hospital flip into the upside down

Here are all my theories, in semi-chronological order, from most recent to oldest. Enjoy :)

CURRENT THEORIES:

Anniversarygate 🤕🧠🌈

The entirety of Stranger Things is an altered reality; a fantasy re-telling of traumatic, real-life events which Mike and Will experienced.

They wished they could live in a world where these events never happened – so, that world was created. But as Dr. Owens explained in Season 2, "The Anniversary Effect" brings back traumatic memories on the date they originally occurred. Except in this world, they come back bigger and more fantastical.

November 6th, March 22nd... the trauma is leaking back into this reality with every new cycle of their "never-ending story", and their fantasy is getting out of hand. They need to accept the truth.

Mike and Will's real memories will be the key to escaping this altered reality; the real story, including Mike and Will's love and their shared trauma, will be revealed through these memories.

Part 1: Mike and Will have been trapped in an altered reality since Season 1... Part 2 How the "illusion" plot twist has already been set up...

Rightsideupgate 😵‍💫⏰🌈

During Season 5 of Stranger Things, Mike is trapped in a fake world called "The Rightside Up", created by Vecna.

All scenes until the Epilogue are altered versions of real events, based mainly on Mike's own memories.

Vecna is keeping Mike trapped in this fake world through his trauma, guilt and shame; a story with an ending of "comfort and happiness", that Mike wishes was true.

His real memories will be the key to escaping this fake world; the real story, including Mike and Will's love, will be revealed through these memories.

I would recommend reading Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 9

ORDER OF EVENTS:

Part 1 Mike is the "Storyteller" of Season 5 Part 3 Season 5 will have 12 episodes (turning back the clock) Part 4 Why MWTFDYDgate = conformitygate Part 9 A timeline of the Wheeler house attack -> Mike's kidnapping

SCENE ANALYSIS:

Part 2 Will's coming out scene was actually Robin's Part 5 Rainbows are a symbol of forgotten/altered memories (which means Holly's kidnapping was misremembered) Part 6 Mike's roof talk with El was also a talk with Will Part 7 Dustin fought with Mike, not Steve Part 8 El went missing on June 6th Part 10 Byler had a missed date, not Rovickie Part 11 What if Vecna disguised himself to Holly as Will Byers? Part 12 Byler saw Rovickie kiss Part 13 Will's painting is crucial to Mike escaping his fake reality

OLDER ANALYSES:

Precursors for Rightsideupgate and/or Anniversarygate 👶🥚🐣

Click here – Memories relating to Will are being altered Click here – Things have been weird since before Will moved away Click here – Will/El parallels, Eddie's D&D game, and why Will is going to defeat Vecna Click here – "The Rightside Up" is a PLACE (origin of rightsideupgate) Click here – They played "Heroes" in Episode 8 of Stranger Things, because Mike lost Will again Click here – Analysing Will's frame in the Episode 8 credits... Will is an illusionist?!

Early conformitygate posts 🤔⁉️🤯

Click here – Conformitygate is a deliberate stunt, and the One Last Adventure documentary gives us the evidence Click here – Conformitygate hints in Finn's SNL episode (half-ironic) Click here – [Old theory] What if the Upside Down's atmosphere is having an effect on characters' mental state? Click here – [Old theory] The illusion started at the end of Season 4, when the Upside Down's atmosphere seeped into Hawkins Click here – Stranger Things will have a "bad ending" and a "good ending" Click here – I believe... (the fifth ever conformitygate post on tumblr. wow what an incredible achievement. truly amazing. #sarcasm)

How and why Stranger Things has set up the perfect foundations for a “fake ending” stunt. 

A passionate essay by upsidedownlurker.

NOTE: For clarity, I will be using the phrase “the illusion theory” to refer to any theory that part or all of Stranger Things isn’t fully real – this includes lovewinsgate, conformitygate, anniversarygate, and countless other theories. 

Since before Season 5 of Stranger Things, something has been building. Fans of the show were told repeatedly by the Duffers that by the end of Stranger Things, every question we had would be answered. There would be no loose threads left to unravel.

But by the end of the show, we were left with more questions than answers. 

There are countless theories about what exactly went on with Season 5 of Stranger Things, and what may happen in the future – AKA, what is happening. We can sort them into two main categories. 

OPTION A: Stranger Things isn’t over, and at least part of the show was an illusion. 

OPTION B: Stranger Things is over, and ending of the show was bad. 

Therefore, we also have two main reasons for why it happened. 

OPTION A: This is a deliberate stunt intended to mimic patterns in popular culture, highlighting the problems with the modern media industry. 

OPTION B: This is a perfect example of the problems with the modern media industry. 

I'll be exploring Option A today.

So – we have the what, and the why of Stranger Things not being over. Along with that, I am here to explore the how. How the Duffer brothers have already laid the perfect foundations to achieve this exact type of stunt, how it fits into the show, and... well, the answer to the question in the title, too.

THE BEGINNING: BIRTHDAYGATE

As mentioned prior: for several seasons of the show, something had been building. 

A large and still unexplained example of this is birthdaygate.

Throughout Season 4 in particular, important information seemed to have been forgotten by the characters in the show, including Will Byers' own birthday on March 22nd – one of the only birthdays ever mentioned in the show.

There were many theories as to why. Was it altered memories, timelines or something else? Regardless, fans dubbed this idea “birthdaygate”. It gained some traction – but the Duffers claimed it was just a “mistake”, a lapse in their memory, that they were sorry, and that they would edit it out of the show. 

It was never edited out. 

After this, many people in the theory space seemed to agree that Stranger Things was building up to something big. Especially considering the Duffer brothers' love of well-written plot twists, like "Sixth Sense" by M. Night Shamalan. Twists that change the way viewers understood the show upon rewatching it.

Fan theories ranged from alternate dimensions to altered memories to time travel… but by the “final” episode, these theories coalesced into one collective belief: the show was not over, and at least part of it was not real. An illusion.

But a week went by, then a month, and most people had given up on this idea. The show was simply bad. Unsatisfying for the audience.

Like Max at the start of ST5, (and arguably, like Mike at the end of that same season), we accepted our fate.

That’s the point. 

For those who chose Option B, Stranger Things is done. They got their complaints out, and they’ve now moved on to the next thing. Found another TV show to binge. Another thing to consume for the purpose of escapism.

For the fans who chose Option A, who still believe the show isn’t over – well, we don't have any confirmation that we're right. We're stuck in limbo, either rewatching the show to find clues, or escaping our limbo with something else.

Stranger Things has forced us to live in fantasy. 

Whether you theorise that the current story is a “fantasy”, or whether you believe that what theorists call the “fantasy” is the real, but poorly-written story… regardless, the result is the same. We are repeating the cycle, participating in the patterns of the modern media landscape and more importantly: we are accepting that the fantasy is "real". 

I believe.

If this is an intentional stunt, then our expectations as an audience, and our idea of reality are being played with on a massive scale. It's like we're all acting our part in a play. Very meta.

