Locke & Key: Breaking down what the keys are and what they do

Omega Key

The Omega Key has one sole purpose—to open and close the Black Door in the sea-caves near Key House. The Black Door is the entry into another realm, full of demons and other horrors.

Rendell had opened the Black Door in the 80s, thus letting the demon Dodge escape. In the present, Tyler and Kinsey, along with their friends, use the Omega Key to open the door again to rid the world of Dodge—unfortunately, that plan doesn’t really work out.

Tree Key

Yet another key created exclusively for the Netflix show, the Tree Key lets the user hide memories on the grounds of Key House, such as in the cemetery.

Kinsey and Tyler use the key on a nearby tree to reveal a selection of Duncan’s memories, presumably removed by Rendell to protect him from the trauma caused by Dodge’s appearance.

There isn’t much information about this key available—for instance, is it only usable on that one tree and can the memories be hidden only in the cemetery? These questions may be answered in future episodes of the show.

More Keys in the Offing

12 keys were revealed in season one of Locke & Key, but the show also hinted at more keys and tons more magic. In the books, the characters used a variety of keys, including the Timeshift key, Angel Key, Hercules key, and many more were listed. New keys can also be forged, so the possibilities are endless for future seasons of the show.