Stranger Things: Here’s How the First Upside Down Portal Was Created

Ever since audiences were introduced to the bizarre world of Stranger Things, a series of otherworldly events have centered around the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, due in large part to a portal being opened that connects the town to the dark dimension of the Upside Down. Over the course of three seasons, viewers have gotten a handful of clues about the town’s history and how it’s linked with the Upside Down, though it hasn’t been until Season 4 – Volume 1 of the series, out now on Netflix, that audiences have learned how this portal was opened in the first place.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Stranger Things Season 4 – Volume 1

Audiences witnessed in the first season of Stranger Things that Hawkins was home to the Hawkins Research Laboratory, with its portal to the Upside Down allowing the monstrous demogorgon to terrorize the small town. In Season 4, Episode 7, viewers witness that Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is ultimately to blame for the portal’s opening.

In the episode, a flashback unfolds to a time prior to Season 1 in which the young Eleven finds herself engaging in telekinetic combat with Henry, an orderly who offers her the opportunity to escape. Learning that Henry has a plan to wipe out humanity, Eleven unleashes the full brunt of her powers in hopes of thwarting him. Her powers are so strong that she not only seemingly eradicates Henry so thoroughly that he disintegrates in front of her, but a portal to the Upside Down emerges mysteriously in the facility right in front of her. 

Clearly neither Eleven nor the researchers at the facility are aware of how she managed such a feat, nor how to close the portal. The event is so traumatic that Eleven herself has seemingly wiped it from her own memory, as she required special equipment to recall the traumatic incident, which also restored the powers she lost at the end of Season 3.

Complicating matters is the fact that, while it appeared that Henry was killed, he was transported to the Upside Down, and his years in the alternate dimension transformed him into the monster that is known as “Vecna” throughout this season. 

Given that Eleven is responsible for opening the portal, it remains to be seen if she will ever be able to close the portal in Hawkins permanently or if the entryway will require more drastic measures to secure.

Stranger Things Season 4 – Volume 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

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