Considering the themes of the show, this is far from unbelievable. 

ESCAPISM AND TV

The illusion theory thrives on a particular duality; two important themes that Stranger Things has established across multiple seasons…

Reality vs. fantasy. 

You know what else thrives on the idea of reality vs. fantasy? All of TV! (featuring characters/people, anyway…)

It’s most visible in what we call relatability; the idea that you can stare through the pixels of a glowing rectangle, see the person those pixels represent, and think, “You’re just like me”.

You can feel what the character onscreen is feeling, think what they are thinking, and live the life they are living – if only for a moment. 

Mike and Will are relatable. They are just like us. Forty years after their story takes place, we are all repeating what they do; escaping our reality through fantasy. For them, it’s D&D. For us, it’s TV. 

If intentionally written, the illusion concept only strengthens this relatability. Not only are they escaping their reality through fantasy, but they are living it. So much so that they have forgotten what real life is like; they have become the fantasy. They are the characters in what is essentially one big game of D&D. 

Meanwhile, for us, the audience, the thin line between reality and fantasy has been totally dissolved. 

Fans of the show have asked, 

“If this is all on purpose, why would they do this to us?” “Why would they make us wait not just weeks, but months to confirm our favourite show didn’t end like… that?!” 

This is why. 

Post-finale, the majority of Stranger Things viewers are living the fantasy, just like the characters. It’s like escapism on steroids.

Let's set the scene for a moment.

You're watching the final episode of Stranger Things, Season 5. It just ended. It was... surprisingly short. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t satisfying, either. It was somehow nothing like what you expected to see, and... something you've already seen before.

You wonder what it was all for. Having now watched all five Seasons of the show, there was no greater message that you now understand – you just feel hollow. Empty. 

To take your mind off of this disappointing reality, you decide to find a better fantasy. You watch another show, scroll through social media, read some fanfiction.

Reality isn't empty anymore, because it's filled with fantasy.

If this is an intentional stunt? It’s that emptiness between our escapes, the quiet, that they want us to notice.

In a moment, WSQK will fall silent. But uh, Hawkins, that doesn’t mean it’s gone, just that it’s somewhere else. [...] So when WSQK disappears, don’t be afraid of the quiet. Sit with it. Listen to it. It knows you better than you think.  (The above is a quote from the final moments of the final broadcast on WSQK, the official Stranger Things radio station – the day of the "finale".)

When the show disappears, and our screens fall silent...

We can be afraid of the quiet; we can fill the quiet with sound and move onto another show. 

Alternatively, we can sit with the quiet, just long enough to hear our thoughts – or even to remember the ticking of time. 

[Clock ticking] The clock is counting down to 11…

Personally, after I thought the show was over, and I wasn't aware that the WSQK broadcast had continued, I sat with the quiet for a good long while. I laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Felt my feelings, thought my thoughts. It was a quiet moment with my own experience before I would be inevitably flooded with the opinions of others. 

It seemed, for a few hours, like my favourite show had ended in a way that was totally antithetical to everything that made it my favourite show to begin with. As though the show’s creators had done exactly what they said they wouldn’t do – abandoned the premise of the show, thereby disappointing their audience.

Yes. The Duffers did a lot of things that they explicitly stated they would not do. 

Let’s talk about that. 

BETRAYING YOUR AUDIENCE <3

In their documentary, and in several interviews pre and post finale, the Duffers talked repeatedly about shows that have betrayed their fans in how they ended, versus shows that ended well – “landed the plane”.

Ross: “I think when we were looking at the various finales of long-running shows that landed the plane, the ones that did it the best really just stayed true to what they were. [...] We need to be true to what Stranger Things is and always was from Season 1 on.”

Within the first few minutes of the One Last Adventure documentary, the Duffers had said this:

You see these shows that people love and adore, and the ending falters. And they just discard the rest of the show.

The Duffers talked repeatedly about how every question would be answered; no loose ends. 

You can’t leave anything dangling. You have to wrap everything up.

Notably, they also discussed how early-on in their career, they went AGAINST the norms of TV at the time and by doing that, they created something extraordinary. About how, when conceptualising the show, they wanted to create something they hadn’t seen on TV before. 

Shawn Levy: The rules of the TV and movie industry back then said you can’t make a show about kids that isn’t for kids; you can’t combine horror genre and coming of age. The Duffers: Eventually we realised we just needed to listen to our gut, and wrote for ourselves [...] it came so easily. Shawn Levy: It was that transgression that made [Stranger Things] feel so fresh.

They said all of that.

They know what makes Stranger Things good. They know what makes the finale of most shows good.

So why is Episode 8 of Stranger Things a betrayal of EVERY SINGLE ONE of these ideas?

I mean... just read this line from an interview.

Matt: We could’ve definitely killed some people; it’s just not what we want to do, and it’s not, to me, what the show is, or what the show is about.

And yet, in the documentary… 

“The whole episode has to be building towards ‘Eleven is going to k*ll herself’.”

Huh?!

WHAT?!

By the final season, the show seems to totally forget what and who brought it here. It’s a Marvel movie, a spectacle, “bigger” than its previous season yet again – following the rules of the TV and movie industry. It left question after question dangling, loose end after loose end, with an ending that most fans agreed felt like a disappointment. It’s a copy of what’s already been done before, not only outside of the show, but within it, too.

Here's what I think.

So, the Duffer brothers have claimed that they researched the endings of shows, both good and bad, in order to make sure theirs was good – that it “landed the plane”.

Additionally, Shawn Levy has said that he watched the “final version of the final episode”, and that not only did they land the plane, but that the Duffers have created a “masterpiece”. 

I think this is all true – but I also believe that they did this research in order to REPLICATE the most hated endings and media tropes of all time, before revealing their “masterpiece”. Their own version of the "Sixth Sense" twist, which both Duffers cite as a big inspiration.

So, which common, hated tropes has Stranger Things participated in during their final season?

Here is a non-exhaustive list, from memory:

TELL, DON’T SHOW: Instead of SHOWING the audience what is happening, the audience is TOLD what is happening, often through lengthy, repetitive, boring conversations – exposition able to be understood by a baby sitting in front of an iPad. 

RETCONS: Nancy’s “Mike, Holly and Karen” vision is suddenly changed into a “Ted, Holly and Karen” vision with no explanation. The Mindflayer is retconned into being able to be killed with guns and fire, instead of being an unkillable ancient entity. The Upside Down is revealed to be a wormhole, despite never functioning like a wormhole, and using information that is only introduced in Season 5 (the wall).

BAD SCIENCE: The “wormhole” defies the science of wormholes, science which is clearly explained IN THE SHOW ITSELF. It has solid walls, and characters are able to travel within it as they please. It is kept stable by “exotic matter”, which doesn't answer our questions, only brings up more.

“BAD” SFX: The CGI effects for the void and Henry’s mind are notably less realistic than in previous seasons, looking more like a play than a TV show.

GRATUITOUS/OFFSCREEN DEATHS: An entire lab full of pregnant women is introduced, only to be never acknowledged, and presumably blown up offscreen in the finale. Oops.

