We’re almost there. The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is about to be released on Netflix, and millions and millions of fans of the series are going crazy. We’re going crazy.
By dint of reviewing and rewatching, we have brought the old seasons of a series that is already at the top of the most viewed titles of all time on the most popular streaming platform in the world to the top 10 of the most viewed content around the world.
Looking back at all the episodes of the first season, we noticed details that we had missed, or that in all these years we had time to forget and then rediscovered. But above all, we are literally immersing ourselves in an Upside Down of fan theories about the final chapter.
So, for those who are not afraid of other people’s fantasies that could become spoilers and want to do a refresher, here is our survival manual to take with you until November 27th, when the first episodes of this finale that has been awaited for almost a decade will finally be released.
How did Stranger Things 4 end? The explanation of last season’s ending
- The details we noticed while rewatching Stranger Things 1-4
- Theory no. 1: Will sacrifices himself to kill Vecna and/or the Mind Flayer and dies
- Theory no. 2: Is Vecna dominated by the Mind Flayer? Or vice versa?
- Things to know about the Stranger Things stage show
- Theory no. 3: Will and Dustin die because a spoiler car poster says so
- Theory no. 4: Steve dies because he is barely seen in the trailer
- Theory no. 5: Max developed powers, wakes up and helps 11. All from a leak
- Theory no. 6:11 go back in time and undo everything
- Theory no. 7: It’s all a “dream” of kids who play D&D
Details that we (re)noticed during the rewatch of Stranger Things
Rewatching the previous 4 seasons of the show created by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, we noticed some things that we had missed, or that perhaps we had removed.
Some are insignificant details: who remembers that Ben, the owner of the diner who first meets 11, who is first killed by secret agents under Brenner’s orders, the one whose house is occupied by Lucas’ teammates from the high school basketball team in season 4, was played by Chris Sullivan, aka Toby from This Is Us?
And how many noticed that Dustin is missing his upper teeth in seasons 1 and 3 while he has them in seasons 2 and 4 (in the second season Gaten Matarazzo wore a prosthesis which was later abandoned, while for a few years his teeth have been complete, between teeth that erupted late, due to the cleidocranial dysostosis from which he suffers, and surgical interventions)?
Again: had you noticed that in the third season Lucas wears a cap from the historic Italian cycling team Ceramiche Ariostea, and in the fourth season shoes from the Italian brand Diadora? And that Jonathan and Nancy’s ages were moved from 1967 to 1968 between the first season (when Jonathan has the car in 1983) and subsequent seasons?
And then, had you noticed how brothers share attitudinal characteristics? The Byers are visual guys: Will draws, Jonathan photographs. Lucas and (Am)Erica Sinclair are the sarcastic ones of the group, the Wheelers are the “heart” leaders (remember Will’s drawing?).
As for Will, if you think that his homosexuality is an invention of the fourth or at most the third season, you should look back at the first, in which Joyce reports repeated allusions from her since-disappeared ex-husband Lonnie to the fact that Will was gay.
Finally, a detail potentially overlooked but, unlike the others, much more important concerns the fact, now officially confirmed by the first 5 minutes of Stranger Things 5 released on YouTube, that Will had not been kidnapped by independent Demogorgons, but by Vecna.
This can be understood not only from the fact that when Will ends up in the Upside Down you can hear the chiming of a clock, the distinctive sign of Henry Creel alias 1 alias Vecna. But above all by the way Will had reported managing to keep himself alive. And that is by singing Should I Stay or Should I Go: what kept Vecna away was the music he sang and which reminded him of happy moments with his brother and friends. Precisely the effect that Kate Bush’s song Running Up That Hill had on Max in season 4.
With this detail in mind, we are ready to review the main fan theories about the upcoming Stranger Things series finale: for each one, we will indicate what we think is the percentage chance that the theories will come true in the series.
Theory no. 1: Will sacrifices himself to kill Vecna and/or the Mind Flayer and dies
Given that the bond between Vecna and Will is now established (“I need you one last time” says the monster to the boy), many have theorized that the death of the young Byers is necessary to kill the being who has taken possession of him since the first day of the first season. Whether Will’s sacrifice will serve to definitively eliminate Vecna, or the Mind Flayer, depends on how you think about the balance of power between the two bad guys. And so…
Chance of Will dying by sacrificing himself to take out the bad guys: 50%
Theory no. 2: Is Vecna dominated by the Mind Flayer? Or vice versa?
In season four, Dustin says that if the Demorogons are “the simple soldiers”, Vecna is the “five-star general” of the Mind Flayer.
