With the release of Stranger Things Season 4 viewers have been provided with some answers
to their lingering questions regarding the horror filled realm of the Upside Down.
In this video I’d like to examine what Stranger Things 4 has added to the lore of this frightening
parallel dimension and consider the mysteries that still remain after the explosive season
finale.
Spoiler Warning if you haven’t yet seen Stranger Things season 4 volumes 1 and 2.
With a new Stranger Things season, comes a new villain to emerge from the dark realm
of the Upside Down, the ghoulish nightmare referred to as Vecna who preys upon the troubled
youth of Hawkins struggling with past trauma and unresolved feelings of guilt.
With the introduction of this antagonist came more questions regarding how the monster hierarchy
works within this alternate dimension and what Vecna’s place in it is, particularly
whether or not he is connected to the powerful entity known as the Mind Flayer.
It’s been thought previously that a hive mind exists within the Upside Down and that
the Mind Flayer exercises control over all living things in it.
However there is much more to it than that as the finale of Season 4 brings to light.
The end of Volume 1 detailed the origins of Vecna and the first encounter with the Upside
Down itself.
Vecna was once human, a child named Henry who exhibited powerful mental abilities.
He was acutely aware that he was different from those around him.
He felt alone in the world but found comfort and kinship with the black widow spiders living
in his childhood home.
He viewed these solitary and misunderstood creatures as superior beings that brought
balance and order to an unstable ecosystem.
In fact humans were the pests that were disrupting harmony, multiplying and poisoning the world
by enforcing made up rules and their own unnatural structures.
He realized he could restore balance to a broken world by becoming a predator, but for
good.
He subsequently murdered his mother and sister with his powers and arranged for his father
to take the blame.
Thereafter the infamous Dr. Brenner faked the child’s death and began his program
of experimentation in the Hawkins Lab.
Referred to as number 1, Henry became the first test subject in Dr. Brenner’s plan
to learn to control and replicate his powers in other children.
Over time number 1 became an orderly at the lab whose powers were suppressed by a chip
inserted into his neck.
In the year 1979 he gradually befriended and manipulated eleven into helping him.
After she deactivated his chip with her powers One proceeded to go on a murderous rampage
throughout the lab.
Eleven was able to get the upper hand in their mental battle and banished him into the realm
of the Upside Down.
Eleven exhibited power on a scale never before seen as she tore a path into this other dimension.
The origins of the Upside Down have long been theorized about but now we can say that this
parallel world had already existed but after One’s arrival it would see him and the Upside
Down forever changed.
After being violently thrown into this strange realm One became horrifically disfigured and
transformed but he survived to become the being known as Vecna.
1986 was when Vecna revealed himself as he terrorized the traumatized youth of Hawkins.
He was initially thought by the Hawkins gang to be a general of the Mind Flayer when in
reality Vecna was the Mind Flayer.
After his banishment to the Upside Down Vecna wandered the alien terrain littered with electrical
storms and strange creatures until he eventually made a remarkable discovery.
One day he came upon a swirling mass of shadowy particles.
He used his powers to form a connection to the particles morphing the mist into the giant
spider-like form he depicted in his childhood drawings.
Vecna would then operate behind the scenes manipulating these powerful particles to his
will, transforming it into Mind Flayer through which he could telepathically link with others
in his bid to take over the world.
The hierarchy within the Upside Down has been a persistent mystery and though we now have
some answers regarding Vecna’s connection with this strange environment especially as
it pertains to the Mind Flayer there are still some mysteries left to unravel.
The Upside Down has mostly been presented as a dark reflection of the human world, though
it is a cold and dark environment filled with toxic spores, this alternate dimension seems
to exist parallel to our reality and is filled with many of the same elements of the real
world, such as the same buildings, infrastructure and forests.
In this dimension however everything is in a state of decay and covered by biological
membranes.
These along with the flora, fauna and all other living creatures are linked together
in the hive mind that we now know is controlled by Vecna.
This in itself raises some questions as it's clear that the strange world Vecna first encountered
upon his arrival was an unspoiled land bearing little resemblance or connection to the human
world meaning the environment was gradually transformed into a dark and twisted version
of our reality.