FORCED LOVE TRIANGLES: Steve, Nancy and Jonathan. Mike, Will and Eleven. Notice how neither of these love triangles had satisfying endings for the characters or the audience? Shit.

NO SPARKS: Mike and El appear to have zero romantic tension throughout most of ST5, to the extent that many people thought they had broken up offscreen. They continue to have zero romantic tension during their final kiss – in which Mike does not tell her he loves her back.

FRIDGING: El, a female protagonist, dies when she genuinely could've chosen to live. This is a catalyst for Hopper to move on from the death of his daughter, and for Mike to… um… uh...

QUEERBAITING: Mike and Will’s relationship was explored carefully over several seasons, Will’s love for Mike was revealed, and their ship was referenced in promo/marketing multiple times – only for Will’s love to be reduced to a “crush”, and Mike replaced with a random dude in a bar who looks just like him. Meanwhile, Mike ended up ALONE, with all his friends moving away without him, and El dead. Jesus. Anything but Byler.

NOT TOO GAY: After getting together offscreen, kissing once, arguing, then promising to go on a date to Enzo’s together, Robin and Vickie are never seen as a couple ever again. While Lumax go on a movie date and Jopper LITERALLY GO TO ENZO'S... Rovickie never do. Vickie isn’t even in the Epilogue, and Robin half-implies they broke up offscreen.

JUMPING THE SHARK: Rather than narrowly evading the unkillable Mindflayer through love and memories, or spending twenty to thirty minutes of runtime fighting for their lives, the characters apparently won by killing a ridiculously huge, spiky meat monster with guns and fire – in eight minutes of runtime.

PLOT ARMOUR: During the battle with the aforementioned ridiculously huge, spiky meat monster (with incredibly sharp teeth and multiple sharp, stabby limbs), not a single character dies or is even injured. To put this in perspective, let's go back to Season 1. Jonathan injured Steve more with a couple punches than the RIDICULOUSLY HUGE, MULTI-LIMBED, SPIKY MEAT MONSTER injured anyone.

It's not usually like this. There's been the occasional retcon or plot armour moment, but... damn. It really is a copy and paste of people's least favourite TV tropes.

A copy of a copy....

Vecna: Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades! Each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before. [...] 

…designed to distract us...

Vecna: Everyone… is just waiting… waiting… for it all to be over, all while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day.

...from the emptiness of reality. Consume, consume, consume.

WE, THE CONSUMERS

Many of us watched the finale in theatres, a viewing method which did what the streaming industry cannot do: it brought attention to the fact that we may be individuals with auto-renewable streaming subscriptions, but we are also an audience; a group of people who are collectively making the choice to spend our limited money and time on this earth consuming this show.

And once it’s over, we crave more. 

Jonathan: The Consumer. It's a metaphor; the more she eats, the hungrier she gets.

Despite the individualistic nature of streaming, we were never alone in our experience of this show, nor others.

You aren't listening alone. You never were. [...] Spreading, connecting, becoming something larger. A quote from the final WSQK broadcast

Regardless of whether we are in the same room, we will always be an audience, a collective – all sharing the same experience through a subjective lens. 

They’ve shown the play in theatres, and soon, they’ll be showing episodes of Tales of ‘85 in theatres too. Keeping the spectacle going. If this is deliberate, it's all a part of the experience.

“At the end of the day, the audience cares most about the characters, and not the spectacle... but the ultimate goal is to collide the two.”

Then, where were the characters in all this? What about all their unfinished arcs, unmet goals and unanswered questions?

“Every year it gets bigger, and every year there’s more expectation.” “How do you meet those expectations but surprise the audience still?”

I’ll tell you how. 

You do it by making the show “bigger” one last time, claiming it’s done – and then, when everyone has moved on, hitting them with the reveal that there is more to the story. 

Something that is character-focussed. Grounded in what the show has been about since Season 1. A “masterpiece”, which “lands the plane”, and reveals a plot twist that changes the way the audience views the series – just like the Duffers’ biggest inspirations.

Which, intriguingly, is exactly what the illusion reveal would do*. 

*Given, of course, that it's not done just for the shock factor – but a plot point which contributes to the overall themes and message of the show.

THE "BLIP" OF IT ALL

Now… I am a firm believer that the illusion theories are believable, with or without new content – because the foundations of these theories already lay entirely within the foundations of the show. The subtext, themes, and overall narrative of Stranger Things. Because it's there already, we don't need new content to interpret the show this way.

However, I would argue it is for this exact reason that it is more likely for the illusion interpretation to have been intentionally written into the show. The idea that two showrunners could set up the perfect foundations for a very specific plot twist for years, which would achieve everything they aimed to achieve… ACCIDENTALLY? 

I find that difficult to believe.

How do we know it's real? We don't. But I choose to believe it is.

If this subtext became text – if it was revealed to the wider audience through new content, thereby becoming part of the show’s official canon, Stranger Things would achieve exactly what the Duffers have aimed to for years.

It would create a well-written ending that is satisfying for the audience, yet is also unexpected. It has the potential to spark a cultural shift in the way that audiences view media, and the way that those in charge create media intended for an audience. 

Rather than being remembered as a “blip” in the grand scheme of things, this stunt would give the show a legacy, cementing Stranger Things as an iconic, well-written TV show with a crazy twist, that pushed back against the status quo of the TV/streaming industry – by temporarily assimilating into it. 

THE ANSWER

So, why would Netflix spend millions of dollars on a fake show?

Well, the question itself is flawed. If intentionally written, then Stranger Things isn't a "fake show" at all – it's written with a surprising, creative and iconic twist, which plays with our suspension of disbelief as an audience. It's a show that will have managed to do the "it was all a dream" twist, and actually do it well.

If you were a giant corporation, wouldn't you wanna the only platform available to watch a massively popular show, guaranteed to become even more popular after a huge stunt reveals its surprise finale?

Wouldn't you want the publicity? The subscriptions? The millions of people who would REWATCH the show after finally finishing all 5 Seasons and discovering said twist? The fans of the show who would buy copious amounts of merch from your official store?

Wouldn't you want all that money to go into your giant, corporate pockets?

If Stranger Things is a good show with rewatch value, then funding it is a good business strategy. Simple as that.

...

(And on that note... if Stranger Things doesn’t end up doing this twist, then it’s only a matter of time before someone else does. The clock is ticking…)

Thanks for reading my passionate rambling. Now, back to your irregularly scheduled programming!

With love,

upsidedownlurker

#lovewinsgate #anniversarygate

...

Also, if you're that one person who writes rude comments on everyone's theory posts – you know who you are – you better have read all ~3,432 words of my essay before asking me the same exact question in the title. I'm watching you :P

...

