SPOILERS THROUGHOUT! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED! I AIN’T HOLDING BACK!
Stranger Things Season 5 is halfway through, and the mysteries are piling up. How does Will have powers now? Who would have thought that knowing his real self could do such a thing to you? How did the military find, capture, and harness Kali (Number 8)? And, why would they? How the heck is Max going to save herself from the dream realm? SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!
But perhaps the biggest of them all is: WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH VECNA AND WHY DOES HE NEED THOSE CHILDREN?
*ahem*
Okay, I got it out of my system. However, the question remains, and I think I know what it’s going to be. I am both excited and wary about what I’m about to say. Vecna is trying to travel back in time to change reality in his favor. That’s right, we’re doing a Flashpoint storyline, and I’m so anxious about the finale of this show.
All signs lead to time travel being introduced, but because of that, the finale could well be doomed. Let me tell you why.
GREAT SCOTT!
This one is a little on the nose, for sure, but Stranger Things has not shied away from its Back to the Future references this season. The most noticeable nods are from Rockin’ Robin when she bamboozles Joyce with terminology that she knows she won’t understand. Telling Mama Byers that there was a problem with the “flux capacitor” so that she could steal Will away for her Vecna receiver plan (and to make sure he doesn’t tell anyone about her and Vicky) was genius.
But that’s not the only reference from the Doc Brown and Marty McFly classic in Season 5. When Jonathan and Steve are in the van during the first crawl, Hopper zips past in the Upside Down, stowing away in the military convoy. Jonathan lets the decibel reading on the telemetry receiver hit 88db before he tells Steve to punch it. 88 miles per hour is the speed the DeLorean has to reach before it can time-travel. Coincidence? I think not.
Ahhhh Scott Clarke (Randy Havens). You’re at the center of everything, and you just don’t know it. The teacher and AV Club supervisor has been super helpful throughout the series. In Season 1, he taught the kids about multidimensional theory and we ended up in the Upside Down. In Season 2, he lectured on defense mechanisms which led the kids to a realization about Will’s Mind Flayer possession. In Season 3, he wearily talked to a manic Joyce about electromagnets (THE MAGNETS!), and that led to the facility underneath Starcourt Mall. Mr Clarke is rarely off point.
In Season 5, he’s in the middle of a class about wormholes and, perhaps, time travel when Erica is pulled away by Lucas and Mike. Wormholes in media are often tied to either dimension-hopping or jaunts into the past or future. Further, when Will draws what’s in his head after coming face-to-face with the demogorgon in the barn, the pattern looks like it’s the same as the diagram on Mr. Clarke’s chalkboard. The double-ended funnel shape makes me think that Vecna is engineering something to create a wormhole.
Ok, so this is the most out-there theory I have, but I think there’s some weight to it.
In Season 4, Vecna signalled his arrival with the creepy BONG of the Creel grandfather clock. Time became a huge aspect of Stranger Things’ imagery, with the Vecna broken red zone reminding me of a dystopian Dali painting minus the melty clocks. Why is Vecna so tied to the concept of time? Because he is furious about the events in his past and how he ended up in the Upside Down, both before he met Eleven, and because of Eleven.
The other thing is the reasons why he takes 12 children and why the Upside Down is enclosed by a flesh wall in a perfect circle. What has 12 points and is arranged in a perfect circle? A clock face, of course. The metaphor is unmistakable. It all signals a ritual, opening a wormhole to go back in time and f@ck sh*t up!
But, is this the first time time travel has taken place in the Stranger Things universe?
Some of Volume 2 is going to focus on Vecna’s memories in Camazotz, and there’s a good reason for that. Based on what we saw in Max’s flashback in Henry’s memories, I’m dubious whether this Vecna is from the same timeline as our heroes. The main reason for that is Oklahoma!
Although there are other subtle hints, the cast list for Oklahoma!, the play being advertised in the memory, includes Jim Hopper, Ted Wheeler, Karen, a Munson, a Newby, and, crucially, Henry Creel. On top of that, it’s directed by Joyce. It’s so coincidental that the cast are the adults that we know and love, and ONLY the ones that we know and love (or family members). However, that begs another question…
How the heck does Joyce not know Henry Creel? Or Hopper? It doesn’t make sense. She appears in his memories for goodness sake!! It all points to an alternate reality where the Henry Creel we know is not actually from this branch of reality. Because how could he be if nobody remembers their interactions with him?
This is all good and everything, but it also has me scared about the finale.
I absolutely HATE endings that negate the whole story. There have been other shows (I won’t spoil which ones) where the ending consisted of someone going back in time to ensure the events of the entire series weren’t able to come to pass. It’s a waste of time, a waste of energy, and insulting to the loyal fans that have been so IN over the past ten years.
I swear to God, if someone goes back in time and makes it so Vecna was never created and the door to the Upside Down was never breached, I’m going to lose my sh*t. It will take a 9/10 series down to a 4/10, and I’m not even joking. The bad taste in my mouth will be unbearable. Here’s hoping the Duffer Brothers know better than to disrespect the fans of the show by serving us such a weak-ass ending.
What do you think will happen in Season 5 Volume 2 of Stranger Things? Is it about time travel, or am I way off? Leave us a comment with your wildest theories!
