Stranger Things has set itself up for an epic conclusion, and these are some of the biggest theories and clues for what to expect. The end of Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2 finally answered questions viewers have had for almost a decade now. At last, we know the true nature of the Upside Down; it’s a wormhole, a bridge between two different dimensions. Vecna, it seems, intends to bring Hawkins and the Abyss together, merging these two planes in the most devastating way possible.
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The Hawkins kids have hatched a desperate plan to stop Vecna, one where timing will be of the essence. They can’t even get to the Abyss until the merging is almost complete, and then they hope to strike with speed and efficiency, foiling Number One’s plan. All the kids seem to sense it’s a suicide mission; Dustin and Steve had agreed to die together or not at all, while Kali and Eleven plot to stay behind. No doubt a lot of this is misdirection… but what theories and clues have people pulled out?
1. We Finally Know Why There’s Red Lightning in the Upside Down
Let’s start with a subtle detail viewers have spotted in Season 5, Volume 2 – the answer to a mystery nobody had ever really stopped to wonder about. Why are there mysterious flares of red lightning in the Upside Down? We now know those are flares of exotic matter keeping the wormhole stable, and it’s reasonable to assume there’s a pattern to them. According to Eleven, there’s a seven-second gap between the “lightning” and the thunder-like sound, meaning this exotic matter flares at around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) above-ground.
If this is correct, then there’s a major problem with the Hawkins kids’ plan; as the wormhole shrinks and the worlds come closer, so they will first have to get through a layer of exotic matter. We already saw just how dangerous this exotic matter can be, meaning the mission could cost some lives before they even get to Dimension X or face Vecna.
2. The Exotic Matter Has Already Been Disturbed Before
Speaking of the exotic matter, it’s clearly been disturbed before. This is proven when some of the group break into Hawkins lab in the Upside Down, only to discover melted matter and soldiers trapped within it. The most likely explanation is that these soldiers disrupted the exotic matter, with fatal effects.
Again, this observation subtly complicates the plan. The heroes intend to stop Vecna and then set off a bomb that disrupts the exotic matter, collapsing the wormhole and ending the threat of the Upside Down at last. But that may be easier said than done, because the exotic matter has stabilized itself at least twice before.
3. Why is November 6 So Important?
Lucas has rightly figured out that November 6 is important to Vecna, but it’s unclear why. Some viewers are guessing there’s something to do with Earth’s orbit and so on, but the reason may be rather more personal to Vecna; his own life seems to orient itself around that date as well. When Max saw a memory of his life in Hawkins, it was one that built up to a play on November 6, 1959. Nobody’s quite sure what this means, but that feels rather too deliberate to not be a clue.
4. Vecna’s Memories are the Key to Everything
On the subject of Vecna’s memories, it’s clear these are going to be a key part of the finale. These all reference Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the Broadway play only a minority of viewers will have had chance to see. In Volume 2, Max and Holly saw a scene involving young Henry Creel that will lead to his first exposure to the Upside Down – and there’s sure to be a major twist coming when the full memories are finally revealed.
5. Time Travel Will (Still) Be A Big Part of the Finale
It’s entirely possible we’ll have real time travel in the Stranger Things finale, though. Mr. Clarke’s Volume 1 lesson set up wormholes as key to Season 5 (although nobody realized the Upside Down was itself a wormhole). He also noted that wormholes are theoretically one of the ways people can travel in time. We’ve had constant references to both A Wrinkle in Time and Back to the Future, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see time travel happen.
6. There’s a Reason Vecna Chose These 12 Kids
Vecna has chosen 12 children as his vessels, a dark mirror of Jesus and his disciples. But why these specific children, and why only 12 of them? The most likely explanation is that he wasn’t lying when he told the children they had latent powers, and that he wants to trigger their abilities by exposing them to Mind Flayer particles.
The US military has been struggling to create more empowered individuals, and Kali believes the key lies in Henry and Eleven’s blood being more potent somehow. A better explanation, though, would be that only a small minority of people have the potential to develop powers in the first place. Vecna successfully triggered Will all the way back in Season 1, although poor Barb didn’t survive the same experience; now, he’s figured out how to identify children with potential, and he’s therefore kidnapped them. That could even explain why he waited so long, taking the time to identify them.
7. Holly Really Does Become “Holly the Heroic”
Max’s “Holly the Heroic” gift seemed like perfect foreshadowing in Volume 1, and that still fits rather well even now. That’s particularly true because the Duffer brothers have long drawn inspiration from X-Men comics, and Holly is a perfect analogue for a teleporter named Magik; the blonde-haired younger sister of a hero who’s kidnapped by a demonic being and taken to a Hell Dimension. The parallels aren’t exactly subtle.
According to this theory, Holly (and possibly some of the other kidnapped kids) will develop powers in the Stranger Things finale. Holly may have lost her talisman after being attacked by her fellow kids, but she learned she no longer needs it, because – as Max told her – the heroism was in her all along. We could well be dealing with a new generation of powerhouses here.
8. Holly Will Betray Vecna & Save the Day
If the 12 kidnapped children are a twisted image of Jesus and his disciples, then Holly is presumably the Judas figure in Stranger Things Season 5. According to this theory, she will be the one who delivers Vecna to death, betraying him to Eleven and her friends. This time, though, it will be Judas who saves the world.
9. Eleven Will “Share” Vecna’s Mind
Stranger Things Season 5 brought back Kali, Eleven’s “Lost Sister,” who clearly has an agenda of her own. In one striking scene, Kali reveals these empowered individuals can somehow share one another’s mind (likely a version of the same power Vecna used to create Camazotz). Some theorize Eleven will herself share Vecna’s mind, interacting with him in a psychic conversation nobody else can hear.
10. The Mind Flayer is Stranger Things’ Real Villain
The Mind Flayer has been strangely absent in Stranger Things Season 5. Vecna claimed he created the creature in Season 4, but was he telling the truth? In The First Shadow, the young Henry Creel encountered the Mind Flayer in Nevada, which doesn’t exactly fit well with Vecna’s Season 4 claims. According to this theory, the Mind Flayer is the true villain all along – with Vecna potentially serving as his general. Just as the Duffer brothers teased ahead of Season 4.
11. Vecna is Trying to Kill the Mind Flayer
But is Vecna actually working against the Mind Flayer, rather than for it? Camazotz had been described as Vecna’s prison, meaning it could be where the Mind Flayer keeps him. In A Wrinkle in Time, Camazotz is secretly ruled by a shadowy force known as IT, and the Mind Flayer could well be “It.” What’s more, Vecna may not have been lying to the kidnapped children when he said he was working to destroy a shadow monster. If this theory is correct, the Stranger Things finale is about to turn the whole story on its head, with Vecna becoming an ally rather than an enemy.
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