Anniversarygate links:

Part 1 (The altered reality), Part 2 (Why write this twist?)

i don’t think it’s the most likely option for what’s going to happen with conformitygate (ex i’m not sure entirely erasing el as her own independent character and making her a part of will would go over well with the majority of watchers) but the gears in my brain are turning

i remember watching s2 and being very worried by the parallels drawn between terry ives and will byers. especially with the lab hospital. terry was “stuck” between dreams and the real world and will was “stuck” between the slides. i also thought that the scenes where terry and will were being rolled into the hospital were kinda frighteningly similar? i was so scared the whole time that the hospital staff were going to do something to will the way they fucked over terry, but nothing really ended up coming out of that.

even in s1, with people constantly confusing el’s escape from the lab w/ will being missing n stuff.

i’m scared 😭💔

Okay, I don't wanna scare you any more, but... there are huge parallels between Joyce Byers, Terry Ives, and Victor Creel 😭😭

Joyce Byers: The parent of a son who is "different"; he has special abilities. The people of Hawkins think she's "crazy" – especially when she claims her son was kidnapped by a monster, and that he's still alive.

Terry Ives: The parent of a daughter who is "different"; she has special abilities. The people of Hawkins think she's "crazy" – especially when she claims her daughter was kidnapped by a doctor, and that she's still alive.

Victor Creel: The parent of a son who is "different"; he has special abilities. The people of Hawkins think he's "crazy" – especially when he claims his family was killed by a monster.

But anyway, the similarities you mentioned between Terry and Will are so interesting! They do remind me of something...

The lab used electric shock rods on Henry (which El saw), they put a shock collar on El, and they electrocuted Terry Ives. This pattern implies that, Will may have at least witnessed someone in the lab getting electric shocks – enough that he remembered it.

So, there's good news and bad news.

Bad news – Will probably witnessed some bad stuff in the lab, and Joyce may still have been treated as "crazy" by the people of Hawkins (for claiming that Will was kidnapped, not simply lost in the woods).

Good news – Since El's escape represents Will's, this means that he escaped the lab within 24 hours... so he probably wasn't hurt too badly, not to the extent that Terry was. 😭😭

This is one of my darker theories. It's a theory about truth, love, queerness, conformity, abuse, repressed memories, half-closed doors and curtains, and the choice between fantasy and reality.

tw: homophobia, abuse, bullying etc.

If you really wanna protect Will, he needs to know the truth, and he needs to be ready to deal with what’s waiting for him on the other side of this.

What is Anniversarygate?

If you've been following me for a while, you might know of my theory that all of Season 5 was an illusion, based on real events.

This theory, anniversarygate, is similar – except it's not just Season 5. What if the entirety of Stranger Things is an altered reality?

I believe that what we watched was an altered reality created by Mike, based on a traumatic truth, repeating over and over in different ways – starting with what really happened on November 6th.

This is the reason why Stranger Things has "ended"; because the fantasy is over.

First, I'll provide you with a quick summary of what I believe really happened. Then, I'll go into a deeper explanation with plenty of evidence.

There will be more parts to this theory, but this will be the overall explanation.

Anniversarygate Theory Summary

There are two different versions of events, which I will be calling "realities".

1) The original reality. In which Will was kidnapped by Lonnie in 1982.

2) The altered reality. A fantasy created by Mike, in which Will was kidnapped by a monster in 1983.

In the original reality, Lonnie kidnapped Will when he was 11 years old. He took him to Dr. Brenner, believing he would make Will "normal".

Terrified, Will escaped, and Mike hid him in his basement. Will was found shortly after, but this event gave both Will and Mike shared trauma and PTSD.

To recover, Will saw Dr. Owens – but it didn't help. Will didn't trust doctors anymore, and he was still being bullied by his peers.

So, Joyce planned for them move out of Hawkins for a "fresh start". This terrified Mike. He wished that he could live in a world where none of this ever happened. Will wanted the same thing. They both thought they would lose each other if Joyce went through with her plan.

So... an altered reality was formed, in which Will wasn't taken when he was eleven, and their shared trauma was erased.

Things were normal for a year.

Until, on the anniversary of Will's disappearance, he was taken by a monster. On the same day, someone took Will's place... a girl called Eleven.

You see, in this illusory world, whatever really happened is exaggerated, yet also watered-down; a real story filtered over and over through a fantasy lens.

From then on, Mike and Will's trauma continued to leak into their altered reality, on the anniversary of the day it happened.

Vecna: Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades; each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before...

This is why, throughout every season, there are continual references to kidnapping, past trauma, abusive fathers, "freaks", dreams/nightmares, and characters moving away for a "fresh start".

There is secret story "on the other side of this", that both Mike and Will must to be brave enough to face.

Mike: But... there is a story he could never tell.

The real story.

The Anniversary Effect

In Season 2, we were introduced to something called "The Anniversary Effect".

Dr. Owens: The anniversary of a certain event can bring back traumatic memories. It opens up the neurological floodgates, so to speak. Hopper (to Joyce): I think he's right about trauma.

Stranger Things follows this pattern repeatedly. The biggest and most highly-recurring example? Bad things happen on November 6th.

It's like in Season 4, when Eleven is interrupted by visions of her hands soaked in blood. Her memories bleed through "from her subconscious", affecting what she experiences in the NINA project.

In the same way, Will and Mike's shared trauma bleeds through from their subconscious, affecting what they experience in the plot of the show.

For example:

In Season 4, Hawkins split apart and all the characters were lying, distant from each other or fighting...

...Just as Mike and Will split apart the year before, after growing distant, fighting, and Will moving away. Because "Hawkins isn't the same without you," Will.

The fantasy directly reflects reality.

Therefore: when Will was kidnapped on November 6th, 1983, this was due to the anniversary effect bringing back traumatic memories from the year before.

So what really happened?

Will's kidnapping: How and Why?

Flickergate

(I love your theories btw)

Heyyyyy :D thanks for the ask! Here's what I think:

Vecna is keeping Mike trapped via his trauma, guilt and insecurities. He is doing this by basically erasing and rewriting Mike's memories, in order to emphasise the stuff that will keep him trapped in negativity, and making him "forget" the stuff that would free him from that negative cycle. Love and memories.

I don't know how far back it goes, but in my opinion, ALL of Season 5 has been erased and rewritten... up until the Epilogue from Episode 8, The Rightside Up.

By that point, Vecna has kidnapped Mike and trapped him completely in an illusion world. The Epilogue is the moment that Mike goes from simply having altered memories, to entering the Rightside Up – a completely false reality that never happened.

So, what will free Mike?

Well, when characters have won against Vecna/the Mindflayer before, they did it through love and memories.

I went into this in my MWTFDYD = conformitygate analysis!

Max escaped with help from memories of Lucas and El. Will fought his possession with help from memories of Mike, Joyce and Jon. El rescued Billy with his memory of his mother. El saved Max with their shared memories, reversing her death. Love and memories are the key. If Mike was to remember his love for Will, he'd be able to escape – but that would ruin Vecna's plans. ...Which is exactly why conformitygate and MWTFDYDgate are intrinsically linked. The only way Mike can escape Vecna's curse is to REMEMBER what really happened in the months before the battle.

