As well as repeating the Van Scene, I think that Vecna might have reversed the effects of the Shed Scene.
I wrote a theory the other day about how I believe there’s evidence within the show that Vecna is turning specific tactics used against him back onto the heroes. I believe that he not only reversed the power of music but also orchestrated a similar downfall like in season 4 with the Painting Lie.
There’s one more clue in the Coming Out Scene that might back this up. In a way, the scene is like a shattered mirror of the Shed Scene.
In my original analysis, I argued that Max using her and Holly’s traumatic memories to escape Camazotz might not have been the correct route. At the very least, I think Holly’s escape from Camazotz specifically was a representation of the cycle of trauma. Holly barely made it out of the Abyss before Vecna yanked her back in.
Before that, I talked about how the parallels between the Van Scene and the Coming Out Scene finally made sense to me. Those scenes not only paralleled each other emotionally but also structurally. Both of those scenes were placed in the exact place in the narrative and had a similar outcome. It’s possible that both the Painting Lie and the Tammy Lie resulted in the downfall in each season. In episode 4, Vecna showed Will the memory of the Van Scene which tells me that he somehow knew about what happened out in California. I believe that it’s possible the show is telling us that he was capable of repeating the outcome.
To summarize, I believe there’s evidence in season 5 of Vecna reversing the effects of music, yanking his victims back into trauma (Camazotz) and weaponizing previous events to gain the advantage. But there might also be one more instance of this happening.
I only realized it when I reread my theory about the two Camazotz escape attempts. I believe that Camazotz could be a representation of trauma and that it’s possible the show might be telling us that the characters need to heal from their trauma, not just acknowledge it, before they can truly escape the mind prison.
But there’s a juxtaposition between Max and Will’s experience with Vecna in season 5. In Camazotz, “Running Up That Hill” took Max through terrible memories instead of the happy ones the song helped her focus on in season 4. Despite this, those traumatic moments in Max’s life still guided her to the Mind Lair where a portal opened and she saw Lucas with her in the hospital. In the library, Will tried to repeat the tactic he used to take down the Demos. He focused on the happiest times in his life but Vecna, as Will says, “found a way past.”
It's very interesting because, although Max was trapped reliving the worst moments of her life, those memories still guided her to the portal in the Mind Lair. Will used the happiest moments of his life to defeat the Demogorgons about to attack his friends but he was unable to save himself with them. I believe that neither of Max's escape attempts technically worked, but there's still no clear answer to what specifically defeats Vecna. It's not overcoming traumatic memories; Vecna yanked Holly back into Camazotz even after she prevailed over them. And it isn't focusing on happy memories either.
In other words, memories are involved in both of these instances. Max traversed Camazotz using terrible memories and she was taken to the Mind Lair. She repeated this process again with Holly but Holly was recaptured. Will used his film reel to relive the happiest moments of his childhood and was able to unlock his powers. He attempted this again when Vecna captured him but it wasn’t enough.
Which now leads me to believe that it isn’t just memories that are the key to unlocking the mind prison: it’s emotion. And it isn’t just emotion but also reciprocation. But it still isn't just as simple as that.
I spoke briefly about how, after volume 1, a lot of fans in the Byler community concluded that the portal didn’t close on Max when the music ended, it was when Lucas let go of her hand in the hospital. If that seems far fetched, rewatch the scene. The camera zooms in and lingers on Lucas and Max’s hands for a reason. Max recounted the sensation when she explained her first escape attempt to Holly. She repeated the same thing again in episode 6 before their escape. After she woke up, Max outright stated that she didn’t need the music, she needed Lucas. I don’t think there’s any room for doubt with that interpretation.
The simple act of holding hands is very powerful in Stranger Things. It happens quite a few times throughout the series, but I’d say that none are as significant as Lucas holding Max’s hand and Mike holding Will’s. The two instances illustrate the importance of a physical anchor to the real world (or the light – either interpretation works).
Now, applying this to the Shed Scene is where it might get a little tricky but I’ll try to explain.
For years, Bylers have discussed how, in season 2, Mike was able to break Will out of his episodes by touch alone. In episode 5, Mike laid his hand over Will’s which was the same hand he was able to use to communicate through Morse code even while possessed. To be fair, Mike took Will’s right hand and Will is right-handed, but the zoomed in camera lets us know that it was significant. Yes, there would be no reason that Will couldn’t use his non-dominant hand to knock the dots and dashes of Morse code, but in case that’s an argument, I’ll just say that the camera makes the connection intentional. It’s simple visual communication. The show made it very clear that it was important that Mike took the hand Will was able to control while possessed.
