#forced conformity

The day of the Wheeler attack: November 3rd, 1986

As mentioned prior, my theory so far has been that Mike was taken on November 6th, 1986.

Well, this might seem obvious, but I literally just realised that it makes total sense for the Wheeler attack to have taken place three days prior; on November 3rd, the date Lucas directly tells us it happened.

Lucas: You know what date it is, right? November 3rd. Will was taken on the 6th.

Remember, Vecna would have changed as little as possible about what happened, to ensure that Mike believed his new story.

Just as the evidence suggests that Jane really did go into hiding on June 13th, 1986, the evidence suggests that the Wheeler house really was attacked on November 3rd, 1986 – except Mike was there for it.

This explains:

Why Holly, Mike's stand-in, feels so guilty about not saving her mother

Why Will randomly goes through the exact same thing as Holly, except he is able to save his mother

Why Mike parallels Karen so heavily in ST5 (limping in a hospital gown, setting off explosives, talking to Holly about Mr Whatsit etc.)

Why Karen suddenly becomes an action hero, while Mike is sidelined (they swapped roles)

Why Holly remembers her mother falling in two different positions during the Wheeler attack

And more!

^ We'll explore all of this soon!

Karen the Hero (written by Mike Wheeler)

Throughout Season 5, in a surprising turn, Karen Wheeler becomes kind of a badass.

Protecting Holly with nothing but a broken wine bottle

Miraculously surviving two Demogorgon attacks against all odds

Providing the information that leads to Henry's defeat

Pulling the IV out of her arm and limping through the hospital

Setting off an explosion in a laundry machine, single-handedly saving four of Mike's friends

And by the end of the show, she gets a happy ending. One in which she tearfully tells her son she loves him, hugs him, watches him graduate, and calls him up for her homemade lasagna. Yes – Karen's happy ending is VERY centred around Mike, and there's a reason for that.

Out of everyone, why would Mike turn Karen into a brave hero who can survive anything? Well, heads up, it’s about to get real sad in here!

Karen: I'm fine, Michael. I'm fine. Vickie: With all due respect, Mrs. Wheeler, you're not. You could get an infection, haemorrhage – God forbid, stop breathing.

...What if she did stop breathing?

Have you ever wondered why Holly remembers Karen lying on the kitchen floor in two totally different positions? [Episode 2 vs Episode 6]

This is why.

When Nancy found Mike and Karen, they were both heavily injured. Mike was lying on his back near the red phone with an injured throat. Meanwhile, Karen was lying on her stomach – dead from a chest wound, and not breathing. Sorry, Nancy.

(Based on the red phone's location, Mike may have even been thrown into his own bedroom, through his own closet – instead of Ted. Nancy even tells Robin, "call my house, tell everyone to get out of there". Maybe she did call the house, and Mike answered using his red phone, but the call came too late.)

When the Wheeler house was attacked, Mike ran to Karen. Then, in the kitchen, he stood there while Karen defended him, and when she was slashed in the chest – right in front of him, like a scary movie he couldn't turn off. Karen probably only found out the truth about the Upside Down when it was already too late.

Mike: You saved us. [...] There's so much that I need to tell you about the Upside Down, but...

But... maybe he can't.

Mike loved his mother. He didn't want her to die. He wants to live in a world where she could've survived; where he could've told her the truth, and she could've seen him graduate, hugged him, told him she loved him, and called him upstairs from the basement one more time.

Just as Kiara said here!

And so, when Vecna kidnaps Mike later on and scrambles his memories, Mike subconsciously separates the true story of the Wheeler attack into three different characters.

Karen, Holly and Will.

He gave his injuries to Karen, and her injuries to Ted, giving his mother another chance at survival. And after that, Mike gave his own bravest moments to her too (more on this later).

Mike also gave his fears and insecurities to Holly.

Holly: When my mom was attacked, I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t even save myself. I just stood there. [...] There's nothing heroic about that.

He couldn't save his mother, only watch – and he blames himself. But as I've explored previously, Mike views his fears and struggles as childish, so he gave them to his little sister.

And then, Mike gave his deepest desires to Will. Everything he wished he could've done instead. Through him, Mike wills it all to be true.

Will: I was afraid. I was afraid for my mom. Mike: You wanted to protect her. Will: Yeah, but I just... couldn't. It was like this scary movie you just can't turn off.