Not just before the battle, either. It may very well be that other seasons have been altered in smaller ways than Season 5 – but that's a theory for another day.

So, I think that Mike will need to do the same thing as the others.

He will use love and memories to save himself from Vecna – along with Will too, of course, who is not only the person Mike loves, but whom I believe is the illusionist powering the Rightside Up.

Vecna: We are going to do such beautiful things together, William. Such beautiful things.

Class: Magic-User (Illusionist)

Others have used love and memories to save themselves in the past - only, this will be the most climactic and meaningful example so far, because it involves A) Memories of scenes we thought we had already seen, and B) Mike's hidden love for Will. It'd be a big plot twist that would absolutely floor the majority of the audience! Including me.

Based on the reversed episode descriptions, I think that Vecna will allow El to "rescue" Will from his trance. However, like in Season 2, Vecna will use Will's powers in the background to keep building Mike's illusion, while simultaneously tricking Will's family and friends into believing nothing's wrong, and he's not possessed.

Additionally, Max will probably help Mike escape!

The reversed episode descriptions and some hints from my rewatches seem to suggest she hasn't woken up yet, and she'll be needed for the final battle with Vecna. Therefore: Max will use her knowledge of Vecna's mind to escape with Mike, like she escaped with Holly in the fake story.

Mike will most likely do it in a similar way to Holly; go through memory after memory, getting more intense, traumatic, and deeply buried as he goes on, until he reaches the moment that Vecna got him.

This twist will give the audience an opportunity to rewatch the show again and again (like how Mike will have to rewatch his own memories to discover the truth!)... and probably on a level that hasn't ever really been done before. If this theory's true, that is.

And, given the themes of love and memories? I think it will probably get insane and traumatic, but there will be a somewhat happy ending :P

The Stranger Things tapes have been erased.

The phrase, "Be kind, rewind", has been repeated in promo, merch, and the show itself (ST4)...

...and it is almost CERTAINLY a reference to a movie by the same name, directed by Michel Gondry – because he's the same guy who directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – which was not only on the Stranger Things inspiration board, but strongly recommended by the Duffers as something to watch before Season 5.

In the movie, "two bumbling store clerks inadvertently erase the footage from all of the tapes in their video rental store. In order to keep the business running, they re-shoot every film in the store with their own camera, with a budget of zero dollars."

Yet ANOTHER reference to things being repeated or re-done in Stranger Things.

El: I can beat the time. Reset it.

Hopper: To maybe... stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were.

Paraphrased from the One Last Adventure documentary "There’s this sense that things aren’t gonna come together, so you go back to the 'amorphous ball of clay' and start brainstorming again... [...] go back to the drawing board."

Kali: You ask why I'm still here? I'm here to make sure this never happens again.

Hopper (to Joyce): You and me? We could start again. This is after his daughter chose to get sucked up into an interdimensional wormhole and was never seen again, btw.

Characters repeating phrases; "I believe", "I believe," "I believe." "Back to the light... back to the light... back to the light." "And me," "And me," "And me."

A sign from one of the final scenes LEAVING HAWKINS. COME AGAIN SOON.

Another example of this theme is the song "Fernando", which plays during Holly's kidnapping. The song was re-recorded and re-released with different lyrics. It went from a song about lost love to a song about a war. The re-recorded version is what was played in ST5.

All I'm saying is, this is another piece of evidence to add to the pile. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg.

...

I'm working on a theory right now and there are a huge amount of instances where characters say this in Season 5 especially. I know it means something and I have some ideas, but I need to more info.

So far, things that have been said to be on "the other side" of the wall/door are...

Shame

Death

The deadly vacuum of space

Dying pregnant women

"The other side" is also the name of the comic series about WHAT HAPPENED TO WILL BYERS in the Upside Down.

Max and Holly tell each other they'll "see you on the other side". Max makes it, but Holly is unable to escape what's on the other side.

And not just the wall, but the door, too...

HOPPER: What's on the other side of the door? Does it have something to do with the wall?

KALI: If I had known what was on the other side of that door, I never would’ve left.

Also reminds me of the song that plays in Season 3, when Will Byers walks through a door. "Love that was new to you, you open up the door."

ANYWAY!

If anyone remembers additional times where characters mentioned "the other side" (or even the wall or a door), please leave a comment or a message!!!!

I wanna figure out what it means, especially since Will seems to be involved, ahhhhhhh

Hiiiii!! Thank you so much hahaha. And it's crazy, I literally have pages of notes on the Jancy breakup scene, but I haven't posted anything at length yet!

I believe Vecna used two key memories to create the Jancy breakup:

Mike and El's breakup. I believe that they broke up very soon after Season 4. I touched on this a liiiiiittle bit in my MWTFDYD = conformitygate post.

A lot of the things from this scene apply heavily to Mike and El, many of them fitting Mike + El more than Jonathan + Nancy.

Mike mentioning physics, Lenora, "going against the natural order of things"... especially Eleven mentioning Mike being late, because EVERY SEASON BEGINS WITH MIKE BEING LATE!

Mike and El most likely broke up around the time that everyone finished building the tub in the cabin, which may be where the missing shot from the cabin scene comes in. In that scene, Kali (master of illusions) keeps staring directly at the audience while listening in on their conversation, and El is reflected in a mirror, suggesting that the scene has been tampered with.

Mike giving Will a mixtape; the "avalanche" through which his feelings for Will became obvious.

This merch was all over stores for a couple weeks, then disappeared. There has NEVER been a "for Will" mixtape in the show. Why would they mass-produce merch for a mixtape that doesn't exist? Unless we haven't seen it yet.

This explains the randomness of Jonathan hiding a ring in a cassette tape that wasn't personalised, that he didn't even create himself. Because... the mixtape concept came first, and the writers worked backwards from that idea to turn it into something else.

It also explains the whole "Jonathan helps Will get something he wants" scene that Charlie Heaton was talking about. Jonathan is THE guy who makes mixtapes. Mike got Jonathan's help to make it for Will. This would complete Jonathan's arc of always noticing Mike + Will's deal, but staying in the background, not saying or doing much about it.

Anyway. All of this means that Vecna turned Byler's confession into not one, but TWO BREAKUPS (Jancy and Byler). Oddly poetic :P

...

Thanks for the ask!! Because you reminded me of the Jancy scene, I'm actually gonna turn this into a longer post. I wanna go further into Mike and El's breakup along with the cabin scene, bc it is so weird in so many ways hahaha.

Short answer: Probably :P

No intro, just look at this. Here is a list, step-by-step, of what Will and Mike BOTH did, in two totally separate scenes from each other.

Both Will and Mike…

Visited the hospital.

Left the room they were in.

Bought a caffeinated beverage from a machine.

Bought one for another person (or tried to, but were declined).

Started walking back.

Stopped when they saw something through a gap.

Reacted in an extreme way.

Never finished their own caffeinated beverage.

May I repeat again: All eight of these actions occured In two completely separate scenes from each other, in the EXACT same order. If that is a coincidence... well, then I'm gonna buy a lottery ticket tomorrow and hope I "coincidentally" get all six numbers correct and in the exact same order.

