#c'mon

It’s not Holly who was kidnapped into a fake world – it was Mike. All the episodes we experienced are based on things that really happened to him (and some of his friends), but they’re out of order. Wrong.

Part memory, part story. 

So, for this theory to make sense, what happened to Holly must be what happened to Mike. Are there any similarities or details that suggest this?

Production:

Holly is aged up, and replaced by a different actor

Holly’s character arc completely replaced Mike’s. Most of the time, Mike’s just watching everyone else do stuff. No personal development.

Holly has more screen time than even Will, let alone Mike. 95 entire minutes – for someone who's usually a side character!

Interesting, but there’s plausible deniability here. It could all be the result of poor writing. So let’s test that by examining the way Holly is actually written in the show.

In-Show:

Max tells Holly, “You’re not like your brother, you are your brother”.

Holly the Heroic mirrors Mike the Brave. They wish they could become fearless like their characters, but they both feel like they’re not good enough.

Mike and Holly both tell the kids, “Eyes on me.”

Holly’s head wound in Camazotz mirrors Mike’s head wound from MAC-Z.

Holly the Heroic wields a fire poker, like Mike the Brave wields a sword.

Holly and her best friend Mary in the basement on Halloween while Vecna was watching mirrors Mike and his best friend Will in the basement on Halloween while Vecna was watching.

Holly and her friends replace Mike and his friends in the final D&D scene.

Okay, so not only are they written with a TON of similarities, but Max literally tells us straight-up that they are the same character. This doesn’t point to bad writing, it points to very intentional writing! The Holly/Mike switch has evidence, and lots of it!

Taking all of this into account, I can only conclude that Mike is literally Holly. He tells the tale of Camazotz from Holly’s perspective, but really, he is stuck in a fake world.

Why it Makes Sense

We all agree here that at least part of Season 5 is an illusion. But which parts? When does it start? Who is in the illusion? The exact details are extraordinarily hard to figure out, because there is evidence for both. 

There’s loads of dream imagery and signs of Vecna’s influence since Episode 1. This points to none of the episodes being real before 8. However, there are also moments from the characters and plot that just don’t make sense if they’re completely fake; for example, Robin giving gay relationship advice to Will. WHY AND HOW WOULD VECNA DO THAT??? LMAO??? This points to all of the episodes being real before 8.

That's the problem with the illusion theory – how can we possibly tell what is real? Well, this theory solves that problem.

ALL of it is real, and NONE of it is real. it's nerf or nothing

These episodes are a fake version of the real story, flipped upside down. Act 1.

C'mon, I'll show you Act 2!

THE REAL STORY OF SEASON 5

I noticed that the episode descriptions for Season 5 are pretty vague. So vague, in fact, that the first and last episodes could pretty much be swapped. Hey, wait a minute–

If you reverse the order of every episode, as they're listed on Google, they tell a very different story. This story makes genuine, logical sense. This is what's really going on.

The Overview

My explanation, evidence, original episode descriptions, the reversed order, the titles, etc are all below this overview!!!

It's 1986. After Vecna took over Hawkins in Season 4, the party planned to defeat him on November 6th.

They split into two groups. One group would go into the Upside Down to search for Holly, who was kidnapped in the Wheeler attack on November 3rd. The other group would connect Will back to the hivemind. Together, they hoped their efforts would defeat Vecna.

But on November 6th, something went wrong. Vecna used Holly as a distraction to take his real target, Mike, into a fake world.

Now connected to the hivemind, Will saw what Vecna was doing, and tried to help Mike. "If you can hear me, you need to run! Run!" But Will was knocked into a trance.

[This is where Mike experiences the Season 5 we all saw – the "upside-down" story of Vecna's defeat, based on his memories of what happened in real-world Hawkins... now scrambled out-of-order.]

[Since Season 4 took a long time to film, and was written in tandem with Season 5, it's possible that some of the "real" scenes were already filmed back then!]

