Stranger Things is officially back, which means Kate Bush is officially stuck in my head once again. The first four episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 hit Netflix on Nov. 26, and I don’t know about you, but I seem to have more questions than answers after watching them. Thankfully, fans have been breaking down some major Stranger Things Season 5 theories on TikTok that could just be the resolutions we’re all looking for. (Or, more likely, the resolutions that we really don’t want, but figure they probably make sense for the series.) Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Episodes 1-4 and Stranger Things: The First Shadow follow.
First, let’s break down where we’re at in Season 5. Eleven and Hopper are in the Upside Down together and have successfully infiltrated the military base. There, they find Eight — also known as Kali — who was featured back in Season 2 of the show. Then, there’s Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, and Dustin, who followed a demogorgon into the Upside Down and smacked straight into an impenetrable wall. Dustin has discovered the wall is a perfect circle, with Hawkins Lab at the center of it.
Holly Wheeler is still missing, but inside the memory where Vecna is keeping her, she finds Max. Max has been “living” inside Vecna’s memories, and has found a mysterious cave that he is terrified to enter. The two are hatching a plan to work against Vecna together.
The rest of the crew — Joyce, Will, Mike, Lucas, and Robin — works to get the other kids that Vecna has targeted away from the military base and outside of the city’s walls. That doesn’t go to plan, though, as the demogorgons attack. Their lives are all spared when Will taps into his visions and stops the demogorgons, going full Vecna when he snaps their limbs and kills them.
With the season on hold until the next three episodes release on Dec. 24, fans have been buzzing online with new theories on how the show comes to an end. Is Will going to die? Is Vecna actually good? Here are some of the biggest Stranger Things Season 5 theories so far.
- Vecna Is Working Against The Mind Flayer
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With some of Vecna’s — aka Henry’s — actions in Season 5 so far, some fans are convinced that Vecna isn’t the villain we all think he is. Instead, Vecna may actually be working against the Mind Flayer and the rest of his creatures, who existed well before Henry fell into the Upside Down.
- The Cave Is Henry’s Darkest Memory
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Those who have seen the Broadway play Stranger Things: The First Shadow have pointed out that Henry used to live in Nevada, and at that time, he traveled through some caves on a Boy Scout trip (another Easter egg with Holly’s Boy Scout bandana). During that trip, he discovered technology that transported him to Dimension X, where he first met the Mind Flayer. It’s possible the cave in Season 5 is that memory. This could potentially be true, because we know from Vecna’s monologue in the Season 4 finale that he saw the Mind Flayer in a place with rocks that look eerily similar to that cave.
- Time Travel Will Happen In Season 5
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Some fans think Vecna will create a wormhole to go back in time during Season 5. Some believe Vecna is using the 12 children on the spires to create the wormhole and go back in time to when Will was taken, while others believe it may be the kids who use the wormhole to go back in time and stop the Upside Down from being created.
- The Missing Kids Are Being Held Behind The Wall
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Fans are convinced that the story of Stranger Things will end right back where it started. We saw Holly’s boot outside that impenetrable wall, and we know that the missing kids are being held in the Upside Down attached to these long spires that look like teeth. Considering Hopper seems to have crawled the entire length of the Upside Down, he would have found them. Since he hasn’t, it seems like they’re being held behind that wall. It’s also possible that’s where the Mind Flayer resides.
- Vecna Is Will’s Dad
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Yes, this is a real theory. Fans have pointed out that Will and Vecna are fully connected, with Will even getting Vecna’s frosted eyes when he taps into his powers. This could just be because Will was the first kid taken into the Upside Down and was infected by the Mind Flayer, but we also know that Joyce and Henry knew each other in high school thanks to The First Shadow. Could this be a deeper connection?
- Will Dies In Season 5
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We’re getting a ton of flashbacks of Will in the Upside Down from Season 1, and getting new information on what actually happened to him while he was there. Some fans believe that with Will infected by the Mind Flayer, if the Mind Flayer or Vecna are destined to die at the end of the series, Will may have to die along with them.