Many, as a result, speculate that Henry himself is under the thumb of that black and cloudy spider-shaped monster, which could be “millions of years old” according to Dusty-bun. According to others, however, Henry subjugated or even created the Mind Flayer himself. In any case it is good to know that…
Chance of Vecna being under the control of the Mind Flayer: 55%
Chance the Mind Flayer will be affected by Vecna: 45%
The essential information on the canonical Stranger Things theatrical show
As the most attentive followers know, Stranger Things The First Shadow was staged on Broadway and London, a theatrical show that serves as a prequel to the series and which is in all respects “canon”, that is, it contains official information on the characters of the series. So here are a couple of useful and essential pieces of information about the show to know before watching the latest season:
– Henry went to school with the adult protagonists of the series, from Joyce to Hopper, and the parents of our boys; indeed, in some way he would have predicted to his companions, especially to Joyce, what would happen in the future.
– Before going to Hawkins in that cursed house, Henry had accidentally ended up in the so-called Dimension
For the rest, there are online summaries of the show, while next year the animated series Racconti dal 1985 will be released on Netflix.
Stranger Things Tales from ’85: the first images of the animated series
Theory no. 3: Will and Dustin die because a spoiler car poster says so
Another popular fan theory predicts not only Will’s death, but Dustin’s as well. Supporters of this hypothesis trace the explanation to an image from the fourth season, which reproduced Nancy, Steve, Robin and Eddie on bicycles in the Upside Down. In that image, the only character with his bike light on was Eddie, and we all know what happened to him. And who has the lights on in such a Stranger Things 5 poster? Just Will and Dustin. A Duffer “auto spoiler”?
Chance of Will and Dustin dying as the poster predicted: 20%
Theory no. 4: Steve dies because he is barely seen in the trailer
According to others, the character destined to die in the series finale is Joe Keery’s beloved Steve Harrington. Those who say this point out that the Duffers have repeatedly stated that Steve should have died in the first season, only to be later pardoned for his sympathy. But to support this hypothesis there is only an alleged lack of Steve in the scenes considered most important in the trailer and, according to some eagle-eyed people, an image in which Dustin seems to be driving his good friend Steve’s car.
Chance of Steve dying before the final battle: 10%
Chance of Steve dying in Stranger Things 5: 30%
Theory no. 5: Max developed powers, wakes up and helps 11. All from a leak
Having closed the chapter on possible deaths (but there are also those who think that all or almost all of them will die, those who are convinced that it will be Murray Bauman or a Byers because from Barb to Bob, from Billy to Doctor Brenner there is always a B sacrificed; and obviously those for whom 11 will certainly sacrifice himself for his friends), let’s move on to a theory about another character whose fate does not seem happy.
Let’s talk about Max, who in the finale of the fourth season was still in a coma due to the consequences of Vecna’s attempted murder, and who in the trailer does not seem to have woken up yet.
Naturally, however, we cannot imagine that such an important character will remain inactive for the entire final season. And in fact, from an image that seems to have leaked from the set (a “leak”, in English) according to some it seems to see Max standing and with one hand raised in an almost 11 move: and it would make sense, given that Will also inherited some power after his stay in the Upside Down.
Does this mean that not only will Max wake up but that he will be an extremely active part in the final fight, almost a new 11?
Chance Max has developed powers: 35%
Chance of Max waking up: 95%
Theory no. 6:11 go back in time and undo everything
Speaking of what is the official heroine of the series so far (and dear Kali? We will see her again for sure), there is a theory that we personally consider very intriguing, in its radicality and its cinematic references: the theory of 11’s time travel to cancel everything in Back to the Future style.
According to this theory, extreme in its factual rendering of every final fight between Good and Evil in vain, 11 will eventually develop the power to travel back in time not only through the memories of the people she comes into contact with (think for example of the experience with her mother in season 2), but with her own body, therefore capable of changing the course of events.
And therefore, dear Jane should go back in time and cancel the opening of the passage that had caused the death of Barb (who, this is for sure, will return in the fifth season) and before that the disappearance of Will.
According to those who believe it, the proof would be in Stranger Things’ repeated references to Back to the Future, particularly in season 3, but as much as we may love Marty and Doc, the hypothesis seems more unlikely than the possibility of knowing where and when a lightning bolt with a power of 1.21 gigawatts will strike.
Chance that 11 will solve everything by going back in time and changing events: 5%
Theory no. 7: It’s all a “dream” of kids who play D&D
We close with an equally radical hypothesis, but if possible even more unlikely, namely the old theory of “it was all a dream”, but in a Dungeons and Dragons version.
In practice, this theory also predicts that in the end the story returns to the starting point, thus explaining why everything in the Upside Down stops on that day in 1983 when Will disappeared. All the adventures seen in five seasons and nine years would, according to this theory, be the representation of a series, in every sense, of D&D campaigns of the twelve-year-olds Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin.
A dreamlike fantasy, a collective dream in which they involved their family members and other people known to them, from the police chief to the high school bully/handsome, plus other completely invented characters.
Personally, if Stranger Things ended like this, we would consider it the worst series finale in history. Worse than Lost, worse than How I met your mother, worse than Game of Thrones, worse than everything. We simply cannot believe it.
Chance that it’s all a D&D dream for Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin in the end: 0.1%