In the edited version of Mike's story, now it's Will who couldn't save his own mother – except Mike makes it so he actually did.

All the way back in Season 1, It was Will who "put himself in danger to help the Party" in their D&D game, inspiring Mike – so, from Mike's perspective, Will the Wise is the obvious choice for a hero.

Mike: Are you positive you didn't? Turn off the scary movie, protect your mom, not the other way around?

See what Mike is doing here? He is controlling the narrative subconsciously, telling a story that he wishes was true through Will and Karen, and telling a story closer to his own reality through Holly.

Mike gave all of his "childish" fears to Holly, he gave all of his bravest moments to Karen, and he gave Will everything he ever wanted.

This way, Holly gets to be scared and comforted like any child would be. Karen survives "by some miracle"; she saves him, his friends, and herself. Will gets to accept himself for who he truly is, beat his tormentor, and be the powerful, confident hero of his own story.

And Mike, stuck in the Rightside Up, gets nothing... thereby keeping himself even more trapped, which is exactly what Vecna wants.

And, speaking of what Vecna wants...

Holly the "bait" (A.K.A. Mike Lite)

Lucas: It makes no sense that Vecna took Holly; Holly, who has nothing to do with any of this.

Or does it?

When I was first putting things together in late Jan/early Feb, I was under the impression that Holly was never actually kidnapped, and her story fully replaced Mike.

However, after re-examining the evidence? Holly was kidnapped. But there's a reason Vecna didn't kidnap Holly and Mike at the same time when he very easily could have. She was the bait.

^ These are my old notes btw – no need to read unless you're curious

By taking her on November 3rd, Vecna baited the gang into the Upside Down for a long and dangerous Crawl. This way, their best resources and strength would be expended during the fight for Holly, all of them would be injured, and some might even die.

Come *CRAWLING* faster, obey your master, Your life burns faster, Obey your master, master... Master of puppets, I'm pulling your strings Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams

All that effort to get Holly back... only for Vecna to swap her for her brother: Mike.

I'd make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places.

Not only that, but Will probably saw the whole thing. More on that later.

Let's explore how exactly Vecna was able to kidnap Mike on November 6th – starting with Mike's hospital stay, and ending with the brave sacrifice he made for his friends.

Survivor's Guilt! at the Hospital (feat. Lucas)

Now, before the November 3rd attack, Mike had already been feeling a truckload of guilt. We saw only the tip of the iceberg in Season 4, with how Mike considered himself both useless, and totally inferior to El...

Mike: One day she's going to realise that I'm just some random nerd that got lucky that Superman landed on his doorstep. Mike: I'm scared that one day you'll realise you don't need me anymore.

Mike feels like he's always there, standing by his loved ones, but that no-one actually needs him around. Sure, he figures things out, but he feels like it will never be enough to repay his loved ones for everything they've done for him.

El, who sacrifices herself over and over again for her friends, because if she doesn't, who will?

Will, who goes through trauma after trauma and still remains gentle, brave and kind.

Eddie, who Mike idolised as exactly the kind of rebellious, authentic person he wants to be; he fights with Dustin about whether Eddie's sacrifice was brave or stupid, before ultimately settling on brave.

And finally, the nail in the coffin for Mike's self-image – his mother, Karen, who has always assured him that he can tell her the truth, and who he can always go to for a hug, even when he doesn't say a word. Karen, who died to protect him, never learning the truth until it was too late (and perhaps never learning certain truths at all).

That's why Mike imagines Mike the Brave is "by his side". Not that he himself is Mike the Brave, but that he's just standing there.

He's always just standing there.

And after the November 3rd attack? All of Mike's worst fears about himself have been totally confirmed, in his mind. He is useless, he isn't brave, he isn't honest, and he survived while his mother sacrificed her life for his protection.

[Mike]: I just stood there. Why didn't I fight? Why didn't I help her? Max: That was old [Mike]. You would now.

Mike wants nothing more than to get out there and fight... but he can't. See, Mike was badly injured during the attack. In the end, these were his injuries:

An injured leg – resulting in a limp [Karen in Ep6] [Vecna in Ep5/6] [Mike in Ep2]

An injured arm – [Karen slips on water and slams against the counter in Ep2] [Mike slips on water and slams against the wall in Ep4]

An injured throat – hurts to talk (but he talks anyway) [Karen in Ep2] [El in ST3]

Mike's throat and arm getting injured have actually been foreshadowed for a while.

