and eliminate their perceived enemies inside. Jean runs and hides after seeing her mother stabbed with a bayonet, dropping her teddy bear. Another one of the soldiers picks it up and follows her, taunting Jean with her toy and asking if she wants to play. Hiding in her tea room behind a wall of teddy bears, Jane says okay and turns a key in the back of one of the bear's necks, which seems to turn all of the other keys in all of the other bears as well. In an instant, every stuffed animal in the room save for the one the soldier was holding has come to life with sharp teeth and even sharper claws.
Like an army of pint-sized Five Nights at Freddy's animatronics, the sea of toys becomes a torrent of slashing and tearing, all directed solely at the soldier threatening their owner. Chamberlain walks in just in time to see the bloodied soldier go tumbling over the railing, falling to his death with several of the toys going down with him, still doing what damage they can before hitting the ground. Chamberlain asks Jean what has happened, and assures her that she hasn't done anything wrong. Even the previously bloodthirsty toys only seem intent on offering a comforting group hug than anything else at this point.
Does this mean that the Locke & Key universe is going to crossover with Five Nights at Freddy's? No, it doesn't, but it is fun to think that somehow these two universes are connected. The upcoming crossover between the Locke family and the Sandman universe is something to look out for, and could open the door to further exploring the Locke family history or future in the contexts of other franchises, but a jump-scare horror game just doesn't seem likely.
Still, this newest of the magic keys to be introduced could have some terrifying applications beyond just stuffed animals, assuming it isn't limited solely to teddy bears. Even if that's the case, there are some big bears out there, and if this ends up being another key that transitions to the Netflix series, there could be a chance viewers get to see an animatronic singing animal come to life after all.