The Creepy Easter Egg You Missed In The Conjuring 2
The Conjuring 2 laid its cards on the table early — but you'd be forgiven for not noticing.
A blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene early in the film foreshadows the true culprit behind the haunting of the Hodgson family, which is being investigated by those experts in all things paranormal, Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga).
You'll remember that the 2016 fright fest opens with Lorraine having a terrifying vision in which Ed is killed, a vision which also briefly introduces us to a figure whose name we do not yet know: a sinister, demonic nun. A year later, the couple are called in to assist the Hodgsons, who are apparently being plagued by the spirit of an elderly man who died in their new home. Their second-oldest child, Janet, comes down with a slight case of possession, in which the spirit speaks through her — and what it has to say isn't too nice. He still believes the house to be his, and he indicates that he won't stop terrorizing the family until they vacate the premises.
Shortly after the Warrens take the case, Lorraine experiences another vision while in Ed's study — of that fearsome, grotesque nun, who doesn't appear to have any direct connection to the Hodgson's case. But these visions turn out to have a great deal more significance than one might think, and during a scene in which a troubled Lorraine is having a cup of tea in the bright, warm dining room of the Warrens' home, the movie literally spells this out for the most eagle-eyed of viewers.
The Conjuring 2 Easter egg foreshadows the true villain
During Lorraine's second vision, the demonic nun makes the mistake of letting slip its name, which the audience does not hear, but which Lorraine hastily jots down in her Bible. In the film's third act, it turns out that this entity is actually the source of the Hodgsons' troubles; the old man's restless spirit was just a pawn in its long game to unmoor Janet from reality and tear the family apart. Fortunately, Lorraine is able to send the demon back to hell, save Ed from the fate she saw in her vision, and spare the poor girl's soul, all by speaking the demon's name — Valak.
It's a name that the viewer never hears until Lorraine utters it, which makes the Easter egg during that early scene in the dining room extra-sneaky. In it, you can spot a heart-shaped knick-knack hanging on the wall, inscribed with the word "Love" — only the "V" is prominently larger than all the other letters. Just below it, etched into the wood paneling on the dining room wall, are the capital letters "ALAK."
It's the kind of thing that might jump right out at you upon subsequent viewings, and of course, Valak has become a prominent figure in the Conjuring universe. She even got her own spin-off: 2018's The Nun, which starred Farmiga's kid sister Taissa (of American Horror Story fame) as a young nun who first tries and fails to contain the entity when it makes an appearance at a Romanian abbey in the '50s.
Lorraine may have managed to send the demon back from whence it came, but in the Warrens' world, it seems no threat is ever permanently vanquished. Valak will be back to freak you out once again in the as-yet untitled sequel to The Nun, which has been in development since last year. The third entry in the main series, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, is currently slated for release on September 11, 2020.