Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ starts with the kidnapping of 12-year-old Will Byers from the town of Hawkins. His mysterious disappearance kickstarts the events of the first season, over the course of which, some shocking truths come to light. But in all of this, the actual reason behind Will’s kidnapping remains a mystery. In the fifth season, the story comes full circle as we, for the first time, see how Will survived in the Upside Down. While this still doesn’t answer why he was taken, a new string of disappearances begins, with Holly Wheeler becoming the next target. There is a lot left to unpack in the show, but the fourth episode gives us a sliver of explanation to the mystery that has loomed over the show for over nine years. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Will was Vecna’s Guinea Pig for a Grander Plan
In the fourth season, we discover that Vecna was formed after Eleven pushed Henry Creel into the Upside Down to stop him from executing his nefarious plan. Once he turned into Vecna, he became even more adamant about taking over the world, but he couldn’t do it by himself. He still needed people who could join his army, and that’s where the kids come into the picture. The fourth season also reveals that Vecna targets those who are going through a difficult time in their life. They are either dealing with some trouble at home, like Chrissy, or they are in a fragile emotional state because they are grieving someone, like Max. This makes their minds vulnerable to attack, and this is most likely why Will was targeted as well.
Since the first season, Joyce has been talking about how Will is a “sensitive” kid. Even before all the supernatural chaos he landed himself in, Will felt a little different, even within his own group. One of the reasons could be that he was beginning to ponder his sexual identity, especially in the context of his love for Mike, which would have felt unnatural to him because he didn’t have anyone he could turn to to talk about all this and not be judged. In the fourth season, he finds that person in Robin, who understands what he is going through because she has been through the same. But back in Season 1, he didn’t have that support system. At the same time, things were a little tricky at his house as well, with his mom unable to give him time and his dad out of the picture. It is not difficult to assume that Will’s mental state was vulnerable enough for Vecna to see him as a prime target.
We see something similar with kids in the fourth season as well. Holly and the other kids are at the age where they are beginning to sense the complexities of the world around them and are trying to make sense of everything without being able to talk about it with anyone. Holly, too, is presented as a loner who loses herself in books. She is bullied at school by Dipshit Derek, and at home, her parents are almost always fighting, and sometimes, she is the topic of their argument. Her siblings are busy with their own things, so she is not able to share her concerns with them. This is when Mr. Whatsit appears and gives her the attention and friendship she’d been looking for. Thus, Vecna finds her weakness and can easily exploit it, making her a perfect target.
Vecna’s True Intentions With the Children Will Unravel in Part 2
While it’s clear why Will, Holly, Derek, and others like them were chosen, it is still unclear what exactly Vecna wants from them. We know that Will was his experiment. He wanted to see if his plan would work, and once it became clear that he was on the right path, he turned his attention to Holly and the others. The details of the plan, however, are still unclear. From the flashback, we see Vecna forcing a vine-like thing into Will’s mouth, through which he is connected to the hive mind. Even after Will is rescued and taken back to the real world, his connection to the hive mind isn’t really severed.
Later, when Will enters the mind of a demogorgon, he sees that Holly and the other kids have also been connected in the same way, which means they are being made a part of the hive mind. He also notes that Vecna needs a total of twelve kids for this. Meanwhile, he has been keeping Holly occupied in his mind prison, where she eventually meets Max, who is also somehow trapped in his mind, even though her body is not in the Upside Down. In a shocking turn, the ending of the fourth episode reveals that the hive mind works both ways, particularly in harnessing powers. He uses Vecna’s powers to take control of the demogorgons and kill them before they can kill his friends.
It is possible that Vecna plans to use the hive mind to create an army of kids with whom he can share his powers. If one Vecna is so difficult to handle, imagine twelve people with his powers. This also explains why the vulnerable minds of kids were an important criteria for him, because he knew that a more mature and stable mind would try to fight him and may even win. He wouldn’t want the kids to use his powers and then turn on him. However, given what happens with Will, it seems he may have seriously underestimated children and their true fighting spirit, and in the end, this will become his undoing.
Read More: Who is Behind the Door in Stranger Things Season 5?
You must be logged in to post a comment.