Based on these eight consecutive parallels, the only conclusion I can come to is that both Mike and Will were in the same scene.

(...given my pre-existing theory that every scene in Season 5 was an illusion based on real events, of course.)

My rightsideupgate posts for context! (just read part 1 if you're new) ORDER OF EVENTS: Part 1 (Reality = reversed), Part 3 (12 Episodes), Part 4 (MWTFDYD), Part 9 (Wheeler attack -> Mike's kidnapping), Part 11 (Mr Whatsit = Will) SCENE ANALYSIS: Part 2 (Will/Robin), Part 5 (Rainbows), Part 6 (The roof talk), Part 7 ("Where's Dustin right now?"), Part 8 (El is missing), Part 10 (Byler's missed date), Part 12 (Byler saw Rovickie kiss), Part 13 (Will's painting)

So, which scene is real? Mike's or Will's?

You tell me.

OPTION A: MIKE'S SCENE

Will and Mike both leave the hospital waiting room to get caffeinated drinks.

They go down the hallway and stop when they see A Wrinkle In Time through the window.

They both look at it.

Will is so shocked by seeing A Wrinkle In Time that he drops his drink and frantically runs away, while Mike just stands there, totally quiet, overwhelmed by thought.

OPTION B: WILL'S SCENE

Will and Mike both leave Max's hospital room to get caffeinated drinks.

They go down the hallway and stop when they hear something through the door – Robin's voice, and an unfamiliar one.

They both peer through the gap and see Robin and Vickie kissing.

Will is so shocked by seeing two fellow queer people kissing that he drops his drink and frantically runs away, while Mike just stands there, totally quiet, overwhelmed by thought.

Ah yes, A Wrinkle In Time, of course. The most shocking book known to humanity, right?

...Obviously Option B (the kiss) is the most sensible option here. Both Mike and Will's reactions make sense. Plus, it's more suspenseful, dramatic and interesting for ALL FOUR of these characters!

Additionally...

Mike was mentioned in the scene before Will’s, and Will was mentioned in the scene before Mike’s.

Lucas was in both Mike's and Will's previous scenes!

The puzzle in Mike’s scene has prominent rainbow imagery, a symbol frequently associated with forgotten memories in this show – also, classic queercoding! Especially considering the context that Mike may be misremembering a queer kiss.

Will’s scene has no rainbow imagery, further suggesting that Mike is the one misremembering most of the scene, and less so for Will.

Taking the theory further

Now, our current interpretation of the scene is fine as it is. It's very plausible, and we don't need to change anything else for it to make sense. We can totally just leave it there.

But... I have a sneaking suspicion that Mike was the one who ran away, not Will. Just look at this.

Evidence for Will running away:

On Halloween, he ran for shelter after being bullied + seeing visions of the Upside Down – ST2

Will biked away from Mike and Lucas after they weren't being respectful about his D&D campaign – ST3

As you can see from the evidence above, it wouldn't be totally strange for Will to run away from something! It's not impossible.

But this is not how Will usually deals with things. Will as a character is not known for big emotional freak-outs. He usually freezes, goes quiet and keeps it all inside. He usually does not express his emotions in any way except through art. When he cries, he often tries to hide it.

But Mike, on the other hand?

Evidence for Mike running away:

There have been many occasions where Mike's emotions physically exploded out of him on impulse, especially when he was a child with less self-control.

Destroying Eleven’s blanket fort – ST1

Pushing Troy to the floor – ST1

Yelling at Max and throwing a broom to the ground – ST2

Punching and yelling at Hopper – ST2

Giving up and walking away from Will during the Rink-O-Mania fight – ST4

Impulsively trying to get a hot orange mohawk – pre-ST5

Mike often tries to escape his problems, pretending they don't exist; he would rather just pretend everything's fine, and nothing is wrong. 

Hiding away to make out with El instead of hanging with the Party – ST3

Not sending Will any letters – pre-ST4

Telling El he’s gonna “fix this” after she was arrested – ST4

His "could that be real for us?" conversations with El; he later said that it was a “fantasy” plan, and he should’ve had something more “real” – ST5

Choosing to believe in a fantasy story where El escaped, after she died – ST5

Damn, it's mostly w/ El. I swear it wasn't on purpose lol

Mike is way more likely than Will to A) literally run away from his problems, and B) have a big, physical reaction to said problems.

Therefore, I think it was Mike who ran away.

So What Happened?

Well, after Robin and Vickie saw Mike run down the hallway, the scene cut off.

Vickie: Who is that? Robin: Shit. (this parallels the pipe scene, when Ashley Klein runs away after catching Mike and Will... Mike: Shit.)

That's the exact moment that Robin and Vickie would've come face to face with Will, still frozen in place, completely quiet, keeping all his emotions on the inside as usual...

Mike may have dropped his drink, leaking it everywhere. Like the pipe scene, in which MIKE'S shovel breaks the pipe and causes a leak, splashing on both himself and Will.

Since Will was the one still standing in the hospital hallway, Robin would have talked to him first.

^ This re-contextualises Robin's hospital scenes with Will! Instead of returning there on some random mission, Robin and Will never actually left the hospital. They had their talks that same day.

As for Vickie – she's literally at work, so she trusted Robin to talk with Will for now.

After that, Will may have gone back to Max's room with Lucas, who again, was in both Mike and Will's previous scenes.

HOLY SHIT!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I got excited.

You know how during their hospital chats, Will asks Robin about the signs that someone wanted to date, and after she told him several things that he and Mike had already done before, he WENT QUIET AND STARTED SPACING OUT WITH HIS EYES DARTING BACK AND FORTH IN REALISATION????????

Will in the hospital after a revelation, spacing out, eyes darting back and forth in realisation...

Well, there's another scene in the hospital in which a character totally spaces out with his eyes darting back and forth... Mike! AFTER SEEING A WRINKLE IN TIME + THE RAINBOW PUZZLE!

Mike in the hospital after a revelation, spacing out, eyes darting back and forth in realisation...

Taking everything else into account, this is a big clue that he may have actually been Will.

Will sits back down after his talk with Robin. Lucas: They still won't give us a timeline on Max. [...] Lucas: Will. Will, are you listening? Will snaps himself out of it.  Will: Yeah! Yeah, no, uh... I was thinking about something Robin said earlier.

The next day, Robin would've had this conversation with Mike. I highlighted the important parts.

Robin: Were you at the hospital yesterday? Mike: THE HOSPITAL? No! No. No, no, no. Robin: Weird, I... Mike trips over in a panic. Robin: ...could've sworn I saw you there, but um... Vickie, she's a candy striper. Mike: Oh, yeah? Robin: She's my friend. We're friends... good friends. But uh, the thing is, some people might not understand our friendship. Mike's eyebrows furrow. Robin: Basically, what I'm trying to say is that if you were there and you did see something, it might just be better if, uh, nobody knew. If it stayed between us. Mike: I didn't... see anything.

