The Biggest Stranger Things Theory Just Became a Lot More Likely After the Show’s New Spinoff

The end is in sight for Stranger Things after the first volume of Season 5. The biggest streaming show of the last decade, the pressure is on for the Duffer brothers to a satisfying close. There are so many theories about how Stranger Things will end, with viewers poring over every single detail. The biggest theory right now involves time travel, with many speculating that there’s going to be a reset of some kind. There are countless subtle time travel references in Season 5, and one important scene even sees Mr. Clarke explain the pseudo-science that could lead to it.

A new Stranger Things spinoff has just released, a tie-in novel penned by Caitlin Scheiderhan (one of the writers of Season 5). Described as “A Nancy Wheeler Mystery,” this is set between seasons 4 and 5, and it explores how the status quo seen in Season 5 – with Hawkins under quarantine and the MAC-Z at the center of the town – took shape. Most importantly, though, Nancy’s reflections in the book feel like deliberate foreshadowing, because they’re eerily similar to the time travel theory.

Nancy Wheeler Keeps Thinking About “What If” Scenarios

There’s a sense in which Stranger Things is all about grief and loss, with all the main characters wrestling with these complicated emotions time and again; it’s no coincidence that death has consistently opened the way to the Upside Down. It is, therefore, natural that “One Way or Another” includes reflections on grief, notably seen in a scene at Nancy’s graduation ceremony. Principal Higgins takes a moment to recite a list of the lost (notably omitting Eddie Munson, still blamed for the murders in Season 4). What’s striking, though, is how Nancy reacts when Barb’s name is mentioned:

“Nancy had expected Higgins to mention something along these lines, but that didn’t stop the cold wave that swept over her at the sound of –

‘Barbara Holland.’

The wave crested. Nancy was underwater. She was drowning in the sea of memories that dragged her under every time she thought of Barb – of the life she’d been living before her best friend had been wiped off the face of the planet.

There was a universe out there, probably, where that hadn’t happened. Where Nancy would be sitting in this awful sun-baked folding chair on graduation day on a field that was actually packed with students. Where Nancy would be finding Barb’s smile from a few rows ahead so they could both roll their eyes at whatever tortuous monologue Higgins was unleashing on them.

That world wasn’t this one.”

So many viewers are convinced that a reset button is somehow going to be pressed by the end of Stranger Things Season 5, creating a whole new timeline that is not defined by grief and loss. It’s fascinating to see a nod towards this idea in an official tie-in by one of Season 5’s writers, and it makes the theory seem a whole lot more likely, although misdirection can’t be ruled out. Only time – and the remaining episodes – will tell.

How Could Time Travel Happen in Stranger Things Season 5?

One important scene in Stranger Things Season 5 seems like setup for a time travel arc, with Mr. Clarke discussing wormholes as a theoretical form of time travel. Previous seasons have consistently used Mr. Clarke as a source of infodumps to explain away the series’ pseudo-science, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if this was setup. As Mr. Clarke notes, a wormhole is also known as an “Einstein-Rosen Bridge,” and episode 7 is called “The Bridge.”

It’s possible Vecna (or, perhaps, the Mind Flayer) is kidnapping children to somehow create this Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Will briefly connected with the hive mind at one point, and sensed it was trying to hide something from him, a mysterious organic structure where the kids were placed in spires for an unknown purpose. As some viewers have noted, the overall design of the structure corresponds with the hourglass shape that Mr. Clarke sketched on his blackboard. All this means “One Way or Another” is simply adding more supporting evidence to an already-strong theory.

Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 is streaming now on Netflix.

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