Vecna’s Stranger Things 5 Return May Be Paying Off A Will “Power” From The Very First Episode

Vecna’s return in Stranger Things season 5 may be connected to Will Byers’ alter ego “power” from the show’s pilot episode. The Stranger Things season 5 official teaser trailer hasn’t revealed too much about the final season’s plot. It has, however, given us a glimpse of how the Party, the military, and the entire town of Hawkins attempt to push back the encroaching darkness of the Upside Down.

While Eleven will play a major role in Vecna’s potential defeat, she’s also once again being hunted down by the government in Stranger Things season 5, forced to go into hiding until the time to strike against the Upside Down’s monsters is right. While her friends and family will do anything to help her, season 5 could potentially, finally, set up her equal: Will Byers.

The trailer suggests that fire will be a primary weapon in this terrifying supernatural fight. Fire has been used to burn away the Upside Down in the Hawkins lab and ward off Demogorgons. Perhaps it’s the key to defeating, or at least weakening, Vecna as well. If true, the show’s final (or nearly final) fight might have been set up in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign that started it all.

Using Fire Against Vecna Calls Back To Stranger Things’ First Episode

In “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers,” Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas are near the end of a 10-hour D&D campaign when the party comes face to face with the Demogorgon. Will’s friends encourage him to use a fireball to protect them and defeat the monster, but they never find out how their epic journey ends, as Mike’s mom forces them to go home.

Dungeons & Dragons has since become a recurring theme in Stranger Things, a narrative tool used to provide context for the Upside Down and foreshadow important (and often tragic) story beats. There’s no reason the show couldn’t return to that very first Stranger Things D&D game now. It would be rather poetic to reference the night that changed everything.

Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things season 4

Stranger Things Season 5 Will Be The End Of An Era For Netflix, But The Franchise’s Future Is Still Bright

Stranger Things season 5 will mark a new beginning for Netflix, as the streamer will be forced to move on without one of its flagship shows.

In the Stranger Things season 5 trailer, there’s a last, terrifying shot of Vecna holding back a blazing wall of fire. Could that be the Hawkins gang using some massive flamethrower, trying to weaken Vecna while Eleven gathers her strength? Of course. Could that shot also hint at something else, something we’ve so far only theorized about? It might.

Could Will Byers Actually Have Powers In Stranger Things Season 5?

I’m not suggesting that Will Byers will suddenly have flame-throwing abilities. Within this particular world, that would be absurd. All the powers that we’ve seen in Stranger Things have been psychological or telekinetic, rather than a genuine physical ability. Eleven, Vecna, and many of Dr. Brenner’s other test subjects developed the same mental powers. Eleven’s “sister,” Kali, otherwise known as 008, can induce hallucinations in people.

Will can sense whenever anything remotely related to the Upside Down is near, after all. What if that’s just the start of his power? What if he’s developing abilities that match Eleven’s?

Will having the powers of the Human Torch would be ludicrous. That doesn’t mean he can’t have any powers at all, though. This theory has circulated since Stranger Things season 2; Will can sense whenever anything remotely related to the Upside Down is near, after all. What if that’s just the start of his power? What if he’s developing abilities that match Eleven’s?

If so, that fiery shot of Vecna could be from a scene similar to the one in which Eleven uses her powers to close the gate in season 2. What if, this time, it’s Will manipulating the forces of nature instead? This theory is admittedly out there, but it would be an interesting way of tying Stranger Things 5’s battle against Vecna back to the show’s pilot episode.

How Will Vecna Be Defeated?

I don’t think fire will necessarily be the final element that destroys Vecna as an individual. He’s survived worse physical damage, and he’s still innately connected to the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer. In a sense, he even created the Mind Flayer, shaping the Upside Down’s greatest predator as he saw fit. Severing that connection, somehow, will be the key.

Fire and heat are excellent tools, though. We know the Mind Flayer hates any form of heat. Joyce used it to exorcise the Mind Flayer residue from Will’s body in season 2. If they want to destroy Vecna’s control over the Upside Down, burning it out of him might work.

Alternatively, Will could use his unique connection with the Mind Flayer and the Upside Down (and any newfound powers he may have developed in Stranger Things‘ upcoming time jump) to seize control of Vecna, possibly amplifying Eleven’s powers as she invades Henry’s mind.

More outlandish but no less intriguing is the possibility that Will wrestles control of the Upside Down as a whole away from Vecna, becoming the Mind Flayer’s “master,” as it were, instead.

I don’t believe Will would ever become as evil as Henry, as that would be a disservice to his character. Turning the tables and having him be in control of the Upside Down rather than being controlled would certainly be a fantastic way to bring his story full circle and give him the closure he deserves, however.

There are so many ways Will’s, Eleven’s, and Vecna’s stories could come to an end. I do believe they’re all inextricably intertwined, though, and that, no matter what happens in Stranger Things season 5, Will Byers will finally get to show us what he’s made of.