Throughout "The Changeling," Apollo has visions of his troubled childhood in the form of nightmares that have plagued him for years. One of the more persistent dreams he suffers is a vision of his father (Jared Abrahamson), who abandoned him and his mother when he was just a toddler. In this vision, his father returns home unexpectedly, wearing a mask that he peels back before spewing blue smoke. Later, however, it's revealed that this vision isn't a nightmare; it's a memory.
Though the mask and smoke were twisted in Apollo's mind, his mother Lillian reveals the truth that his father did return to visit him when he was a child, and it was no friendly house call. As it turns out, Apollo's mother had not been honest about the end of her marriage. Apollo's father hadn't abandoned them at all — she kicked him out after he accused her of having an affair that she'd actually been guilty of.
When Apollo was just 4 years old, his father returned in a rage when Lillian was out at work. Unwilling to accept a life without his son, Apollo's father attempted to drown him in the bathtub. Thankfully, Lillian returned home just in time to save Apollo's life and murder his father in the process. This was more than just a dark incident from his past, though, as it also illustrates a repeating cycle in Apollo's life.
