Every season of Stranger Things has left Easter eggs for fans to discover; are they all finally beginning to make sense, or is it just a delusion? The Duffer brothers (the creators of Stranger Things) haven’t spent eight years constructing and bringing a show to life just for there to be coincidences throughout the seasons. Everything is believed to be intentional, and fans are starting to put the pieces together in an attempt to figure out what will happen in the next few episodes. The more you look into a situation, the more you notice that nothing is as it seems, especially when it comes to all the possibilities and mysteries that Stranger Things holds.
One theory that most fans have been agreeing on is that one of the main characters, Will Byers, will die in order to defeat the main villain, Vecna. Will was taken in the first season and was held captive by Vecna in the Upside Down. Once Byers was rescued, a piece of Vecna and the Upside Down remained inside of him. We learn in episode four of season five that not only can Byers tap into Vecna’s mind to see what the monsters see, but he can control them too. This leads fans to wonder if Byers is more connected to evil than we originally thought. Is Byers a type of “horcrux” to Vecna, like Harry Potter was to Voldemort? In order to kill Vecna, does Byers have to die too? Byers started the whole show; is he going to be the one to end it?
Monsters, evil, and superpowers. Was it all made up? Stranger Things season one episode one starts in Mike Wheeler’s basement, where Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Byers, and Dustin Henderson battle over a game of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). The whole show is based on this game, referencing specific characters and phenomena that occur in this starting scene. How is it that this game pretty much came to life? The evidence is piling up, leading fans to question whether the whole four-season storyline was nothing more than a game unfolding in Wheeler’s basement. That being said, how does that explain all the new characters and raw emotion shown between them? Those four kids couldn’t make that all up, so is it true? Did everything actually happen, or was it all a game of D&D?
Onto the real villain, the one who is said to have “started it all.” Vecna is getting speculation over whether he is actually a villain or if he is just another victim. Vecna started as a boy named Henry Creel with psychic abilities. He was the first project in a lab where he was tested to enhance his abilities. Creel was manipulated and treated horribly, which caused him to grow resentful and fight back. He grew evil and was soon banished to the Upside Down, where he was twisted and burned and transformed into Vecna after encountering the “Mind Flayer.” Was Creel taken hostage by the Mind Flayer like Will was? Creel never intended to become the monster that he is now, so is it really his fault?
The last main theory, among many others, is the question of who else will die as a sacrifice? Despite everyone’s love for the babysitter/post jock Steve Harrington, there are many suspicions that he will be the one to die in the act of protecting everyone else. This would be devastating for Henderson, who just lost his other older friend, Eddie during Eddie’s hero moment, and for Robin Buckley, who is Harrington’s best friend. Harringtons death is the type of loss that would hurt everyone but he’s not too big of a character to kill off so it’s realistic. His willingness to sacrifice himself for the people he cares about would mark a significant character growth, and although it would be heartbreaking, it could serve as a powerful fitting end to his arc.development and although it would be sad, it would be a good closure to his story. These facts lead many fans to believe that Harrington may ultimately die while protecting others.
Byers being connected to Vecna and having to die in order for everything to end, the show just being a game of D&D, Vecna being misunderstood, and the death of Harrington are the most believable theories—and honestly my favorites.. Not everything has a happy ending, and nothing is as it seems. Stranger Things fans have to prepare themselves for the shocking and mysterious next few episodes of the last season.