SEASON 3 Max: Does it still hurt? El: Only when I talk.  Max: Well, it’s a good thing you’re not Mike, then. "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," and you'd be in constant pain! SEASON 3 Will: The juju bites your arm. Flesh tears! Mike: Oh no, my arm. Look Lucas, my arm.

Stuck in his hospital bed, Mike feels useless, cowardly, and most of all, he feels very, very guilty.

Lucky for Mike, the battle is about to take place, so his friends are coming over for one last visit.

That's when Lucas gives his speech to Mike.

Firstly, if you're curious... out of everyone at the hospital (Robin, Lucas, Joyce and Will – I'll explain later), why Lucas?

This is based off of Max's speech to Holly in Episode 6. In that scene, they each mention one character: Holly mentions Mike, and Max repeatedly mentions Lucas. In fact, "Lucas" is the first word Max says in the scene! Holly is clearly a stand-in for Mike, so... Max is probably a stand-in for Lucas.

A speech like this would fit Lucas' character arc more than the others

Lucas is in several hospital scenes with Mike already

"Lucas and Mike are an underrated duo"... Um, where exactly?

So what happens?

As stated in my 12 Episodes post, the gang cooked up two plans for the final battle:

A larger group will go into the Upside Down to find Holly

A smaller group (Robin, Lucas, Joyce, Will) will stay in Hawkins to connect Will to the hivemind.

During their preparations, the Party did everything they could to prevent themselves from being put under Vecna's curse. They discovered:

Max: Music isn't the only way back. Something that connects you to the real world, to home. Something powerful. Meaningful. (Kali may have said this, since she's an illusionist – she would know! But that's a theory for another day.)

Since they'll be remaining in Hawkins for the Hivemind plan, Lucas and the others visit Mike to A) say goodbye before the battle, and B) tell him this information.

This is how Lucas and Mike's conversation goes:

Lucas: [We realised that if any of us get stuck in a vision...] Lucas: Music isn’t the only way back. [...] You just need something that’s special to you. Something that makes you feel safe, something that brings you strength, that brings you hope. Mike: ...Mike the Brave.  Lucas: Just try and remember what he means to you. Mike: He doesn’t mean anything important. He’s just a toy. [...] I guess I thought if I ever got scared, I could just become him. But I keep trying and it never works. No matter what I do, I’m still me. [...] When my mom was attacked, I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t even save myself. I just stood there. [...] There’s nothing brave about that.

This continues Mike's long-lasting negative self-image; as someone useless and unimportant – and his devaluing of what he views as "childish", which started all the way back in Season 2 with Mike donating all his favourite toys.

But Lucas pushes back against Mike's self-loathing.

Lucas: There was nothing that you could do in those moments, Mike. I mean, you’re a Wheeler. You’re smart. You honestly think you could’ve stopped that monster with a shovel? And, I think you're leaving a few important things out. [...] Lucas: So you see, Mike the Brave isn’t just a toy. He’s you, Mike. He’s you.

By challenging Mike's assumptions, Lucas is able to break through his friend's self-loathing and allow him to see the truth – that this whole time, he has already been brave. Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is stand there, even though you're scared.

Thanks to Lucas, Mike is no longer limited by the belief that he is a useless coward – and as an unexpected bonus, he has all the fuel he needs to do something very, very brave.

And just in time, too.

The day of Mike's kidnapping: November 6th, 1986

I've listed everything that happens in dot points, and next to them [in brackets like this], the scenes they're based on.

The gang split in two. [based on: Lucas and Erica's two plans in Shock Jock]

Most of the gang went out to find Holly in the Upside Down. [based on: the beanstalk plan from the finale, El and Hopper searching for Holly]

The other group, comprised of Joyce, Robin, Will and Lucas, planned to connect Will to the hive mind. But first, they went to the hospital to give Mike and Max one last visit. [based on: Will's hivemind plan from Shock Jock featuring Robin + Joyce + Lucas + Will, the hospital scenes with Robin + Lucas].