The military tighten their grip on Hawkins. While Mike explores his new surroundings, Joyce wrestles with guilt*, and Jonathan + Nancy reach a turning point*. After Mike's disappearance and Will's trance, they are deeply struggling – and they need to defeat Vecna more than ever.

Now, El must find a way into Will's mind.

Mike plans his escape from the fake world with Max, while Lucas and Robin plan an escape from the military, and El comes face-to-face with the enemy (in Will's mind?).

Will is brought back from his trance. Because of his connection to the hivemind, he claims to know Vecna's next move, so they set a trap... but who is the trap really for?

Meanwhile, Mike fights to escape Vecna's mind – with Max! He confronts his secrets, leading him on the road to escape. Nancy confronts a secret of her own.

Near the end of his memory trail, Mike must confront his memory of what really happened on November 3rd, during the vicious attack on the Wheeler home.

El and Hopper go on a rescue mission (Probably Will, but could be for Kali or Mike – or Holly if they failed to find her initially).

The gang evade the military to scour for Vecna in the Upside Down, but fail to notice a threat closer to home. Something is happening to Will, and Vecna may not only be in the Upside Down.

Timeskip! It's now November, 1987. This is the real epilogue; not sunshine and rainbows, but honest and real.

Edit: (26/2/2026) – Now that I've analysed more scenes, I realised that the gang being "split into two groups" occurs before the illusion world, not after, and the Wheeler attack is a flashback, not a real attack that occurs later.

So, how exactly did we get here?

RIGHTSIDE UP ORDER – ST5, Act 1

Well, here are the normal episode descriptions, for context. I haven't messed with these at all.

THE CRAWL – November, 1987. The gang evades the military to scour the Upside Down for Vecna – but fails to notice a threat lurking closer to home.

THE VANISHING OF HOLLY WHEELER – After a vicious attack at the Wheeler home, Mike and Nancy confront the cost of secrecy, while El and Hopper embark on a rescue mission. 

THE TURNBOW TRAP – Will gains unique insight into Vecna’s next move, giving the crew an opportunity to set a trap. Holly explores her new surroundings. 

SORCERER – The military tightens its grip on the town. Mike, Lucas and Robin orchestrate a daring escape. El comes face-to-face with the enemy.

SHOCK JOCK – The gang hatches an electrifying plan to connect Will to the hive mind. Tensions flare during a search of the Upside Down’s Hawkins Lab. 

ESCAPE FROM CAMAZOTZ – As Holly and Max fight to escape Vecna’s mind, El must find a way into Will’s. Joyce wrestles with guilt. Jonathan and Nancy face a turning point. 

THE BRIDGE – On the anniversary of Will’s disappearance, the party reunites to prepare for a battle with world-altering complications. 

THE RIGHTSIDE UP – As Vecna prepares to destroy the world as we know it, the party must put everything on the line to defeat him once and for all. 

Doesn’t that sound vague to you? Almost like they would make sense in a different order?

UPSIDE DOWN ORDER – ST5, Act 2

Well, here are those same descriptions – flipped. I actually think there will be 12 Episodes total, but for clarity, I kept them separate here.

I reversed the order of everything, except for the lines about Holly – because her story is what actually happened to Mike, so it's already in the right order. I then replaced Holly's name with Mike's.

I also changed every episode title except The Crawl, which I’ve fully explained below!

THE CRAWL - As Vecna prepares to destroy the world as we know it, the party must put everything on the line to defeat him once and for all. 

THE VANISHING OF MIKE WHEELER – On the anniversary of Will’s disappearance, the party reunites to prepare for a battle with world-altering complications. 

*THE RIGHTSIDE UP – Jonathan and Nancy face a turning point. Joyce wrestles with guilt. As Mike explores his new surroundings, El must find a way into Will’s mind.

*SHOCK JOCK – The gang hatches an electrifying plan to connect Will to the hive mind. Tensions flare during a search of the Upside Down’s Hawkins Lab. 

