Time Has A Funny Way of Changing You

I have read Suspicious Minds about Brenner, Terry, and Terry’s cohorts probably 6 times since the finale. That is literally required reading for anything going forward I swear it.

It was the first ST novel EVER, it came out in early 2019. It came out before Season 3!

Let that sink in…

They released a book about Brenner’s work with drugs, ALTERING PEOPLE’S MEMORIES, altering people’s emotional connections to their memories (literally says this is a reason he does this, because it makes them easier to control), and the cohorts from even earlier also see and experience the Upside Down! They don’t GO there but they SEE it.

It might not all be ‘right’, but they literally laid the groundwork for how Seasons 3-5 are going to go. He took her ‘source’ memory of her best AND her worst memories (something they focus HEAVILY on in the show), and makes her repeat them over and over and over until she feels nothing. Terry also comes and goes from the lab, she isn’t there all the time.

Like PLEASE. Please read this book!!

I’m willing to bet soooooooooo much that there is no ACTUAL time travel, time loops, or alternate realities. There are competing narratives at play, there are competing stories.

History is written by the victors. Whoever controls the past controls the present, whoever controls the present controls the future. Brenner is not trying to ACTUALLY go back in time and rewrite events that already happened, he is alternating the narratives that the characters have for themselves & their own histories, as well as the history and story of Hawkins/Hawkins National Lab.

The source material that we’re getting IS good. We declassified 11 files of the lab, we’re getting declassified source tapes. We will have to retrace how we all got here.

I'm not kidding. We all remember Mike jumping down that cliff at the quarry in S1, but at the beginning of S5 we saw Will literally doing the same thing. Climbing that tree to escape the Demo and then jumping off as he's been followed. The dates are confirmed in the show, very obviously. Can't believe we've been sleeping on that.

If you play it side by side they do everything in sync. The jump, suddenly stopping mid fall, moving again... only that Will actually fell and Mike started defying gravity.

We know Will actually died that day (yeah he came back to life ofc), but what about Mike? Max taught us you have to follow your memories back to your death to escape the maze of memories. Something that worked for Will already, since S5 started with his death... Mhh.

I fear there's no proving Byler without investigating Mike's 'death' first. And everything leads me back to this day.

But hey, just watch it yourself:

Don't ask what wrong with Troy's voice, it abstracted every single try saving the file.

If you only wanna watch the actual sequence jump to ~ 01:30, but then you'll miss Mike and Troy answering to Will's singing and El paralleling Vecna :3 Oh and El heard a ticking noise.

The only time we're shown the same aspect ratio as the VHS Special Edition is in this surveillance camera footage:

VHS Special Edition:

Even Jonathan's camera footage, which is also recorded on VHS, isn't this exact aspect ratio.

I’ve seen a few interesting posts about these mysterious 11 tapes here and here, and it’s got me thinking & digging…

Did you know it looks exactly like the Limited Edition Season 2 tape?

(same yellow sticker and everything!)

This was Season 1 for comparison:

Like it’s been mentioned, the Snowball ‘84 being crossed out is literally Season 2 being overwritten.

And the definition of red tape might as well be the definition of what conformitygate feels like 😭

There was also this interesting 80s RCA/Columbia Home Video anti-piracy campaign:

We’ve all theorised that the colour red is like an alarm. A symbol of the corrupted truth, screaming to be looked at closer.

Let’s apply this “if it isn’t red, it isn’t real” rule:

Most of Season 5 clips uploaded to YouTube has this red border around it. (could be just a style choice…or maaaybe not)

And to me it’s asking us to question, “am I real?Am I as real as I’m claiming to be?”

If it isn’t red, it isn’t real:

If it isn’t red, it isn’t real:

If it isn’t red, it isn’t real:

The yellow “be kind, rewind” sticker on the tape also has implications of its own.

Surveillance but also corruption (see link in this post):

And also connects to the Watchmen:

This S4 teaser included a nod to The Watchmen “Doomsday Clock”, which symbolised the looming apocalypse with the time stuck on 5 mins to Midnight:

(A user on Reddit clarified the exact time on the clock:)

Once it reaches Midnight, Game Over. And that’s exactly what happened in S4 - they lost.

So S5 continues to not make sense:

So how do they fix this?

Most of us think the signs are pointing to “re-winding” the proverbial tape to S2 and The Snowball, where everything literally went Upside Down:

Full Snowball clip here

It’s interesting because The Snowball is also the same episode when they “closed” the Mothergate:

(Erica said it!! We have to go back…)

El closing “the Mothergate”:

Does this possibly imply that something went wrong when the Mothergate was closed? Will’s connection was severed but still dormant. In S5, Will even mentioned himself that closing the gate didn’t work for him. Does this mean they need to go back to the Snowball, and also rewrite events of closing the gate??

And speaking of S5 maybe all being in Mike’s head, Mr. Whatsit seems to be a manifestation of himself at the Snowball 💀

Something about that night continues to haunt him:

There are also some Matrix connections:

(if it isn’t red, it isn’t real)

It’s been pointed out by Kelly on TikTok that a lot more CG edits are leaning into The Matrix hints:

People who accepted the ending took “the blue pill” (comfort and happiness)

People who thought S5 felt off took “the red pill” (conformitygate)

And if you saw the “black cat” twice in The Matrix, it means there’s a glitch in the simulation:

Serious deja-vu:

Serious deja-vu:

Serious deja-vu:

Their realities seem to be looping over and over again. And by the time we got to S5, no one in Hawkins seemed to have noticed.

