The finale of Stranger Things may have been a whopping two hours and eight minutes long, but that hasn’t stopped fans from being left with several burning questions.
The Netflix show’s finale promised to answer every question, but one major question left by fans had already been answered without most viewers realising.
The Stranger Things finale finally gave some answers around the origins of Vecna, aka Henry Creel, particularly how he got his powers.
Henry’s origins were hinted at in volume two, particularly his memory of finding a scientist in a cave with a briefcase, with it being hinted that this was how he got his powers.
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The finale shows what’s inside - a weird space rock which infects him and gives him his powers, which he uses to kill the scientist.
One fan tweeted that they were unhappy with this resolution though, saying: “so who was that scientist guy and why was he in the cave with that weird mind flayer flake and why was he insane enough to shoot a child.” The answer however is partially given in the prequel play The First Shadow.
The backstory to the scientist in the cave is given in the Stranger Things prequel play
The prequel play focuses on the backstory of Henry and how he became Vecna.
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The show follows Dr Brenner’s setting up of the experiments at Hawkins Lab motivated by his father’s part in a ship that became transported to ‘Dimension X’, which we now know of as The Abyss.
Vecna’s links to the cave, who the scientist is and what his motivations are was a major question left from the show, one which one fan on X called the ‘most interesting part’ of season five, but the play answers this.
The scientist had stolen materials from Brenner’s lab, planning to sell them to the Russians during the height of the Cold War. The play also addresses the fact that The Abyss existed prior to the show, and prior to Henry becoming Vecna or even getting powers.
What it does clarify is that, when Eleven sent Henry to The Abyss to become Vecna that is when the Upside Down, the wormhole between the two worlds, was created.
Why was what was in the briefcase not answered in the play or the show?
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What the bizarre space stone which gives Henry powers was isn’t actually confirmed in the show or the play, but now we know why.
That is because it will play a key role in the Stranger Things spin-off, a spin-off that will not feature any of the characters from the show and will be set at a different time.
Speaking to Variety, Matt Duffer said: “I do want to explain, just because people’s expectations go in certain directions: The spinoff is going to delve into that and explain that, and you’re going to understand it.
“But it’s a completely different mythology. So it’s not a deep exploration of the Mind Flayer or anything like that.
“It’s very fresh and very new, but yes, it will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining.”
Topics: Stranger Things, Netflix, TV
Michael Slavin