While the rest of the gang was putting their resources and effort into saving Holly, Vecna sent Demos into the hospital – and they came straight for Max, Robin, Lucas, Will and Joyce. [based on: Vecna sending Demos to these four characters in the MAC-Z, the tunnels, the barn, the truck, AND the hospital... and somehow they survived every time lol]

Mike heard this over the intercom. Instead of sitting there and staying safe, Mike decided to be brave. [based on: Karen hearing the hospital intercom warning + getting out of bed]

Fueled by his newfound sense of bravery and self-worth, Mike got out of bed and pulled out his IV, limping and grunting in pain. [based on: Karen limping in her hospital gown to save Robin, Lucas etc.]

Mike set off an explosion in the hospital, saving his loved ones from the Demos. He finally got to be Mike the Brave. [based on: Karen's hospital explosion, Mike exploding his "Mike the Brave" figurine in the Upside Down]

Mike had to stay behind and rest while the others completed their plan. [based on: Karen staying behind to rest while the others completed their plan]

Will: Mike, this group saved me when no-one else could. You did that. And we're about to do the same thing with Holly. We're gonna bring her back to you, Mike, I promise. Okay? Yeah? [based on: Mike reassuring Karen]

Now that his friends are gone, and Mike is even worse for wear than before – Vecna himself appears in the hospital. [based on: Vecna appearing to Mike at the MAC-Z, Vecna appearing to Max and Holly in her memory, Will being Vecna's "spy"]

The thing is, though... Will was connected to the hivemind by this point.

Ep 5 - Shock Jock [Joyce]: What about Holly? Do you see Holly? Will: No. [...] [Mike.] Lucas: Wait, what about [Mike]? Will: [...] Vecna... Vecna's hunting him.

He could see everything Vecna was seeing, and he tried to save Mike. [based on: Will trying to save Max and Holly from Vecna in her memory]

Will: MIKE! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, YOU NEED TO RUN! RUN!

But MIKE CAN'T RUN! ...His leg.

He tried anyway, limping down the hallway as fast as he could. [based on: Mike limping down the hallway and looking behind him, Karen limping down the hallway, Max and Holly running from a limping Vecna]

Vecna (to Will): Get out. GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!

Will was knocked into a trance. [based on: Will being knocked into a trance in Shock Jock]

Mike was totally and utterly screwed.

Vecna reached Mike easily. He fell to the floor, possibly even falling down a flight of hospital stairs, and slammed his head. [based on: Mike falling to the ground and slamming his head, Holly falling down the stairs and slamming her head, Robin's fake granny in hospital who fell down a flight of stairs]

Mike was knocked out. [based on: Mike getting knocked out by Vecna's explosion at the MAC-Z, Holly knocked out from falling down the stairs, Max almost knocked out by Vecna as he choked her while the scene cuts to her hospital bed]

VECNA KIDNAPPED MIKE. [based on: Vecna kidnapping Holly after she fell down the stairs, Vecna kidnapping the kids in front of Mike]

In a cruel twist of fate, it was Mike's final act of bravery that led directly to his kidnapping.

Vecna now has Will: his builder and Mike: his storyteller – exactly what he needs to complete his plan and create "something beautiful".

Well, shit, right?

What happens next?

Episode 12 Mike confronts the cost of secrecy after the vicious attack at the Wheeler home [his real memory of the attack]

Mike will have to accept the unfortunate reality that he's been trying to run from – that his mother will never learn the full truth; she'll never hear all of Mike's stories from the Upside Down, nor about his love for Will, nor any other secrets he may have kept from her.

But he'll be freed from the Rightside Up – and with this freedom, he'll let go of the idea that he needs to hide, to live in fantasy, or to be someone other than Mike, in order to be loved.

Because in the end, truth and love will triumph over fear.

Vecna can try to convince Mike that there are only two doors, but as long as Max is still running around in his mind, there's a third one.

Escape

:)

...Whew.

This was a BIG ONE, omg. It literally took me around four days to put this thing together – excluding the work I had already been doing to try and piece together Mike's explosion moment. It was worth it though. I love theorising and puzzles, so this is actually, miraculously, fun for me. Hope it was a good read for you!

Thanks for making it to the end!

Also: I found some crazy shit when I was analysing Karen's hospital scene, way too much to fit in here lol. Let's just say "I was him, I was Vecna" makes a lot more sense now – just not in *that* way.

i wanted to make Will look like the sun