*SORCERER – El comes face-to-face with the enemy. Mike, Lucas and Robin orchestrate a daring escape. The military tightens its grip on the town.

ESCAPE FROM THE RIGHTSIDE UP – Will gains unique insight into Vecna’s next move, giving the crew an opportunity to set a trap. Mike and Max fight to escape Vecna’s mind. 

THE PALADIN AND THE CLERIC – Preceding a vicious attack at the Wheeler home, Mike and Nancy confront the cost of secrecy, while El and Hopper embark on a rescue mission. 

*THE RAINBOW SHIP – The gang evades the military to scour the Upside Down for Vecna – but fails to notice a threat lurking closer to home. November, 1987.

* = switched, blue = replaced, all other text is simply in reverse order

Don't these descriptions work suspiciously well in their reversed order? Perhaps their vagueness was intentional.

I believe that in their new order, and with Mike swapped for Holly, these descriptions tell the real story.

Although, I think it's more likely they'll condense it into four longer episodes, rather than putting out eight more one-hour episodes. This will result in 12 episodes, as I explore in Part 3.

Why these titles?

Below is an explanation of the new titles I chose for each revised description. You can skip this, but it provides some extra context.

The Crawl = The Crawl. Only The Crawl has been registered for copyright, so I’ve changed every title EXCEPT this episode. Also... when baby Steve got knocked on the head, he stopped CRAWLING in reverse, and started CRAWLING forwards instead. The episodes are now in the correct order.

The Vanishing of Mike Wheeler, because… duh. Also, "The Vanishing Of..." only reveals that it's Holly Wheeler after you watch the episode. Perhaps they did that for a reason... ;)

I swapped The Turnbow Trap with The Rightside Up, because this is the episode in which Mike finds himself trapped in his version of Camazotz. Except Mike wouldn’t name it after a book he hasn’t read. He would be much more likely to compare the fake world to the Upside Down. Therefore, it’s the Rightside Up! Here’s my theory that the Rightside Up is a place.

Similarly, I replaced Escape from Camazotz with Escape from the Rightside Up, because… duh. 

I simply swapped Shock Jock and Sorcerer. They both start with “S” and they’re both right next to each other. Interestingly, the official art for Sorcerer uses a frame from Shock Jock, and the official art from Shock Jock uses a frame from Sorcerer. Hmmm.

The Season 5 titles were leaked before they were announced, and the only incorrect leak was Episode 7 – The Paladin and the Cleric. So, that’s what I chose. Similar titles have been used throughout the series (The Flea and the Acrobat, The Monster and the Superhero) so it’s plausible. It matches Mike and Will's D&D characters... but it ALSO fits El and Hopper, who are a duo in this episode. Why? Mike's campaign from the epilogue. El is the mage of Saint Markovia, but in D&D lore, Saint Markovia is a cleric. Mike called Hopper a paladin in that same campaign.

Now, the final episode. I have literally no out-of-show evidence for the final episode’s title could be, so here’s my idea. As a replacement for The Turnbow Trap, I chose The Rainbow Ship, because of the strong rainbow themes throughout the show. The rainbow room from the lab, "rainbow, sunflower" etc, Holly’s association with rainbows, the rainbow El sees between the two waterfalls, and crucially, Will’s rainbow ship drawing. His drawing of Castle Byers became real, his drawings of Will the Wise became real, his drawings of the tunnels... and presumably, the rainbow ship, too.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY! “There upon a rainbow is the answer to a never-ending story.”

ALSO IMPORTANTLY! As @persistentmimicgrail pointed out, the USS Eldridge ship was part of project rainbow. RAINBOW SHIPPPPPPP~

Easter egg – a rainbow forms when water and light combine. Will is associated with light, while both Will and Mike are associated with water.

Also, I think it would be hilarious if the episode where Will + Mike get together is called The Rainbow Ship. COME ON!!! THAT WOULD BE SO FUNNY!!! If the Duffers don’t do this, it’s going straight to my ao3 account, that’s for sure.