It’s harder to make a theory concerning this with season 5 because we don’t actually see the visions Vecna showed Will. Not knowing what exactly transpired between Vecna and Will is what’s gonna make this difficult. But I still believe it’s possible that season 5 showed us how Vecna was stealing old tactics used against him and the Mind Flayer and reversing their effectiveness.
In my opinion, what happened in season 2 and specifically in the shed is something Vecna would definitely want to circumvent. This is by no means an original thought; we all believe that Vecna is purposefully keeping Will and Mike apart. However, I would like to add to that a little. Vecna “found a way past” the happiest moments in Will’s life which happened to be the same memories Will tried to use against him in the library. That moment in the shed would probably be what Vecna would weaponize against Will.
Sometime before season 5, I talked about the Shed Scene just to counter any hypothetical arguments against our interpretation. I just wanted to make it clear that no Byler believed that Will valued Mike more than his mother and brother. I believe that the Shed Scene shows us just how close the Byers are and how freely they express their love for each other.
It wasn’t that Jonathan and Joyce couldn’t reach Will. He obviously could hear them and wanted to respond. Will’s expression was agonized in some moments and his hand twitched during Jonathan’s story. However, I think that Mike’s confession was the jolt Will’s mind needed so he could finally break through the possession enough to regain full control over his hand. Jonathan and Joyce’s love for Will is familiar. Joyce had already made it known to Will that she was proud of his artwork. Likewise, Will drew Castle Byers and was with Jonathan while they built it. Their love and affection is obviously greatly appreciated, but it's something that Will had lived with and experienced. It’s normal but certainly not in a negative way. What Will didn’t know was how Mike had felt during their first meeting.
Furthermore, the camera singled out Mike. The whole scene was zeroed in to just Will and Mike. Again, that’s visual communication. When Jonathan and Joyce talked about Castle Byers and the rainbow ship, the camera either cut away to the reactions of the other characters or focused on more than one character at a time.
Jonathan, Joyce and Mike’s stories worked in collaboration. Each one chipped away at the icy possession in Will’s mind. To be fair, Mike’s story might not have been enough on its own. On the middle school field, Mike wasn’t able to wake Will up on his own which could tell us that there was a limit to Mike’s influence. However, I believe that Jonathan and Joyce brought Will back enough so that he could fully focus on Mike. Then, Mike was able to deliver the shock Will’s possessed brain needed. That specific emotion from Mike was the key in this scene.
That jolt is what Will was missing all throughout season 5 but especially in the Coming Out Scene.
Will’s behavior in season 5 mirrored the stages of his possession in season 2. The wandering, the staring and the eye fluttering to name a few. He took off his coat in episode 3, and he painted on the barn wall in episode 4 as if drawing from his now-memories. So, at the very least, I think the Coming Out Scene thematically mirrors his possession in season 2 as well from a certain point of view.
In my first post about this, I argued that the Coming Out Scene was structured like the Van Scene in both an emotional and narrative sense, but now I think that it’s like a shattered reflection of the Shed Scene as well. In season 5, Will received the love and support he needed from his family and friends, but there might have been something missing. We watched the Shed Scene again but without Mike’s story this time. The show already drew parallels between season 5 and season 2 Will. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to think they would repeat the Shed Scene in some way, but this time as a downfall, “what if” scenario. I also argued that the Coming Out Scene was placed in the penultimate episode, highlighting its importance to the story. The Shed Scene was also in the penultimate episode. Season 2’s penultimate episode led to victory whereas season 4’s left the characters in ruin. I think that Vecna would certainly like to prevent one result and repeat the other.
In the Coming Out Scene, Will obviously wasn’t possessed the way he was in the Shed Scene. But, like we believed during Playgate, he might have been using code similar to how he did in season 2. Will’s most alarming statements were about milkshakes at Melvald’s and getting lost in the woods, but there were plenty of other clues that he was not himself during that moment. However, like with the painting on the barn wall, no one noticed that Will was behaving strangely. On top of all the other evidence, like giving Holly music, I interpret this to mean that Vecna had been learning from what weakened him in the past. There is evidence in the show that Vecna figured out how to both orchestrate events and prevent them. He is truly the tagline for Survivor in season 5: Outwit, outplay, outlast. He outwit the characters several times in season 5 alone by remaining one step ahead of their plans. He outplayed them by turning their tactics against them, and he might have outlasted all the rest by doing so.