First of all, the "No, no, no." Mike always repeats himself.

Second of all, insisting he wasn't there and didn't see anything? Classic Mike, denying all his problems and pretending they don't exist.

Third of all, this is an excellent parallel to what Mike said to Will the previous season.

Mike (ST4): Friends... best friends. Robin (ST5): Friends... good friends.

Because if Robin talks about her girlfriend the same way Mike talks about his best friend... well. It would totally re-contextualise Mike's words, and give him a lot to think about, wouldn't it?

Finally, this would explain why Robin and Mike seemed closer in the latter half of Season 5, when we never saw them hang out at all!

Why It Makes Sense

Why would Vecna invent an imaginary scene in which Robin and Vickie kissed, then got caught? He wouldn’t. It really happened.

Why would Vecna remove Robin and Vickie kissing if it’s a catalyst for Will’s queer self-acceptance arc? He wouldn’t. Will's queer self-acceptance arc helps him to discover his powers, AND helps him to "get over" Mike... at least, in Vecna's telling of the story. So Vecna couldn't remove it.

But if catching Robin and Vickie kissing was a big catalyst for MIKE'S queer self-acceptance arc? Oh. Now that would be a problem. To keep Mike trapped in his illusion (the Rightside Up) Vecna cannot let Mike feel secure about who he is. He needs to keep Mike trapped via guilt, trauma, insecurity and self-loathing.

Ergo; though he may not be able to remove the scene altogether, Vecna would absolutely have reasons to remove Mike from that scene!

Especially if it meant that Vecna could repurpose that scene to A) give Robin + Vickie relationship issues (as I explored in this analysis), B) force Mike to never have the self-acceptance arc he desperately needed, and C) force Will to "get over" his feelings for Mike and settle for a lookalike.

Three birds with one stone.

Alternate Scene (Added: 8/3/2026)

As several people have suggested, it would also make sense if both Will and Mike ran away. It would be a perfect segue into the scene where Will and Robin (dressed like Mike!) hide in the hospital after seeing Vickie.

Before this scene, Will and Robin walk through a hospital hallway. They pass through an open door, walk past the coke machine where Will bought his caffeinated beverage, and they even walk past the "dementia clinic" sign, suggesting missing or altered memories!

They also talk about Robin's fake granny. Who else has a fake granny in Stranger Things? Mike, of course... "Nana".

Will: What are we doing? Mike: Hiding. Will: Hiding, right... why? Mike peeks at Robin. Mike: Jesus, she talks so much. I know, I'm a hypocrite. Will: I– Mike: We have to go!

Notably, in the original scene, Robin peeks at Vickie through a DOUBLE-MIRROR. Just like the mirrors which appear in Robin and Vickie's three other hospital scenes, this suggests they are literally mirroring other characters.

A Fantastic Opportunity

This would also be a fantastic opportunity for characterisation and plot development!

It’s an interesting glimpse into the way both Mike and Will deal with their emotions; one reacts very physically and impulsively, while the other freezes in place and only reacts internally. 

It’s a great way to expand on the pre-existing foundations of Will’s queer self-acceptance arc as well as Mike's... AND delving deeper into Robin and Vickie's experiences!

Vickie could be given some character development! Not only would she be interacting and bonding with the main characters of the show for the first time, she would be dealing with a very confronting situation – also in a different way from Robin. 

Vickie used to have a boyfriend she was very openly dating, so having a secret relationship is probably a new experience for her – and a scary one, given it might also be her first queer relationship. This variety of experiences would make the show interesting for the audience, and maybe give them something they haven't seen on TV before (which the Duffers have said they wanted to do).

Vickie: Okay. [...] Bottling… bottling emotions.

So many possibilities!

Furthermore, if Mike found out as well as Will, and Robin bonded with him (mentoring two characters, not one, like Maya Hawke said), then that means we will unlock a whole new set of conversations and interactions between these two characters, and therefore even more of a glimpse into Robin’s and Mike’s emotions! This would create a more interesting story, so the new episodes wouldn't just be repeats of the old ones.

Again, as I stated previously, this would explain the scenes in Vol. 2 where Robin and Mike are bickering as though they're friends.

But Vecna removed Mike's self-acceptance arc. Because of that, he doesn't have to deal with Mike and Will's love saving either of them from his curse. All he had to do was remove Mike from scenes like this one.

(That's what he thought, anyway.)

(But Will's painting is still hanging on Mike's wall...)

...

Thanks for reading!!!

Also, if you liked this one, then you should definitely check out this post from @chirpsythismorning, who previously pointed out recurring patterns in these scenes + more! Theories, puzzles and connections... where does it all come together? Rahhhh

Thank you for your theories — I’m kissing your brain!

Hehehe, thank you for all the questionssssss :D

And I feel you on that one 💔💔💔 ...but I'm also very optimistic about this! I think the painting will be a pretty big deal, for three big reasons, and one smaller reason. Let's go!!!

3 Reasons why Will's painting will be very important, if there are new episodes!

Reason 1: it was totally absent from the plot

That painting was a HUUUUUUGE Chekhov's gun, just waiting to be fired.

It would be the perfect setup for a bunch of drama and character development, as well as being very entertaining for the audience and keeping us on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what will happen once the truth is revealed...

BUT THEY DIDN'T GO THROUGH WITH IT.

Even though Will had a queer self-acceptance arc!

That painting was such a huge part of the California subplot, featured in multiple scenes, one of which was filmed for over 12 hours and carefully constructed down to the tiniest of details.

The fact that the same painting was completely and utterly absent from Season 5, apart from a single background shot? That is more suspicious to me than anything else.

We know they were absolutely willing to give Will an explicitly queer self-acceptance arc. So why wouldn't the painting, which is LITERALLY ALREADY A PART OF HIS QUEER SELF-ACCEPTANCE ARC, continue to be part of it in Season 5?

Why wouldn't they include it in his self-acceptance arc?

(Are they saving it for a different arc instead?)

(A romance arc, perhaps?)

Why wouldn't they take advantage of the fantastic narrative + entertainment opportunity that they wrote into their own show?

Because if they do feature the painting in the show, if they treat it carefully and make it something important like it was in Season 4, the implication is that Mike and Will's relationship is important.

That Will's feelings for Mike are important – feelings Mike STILL isn't aware of. Moreover, that Mike's feelings are important too – feelings that we STILL haven't gotten a glimpse of in Season 5!!!

Why is that?

Theory-wise -> Vecna is messing with our characters' minds [context at the bottom for new readers!]... of course he would minimise the importance of Byler's relationship, because again, love and memories.

Narratively -> As soon as the Duffers treat Mike and Will's relationship as something important to the narrative, they are essentially forced to do it properly and make the narrative satisfying. But if there really are more unannounced episodes, then A) Byler will be a "big reveal" and a big part of Vecna's defeat, and B) these surprise episodes and their execution are intended to create a big spectacle and a commentary on modern media consumption, queerbaiting, etcetera.