MIKE WHEELER: the storyteller, or the Dungeon Master?

As well as being Mike the Brave, Mike used to be the Dungeon Master. The one in control of the story. Now, he’s merely the storyteller of Season 5, telling fake stories, trapped in a fake world built from memories, with no control at all. 

“The storyteller keeps telling stories. Stories inspired by his friends.” He hopes “all can know of their great bravery.” 

Isn’t that sad? Mike’s friends get to be brave, but the only thing Mike The Brave gets to do is tell their stories. Not his own. 

This reminds me heavily of Owen from I Saw The TV Glow (2024).

[SPOILERS!!!]

Owen is a heavily queercoded character trapped in a fake world, while the real world is presented as a TV show Owen and their friend are obsessed with.

Throughout the film, timeskips get larger and larger, and Owen slowly loses control of the narrative, going from the protagonist to a background character in their own life, no longer in the center of the frame. Owen's friend from the real world tries to help them escape, telling Owen that they must choose to give up their fake self to get back to reality. But Owen isn’t brave enough. Instead of choosing to escape, Owen runs away. Chooses conformity instead.

“There’s still time” for Owen to accept reality, but that time is quickly running out.

This is what Mike is going through. Being trapped in a fake world with altered memories. Starting as the protagonist, but fading into the background. Timeskips and time distortion. An ambiguous ending. Queerness. Repression. Conformity. Bravery. 

Why is it that the way Mike is written is incredibly similar to the main character of an explicitly queer film? A film about the difficult choice to end your “normal” self in order to keep your true, authentic self alive – and the deep, dreadful horror of living in queer repression after failing to do so?

This film isn’t even listed as inspiration for Stranger Things, yet Mike’s story mirrors Owen’s near-perfectly. How is that even possible? Because they’re about the same thing. Queerness and conformity.

“There is a story he can never tell. The story of the mage.” Cut to Will. “Or at least, not the real story.”

Mike is going to escape his own doomed narrative. He is going to take back control, confront his secrets, become the protagonist of his life again – the Dungeon Master of his own, personal game of D&D.

Why does it need to be Mike – not Holly?

Thanks for the question, @poisongardens!!

From a character perspective, I think it relates to how Mike sees himself. Mike sees his fears as childish and silly, so it makes sense he projected them onto a more "acceptable" replacement – his little sister. It's okay for Holly to be scared, but not Mike, right? He also thinks he's not important or brave enough to be the hero of his story, so he replaces his character with a different one.

From a writing perspective, I think the "bad ending" happened because the characters succumbed to their fears and insecurities; the "good ending" will be the result of bravery, love, non-conformity etc. So, Mike needs to be in control of his own story to achieve this, not Holly… meaning Mike must have something Holly doesn't.

This analysis gave a great explanation!!

Even though Holly and Mike live in the same house, their experiences are different. They both see their parents argue, but Holly sees them argue about her. They both have close best friends who are under Vecna's control (Will, Mary) but while Will is able to remember Mike, Mary doesn't, and even attacks her. Holly befriends Derek, but he's too scared to defend her when she's in trouble. Holly can talk to Mike, but he doesn't tell the full truth, and he's stuck in Camazotz too.

Holly is like Mike, but with less support/accessible love (similar to Henry vs. Will). Believing in herself unfortunately wasn't enough – because when she fell, no-one was there to catch her.

Mike's different though. He has people there to support him, who aren't stuck in conformity – and he has love that is accessible to him, but only if he's brave enough to seek it out.

How's it going to end?

Well, to reference the Truman Show – a film that is on the Stranger Things inspiration board – it starts with Mike walking up the stairs, and out that basement door.

The ending has already begun.

Thanks to @astrangerthingsblog, @warmglowhc, @atsadi, @thatgirlalt, @thebestofmyrmidons, @whispering-goat, @vecnapilled… and a bunch of other peeps I’ve probably left out by accident. Your theories and analyses inspired this one!