Exactly how and why the Upside Down came to be this way could also be connected to another
mystery teased in the final episodes of season 4, the answers to which could have serious
implications for the heroes of Hawkins moving forward.
While in the Upside Down Nancy Wheeler makes a fascinating discovery when she notices her
room is not how she left it in her reality and realizes that time has stopped on an incredibly
significant date.
November 6, 1983, the day that Will Byers vanished and was taken to the Upside Down.
In a recent interview with Variety Matt and Ross Duffer revealed that they had debated
on whether or not to include this revelation at all at this time considering it will have
no resolution until the series returns for its fifth and final season.
Time itself has been intriguingly teased throughout season 4 with the grandfather clock from Vecna’s
childhood home often appearing in the hallucinations he induces in his victims.
And shortly before eleven sent Vecna to the Upside Down he made clear that he despises
the unnatural structures and rules that humans enforce upon the world, the oppressive dictates
of the passage of time where humans do nothing but work, eat, sleep, reproduce and die.
Vecna wants to make his own rules.
In a world where time doesn’t matter.
However, the world of the Upside Down is not enough for Vecna; his goal is to merge the
two realms where he controls all.
In the final moments of season 4 he appears successful.
As Will returns to his devastated hometown of Hawkins he confirms that Vecna is still
alive.
Will can still feel his presence.
Though the attempt to destroy him failed, he is weakened.
Considering how much Will and Vecna via the Mind Flayer are connected I can’t help but
suspect that Will Byers is the key to understanding the mysteries that still remain regarding
the Upside Down.
Looking back on that fateful day when time stopped in the Upside Down and Will vanished,
I have a strong suspicion that Vecna sent the Demogorgon with the specific purpose to
abduct Will to bring him to the Upside Down.
The fact that Will survived at all is suspicious as the Demogorgon’s behavior in stalking
and kidnapping is not typical of the creature’s devastating predatory attacks.
And the fact that Will survived for so long in the hostile and toxic environment of the
Upside Down could indicate Vecna’s intention to have Will join him as they work to transform
the human world together.
When Hopper first finds Will after his abduction he discovers the boy trapped in a cocoon-like
nest with a tentacle down his throat.
Since Vecna controls all in the Upside Down its possible that this could have been for
the purpose of enabling Will to survive the toxic atmosphere.
It may seem odd that Vecna would want someone by his side as he works to take over the world
but this is something he had already offered to eleven.
When eleven confronted Number 1 after his massacre at the Hawkins Lab he reflected on
how he and eleven were different from the others, they were the superior lifeforms.
In his mission to fix the broken world he invited eleven to join him in remaking the
world however they saw fit.
The fact that he made this offer to eleven while murdering the other super powered children
indicates to me that he didn’t feel a kinship with eleven because of her abilities but rather
because she was an outsider, even among her peers she was different and felt alone.
While this offer was ultimately refused by eleven I believe Vecna might have felt a similar
kinship with Will.
Even though Will is repeatedly targeted by Vecna through the Mind Flayer he has continued
to survive and at times it appears as though he is being protected.
Now that Will has returned to the fated place of Hawkins it’s clear his enduring connection
with Vecna will be a main focal point for the plot of season 5.
Regarding Vecna’s plan I find it interesting that in coming to the Upside Down and finding
a way to impose his own rules and oppressive dictates upon this new environment, bending
all living things within it to his will Vecna has become the very thing he had claimed to
utterly despise.
And so I find myself wondering what effect his oppressive rule has had upon the sentient
residents of the Upside Down.
If given the opportunity would they fight to rid themselves of this tyrant and to restore
the natural balance of their realm?
Looks like we’ll have plenty of time to speculate when Season 5 premiers in 2024.
But I’m curious to know what you think regarding Vecna and his connection to the Upside Down?
Do you have any theories as to why time has stopped or how the heroes of Hawkins could
possibly defeat Vecna and restore order to both realms.
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
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Thank you all so much for your support and as always have a very nerdy day.