That’s why the inconsistencies like shifting colours and false memories (Will’s speech) suddenly became more obvious. It’s begging us and the characters to notice the truth of their realities.

If it’s not red, it’s not real:

I think the painting is part of taking “the red pill” and waking up to the truth.

Can’t help but notice their red & blue ties here 👀

I’d say it’s time to “be kind and rewind”

I was reading through the S4 scripts and noticed something odd.

When Nancy/Steve/Robin/Eddie reach the Wheeler house in 4x07, they go to Nancy's room for guns, ....and they don't find any guns. They do find a diary though, with its last entry on a particular date, suggesting that the UD is a snapshot in time.

What's actually inconsistent is the date in the diary!

In both the show and the script versions, what is said is November 6th, 1983, whereas what is read is different. Show also reads November 6th, 1983, but the scripts have it as November 6th, 1986. A difference of three whole years. Why have this?

(Above: Nancy finding her diary. What's written in the diary is consistent with what she says (the audio description corroborates this too. This is a detail to be aware of!)).

(Above: Season 4 Complete Scripts, p. 533. Notice how what is said and what is read is different? It's even underlined! And in all caps!)

Why have an inconsistency like this? This could also in all honestly be genuine typo/misprinting, but there are other, audio and/or visual inconsistencies between the show and the scripts when it comes to smaller details like this. S5 already has had plenty of dissection of inconsistencies and contradictions that happen episode to episode or even scene to scene, but they did not all of a sudden appear here out of the blue. There's always been #birthdaygate and #eightfifteengate to point out timeline inconsistencies or irregularities, so this isn't new! They have always been here, they have just gotten more visible.

I'm not going to put too much emphasis on dialogue, as ad-libbed/improved/paraphrased versions of the original lines can happen. I will only be focusing on logical/factual inconsistencies or contradictions (this can also be dialogue as well). I will only include a few, but there are likely many more.

Exhibit 2: Bears and Dragons

In 3x08, right before Mike and El kiss goodbye, El struggles to reach for a toy atop the top shelf in the closet. In the show, it's a stuffed bear. In the scripts, it's a toy dragon.

(Above: 3x08 shows the bear, and Left/Right: But the scripts (p. 541 and p. 542) refer to the toy dragon. Multiple times. (Also given ST's budget, it wouldn't even be hard to get a toy dragon prop! This wouldn't be an inconsistency for logistical reasons.)

Exhibit 3: Southwest

(All credit to u/edencwel on r/byler for spotting this [x])

In 3x02, the Scoops Troop decodes the Russian message: "The Week is long. The silver sat feeds. When blue meets yellow in the west." In both what is shown visually and through dialogue, this is consistent in the show. It is not consistent in the scripts. In fact it mentions south.

(Above: What is shown on the board and what is read is consistent!)

What I find really strange is that this contradiction does not reoccur when the same phrase is mentioned again when Dustin and Steve scout for the 'Evil Russian' (and Robin does her own thing). It's only mentioned here!

(Top: S3 scripts 3x02 p. 115. The board is not shown/described, but what they say out loud is clearly South and not West. Bottom: p. 163, it suddenly corrects back to West!)

Even with all of these examples (and pleeeenty more from others), the question is why? Why have contradictions between the show and the scripts? It might be related to all of the contradictions present in S5 and #conformitygate (and the numerous inconsistencies people pointed out in TF85), but why these details in particular? Is there anything that makes them stand out? What makes them important? Or are they just there for the sake of having things contradict each other? What would this suggest as to the relationship between the scripts, the show, and the inconsistencies present in S5? Are they all the same thing?

I don't think all of the contradictions as a standalone have any meaning on their own, other than that they are just made to stand out in some way. Though as a collective, they could mean something. One idea is that since these were all released prior or during the release of S5 (S1 and S2 scripts in September, S3 and S4 in December, after the release of Vol 1), these contradictions were intended to be found. A bit like a training round! This is also slightly corroborated with the Q&A the Duffers moderated for Exit 8, a videogame film all about finding contradictions to escape ([1], [2])! (and the way it does it is very much "only show, no tell").

Now if they were to be truly intentional (planted), why? Why have hardcore fans/viewers basically train themselves to spot/identify inconsistencies or contradictions? Why make them increasingly noticeable/visible in the show?

The only conclusion I can only think of right now is the conclusion that others have reached quite a long time ago! This is all planned! This is all intentional! The contradictions are intentional. Everything. Everything has been planned to be like this. These aren't just mistakes or errors, these are active decisions. One could even say everyone is in on it but us, the audience (and the Party).

And if going down this thread of thought some more, and if applying what Exit 8 does for the main character to escape, then that has to be what the Party has to do as well: The characters have to figure it out for themselves. If #conformitygate is very well something planted (at this point likely), then we, the audience, have already found the clues (we've been very vocal about that), but has the Party? Have they noticed the contradictions or inconsistencies? Have they noticed something is off or odd or strange about their world?

I don't think they have.

contempt in your eyes when i turn to kiss his lips

broken i lie, all my feelings denied

blood on your fist