As it’s been pointed out before by many Bylers after volume 1, the memories Will used to unlock his powers were from the shed stories: The rainbow ship, building Castle Byers and meeting Mike. Will said in episode 7 that Vecna had bypassed these memories, so they had to be on his radar! I don’t know exactly what happened, but Vecna must have figured out how to disarm Mike should Will ever come out because of what happened in the shed. I think that Vecna baited Will into coming out to repeat the effects of the Painting Lie with the Tammy Lie, but it’s also possible that he knew that Will would be lured into a false sense of security once he came out. Will was under the impression that he would be taking away any power Vecna had over him if he faced his fears. This is generally a good approach to storytelling and I would commend this writing decision had it been executed properly. It would be outstanding for a gay character to reclaim his identity from the villain. But, as many fans have criticized, it amounted to almost nothing in the final battle. Vecna didn’t even try to use Will’s identity against him and we never saw what Vecna had showed him anyway. Ultimately, all it really did was put gay fans in the crosshairs of homophobic backlash. Yikes.
Anyway, going with the idea that it’s emotions that breaks someone out of possession, I think that Vecna took all necessary precautions to prevent Mike and Will from being honest about their own. I also believe that he was working overtime to ensure Will would stay possessed or whatever is wrong with him in season 5. I believe that Vecna utilized both the Van Scene and the Shed Scene to enact this complicated scheme.
The Shed Scene showed us how loving the Byers are with each other. This isn’t anything negative, but it showed us that Joyce and Jonathan’s attempts to reach Will were based on a love that Will was familiar with. In Joyce’s story about the rainbow ship drawing, she mentioned how Will was so embarrassed over her reaction and praise. That lets us know that Will was already aware of it. Jonathan’s story was about building Castle Byers which Will had drawn and was present for. However, Will did not know how Mike felt about him. He obviously knew that Mike cared for him, but to him, that was just Mike being Mike. It wasn’t until Will saw his best friend crying in front of him over the memory of meeting on the first day of kindergarten that he was able to take control of the hand that Mike held. It was the shock that Will’s brain needed to finally break some part of the possession.
So, basically, Vecna allowed Will to believe he had gained the upper hand by episode 7. To do this, he had to give Will a false sense of security. He weaponized Will's identity even though he knew (and we knew as the audience) that his family and friends wouldn't reject him. But if Will took the bait and came out as a countermove against Vecna, then it would actually be according to plan. Think about it this way: Will receiving love and acceptance for his identity wasn't really anything we didn't expect. It was nice, but it wasn't shocking to see just how much the characters love Will considering that he was loved and cared for throughout the whole series. Based on what I think about Jonathan and Joyce's stories in the shed, I think that Vecna was okay with a little bit of love because Mike was already disarmed by the Tammy Lie. Will coming out and being accepted wouldn't threaten Vecna's plan.
I think we can find some more evidence of this. On the radio tower, Mike repeated what he already said in season 4. But I’d argue that “best friends” wasn’t enough this time. If we go with the idea that Jonathan and Joyce’s shed stories weren’t quite enough because they were stories that Will already knew, then I’d say that Mike reconfirming that they were best friends was something that Will would’ve expected. It was nothing that he hadn’t heard before. Likewise, the hug and brief touches were nothing new to Will in season 5 especially because he was already getting signals of romantic interest from Mike. They were so close to breaking out of the mind prison! But Vecna shut it down.
In regards to memories, I still believe that healing and forgiveness is the correct route through Camazotz. But, if we think about a key to the mind prison, it's definitely emotion and love. In Will's case, Mike is the key but Vecna locked it up. I think there are moments in season 5 where we can see this clearly happening. Examining the Shed Scene and relating it to the Coming Out Scene could just be another clue to how Vecna accomplished his plan.
As Max explained in episode 6, a physical anchor to the real world doesn’t have to be a boyfriend. The strength to overcome darkness doesn’t have to just come from romantic love. We see this with Holly when she used Mike and Holly the Heroic to open a portal in the Mind Lair. And we saw this before with El when she used memories of her mother to defeat Henry in Hawkins Lab. It's the love the characters desire most in the moment that gives them the courage to fight on. We are shown time and time again that Mike makes Will feel powerful. That doesn't just go away.
This conclusion isn’t anything new here; I just like to share how and when something makes sense to me or where I make a connection. On the surface, season 5 looks to be devoid of any of the morals and messages we received in earlier seasons. I’m on a mission to prove it’s still there. I hope they give us back our show.