Basically, if they treated Mike and Will's relationship as important (like in literally every other season), they would spoil the "big reveal". To create the spectacle/commentary they wanted, they didn't have much of a choice but to disappoint a lot of fans first. Fans like us.

Reason 2: it was still featured in the final scenes

The fact that the painting was featured so prominently in that scene was (to me, at least) a super positive sign! Because this supposed to be one of the final scenes of the show. One of the final scenes we see of MIKE specifically!

The fact that they took the time and effort to add Will's painting to Mike's wall, then they panned the camera right towards it – this huge, unanswered question, right in the middle of the frame...

It's like they wanted us to notice it. Ask questions. "Hey, isn't that Will's painting on Mike's wall? Did he never find out? Why did we never see his reaction? Wait a second, what's gonna happen when he does find out?"

Theory-wise -> If Mike found out the truth behind the painting, Vecna would've absolutely erased that truth in his "fake" story – because again, love and memories are the key to his defeat, and that painting is a huge reminder of 1) Will's love for Mike, 2) Mike's love for Will, and 3) Mike + Will's shared memories!

Narratively –> Leaving your audience with unanswered questions is what keeps them hooked, wanting more. Especially if you're doing a secret "it's not over!" reveal, lol.

The painting may not have fulfilled its narrative purpose yet, but it's still there. They made the audience notice it and question why.

Reason 3: the missing puzzle pieces are all connected

I think that there's a reason the audience was never shown any the following four things in Season 5:

The truth behind Will's painting for Mike.

What made Will so hopeful that Mike would want to date him.

What made Mike and Robin bond (enough to playfully bicker with each other about music and books).

Any of Mike's feelings at all.

They are all connected by the same two common denominators.

How Mike feels

The question of, "Is Mike queer or not?"

If we were shown these four things, we would find out how Mike feels. We would find out the answer to the question of, "Is Mike queer or not?" But they chose to keep it ambiguous all the way through the end, and even past the end, after the show was supposed to be done.

They still haven't confirmed these two common denominators.

Why?

Again... if there are extra episodes, then the reason they never confirmed these two common denominators is because they are important to the narrative. Because they'd spoil something.

How Mike feels, and whether he is queer, are both important to the narrative. To me, that says a lot.

Bonus Reason: these anonymous pre-Season 5 leaks...

Everything in green lines up with my theories. That's a surprising amount of green! Around half.

Anyway, one of the leaks is that Will tries to avoid Mike confronting him about the painting. That's interesting, hey?

I don't like to use leaks as the sole source of evidence for a theory, but considering that half of these leaks apply to my theory already, and that there are three larger pieces of evidence suggesting the painting will be important... I'm willing to add this to the evidence pile :)

In conclusion...

Due to all the above evidence, painting = important :P

(Thanks for all the asks!! You often ask questions that make me think about things I hadn't considered in detail before :D)

...

Hey! :D I've had some thoughts on this for a while, thanks for asking!!! This post got a bit rambly, so first, I'll just give you my picks.

Who do I think is most likely to die in the new episodes?

Dr. Brenner (he wasn't confirmed dead in ST4 and the military was right there when he died... his return would be a big plot twist + provide us with new information about the Lab, and his actual, true death would affect Eleven, Kali, Henry, the military, everyone from the Lab, and possibly even Will)

Will [fake-out death; revived] (would affect everyone, especially Mike, the Hopper-Byers family, and the Upside Down plotline)

Murray (if he died to reveal the truth about the Lab, this would affect the military/Lab plotline; Eleven and Hopper, plus Nancy and Jonathan who originally worked w/ him)

Henry (sacrificing "henry" in order to kill "vecna". this would affect everything about everything)

Karen – (I mean, in my theory her death is one of Mike's most traumatic memories, sooo... definitely would affect the illusion plot, Mike, all the Wheelers and the Byers, their family friends etc.)

So, those are my picks!

Here are my thoughts that led to them, haha.

I think that the characters with a suspicious amount of "comfort and happiness" in the Epilogue will turn out to be the ones with the most unfortunate endings, and vice versa.

The clearest example is Karen. She had a very happy ending that was specifically focussed on Mike (hugging him, telling him she loved him, calling him upstairs etc.). But she may very well have died.

I think that just like Mike, the audience will have to choose which story they want to believe...

The comforting + happy + conformist ending

Or, the realistic + bittersweet + non-conformist ending.

Before the finale came out, I had this idea that there was going to be a "bad ending" and a "good ending" of sorts. Episode 7 seemed like it was careening towards the worst ending possible for several of our characters, especially Eleven, Mike and Will. At the time, I thought that Episode 8 would be the turning point in the narrative... but it turned out that it actually followed through with it.

I still think we're going to get that good ending in the new eps, especially for the characters who didn't get it in the Epilogue.

For example...

Eleven chose to die directly in front of all her friends and family, who proceeded to totally forget about her and move on, or pretend she was still alive. Her biggest goals were never achieved; having a family, being treated as neither a superhero nor a monster, and deciding her future for herself.

This is one of the worst endings, for a character with some of the most trauma out of any character in the series, so... I think it's likely Eleven will end up with a much better ending, in which she achieves her goals in some way. She'll defy those who expect her to be a self-sacrificial superhero, and instead choose a life that works for her.

But – there will be trade-offs. It doesn't mean all these characters will die, necessarily, but that their endings won't be all comfort and happiness. We can also look to what they're doing in their happy endings for clues! If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I'll just add a screenshot from my Google Doc if you wanna read it. I got a little crazy with it back in January LMAO

Not all the characters are here, but you get the gist. I think if any characters die, the clues are in the show already.

PLAUSIBLE DEATHS

Karen & Ted – People just don't survive that, full stop

Steve & Dustin – "You die, I die"; Super happy ending which is very ominous, Robin operating the radio station without Steve.

Will – A fake-out death, not an actual death. Mainly due to his importance in the narrative, and his intense (and growing?) connection to Vecna and the hivemind.

Henry – "Henry's prison", "You're just like me, Henry", etc. The emphasis on Henry being a victim of the Mindflayer, albeit a willing one. Henry may need to sacrifice himself so that Vecna (the 2-for-1 combo meal of Henry + the Mindflayer) can die too.

Murray – Murray has been all about revealing THE TRUTH from his very first appearance. He may very well even die for the truth, thereby achieving his ultimate goal but losing his life in the process.

POSSIBLE DEATHS

Vickie – Seems unlikely, but it's possible given that she's just straight-up gone in the ending... though this moreso suggests she was erased from the narrative, not that she died.

Dr. Brenner – Could make a surprise return given that the military was right there when he appeared to die in Season 4

Hopper – A near-death attempt*. He's more likely to die than Eleven, given that he already tried to in the Upside Down, and he literally would've if Kali wasn't there. I think he'll try to make that "choice", but will end up either being convinced out of it, or his "choice" failing, and him having to deal with the consequences of his actions, and how they've now hurt his loved ones.

*It would be difficult to make Hopper's death into a satisfying story for the audience, given that he struggled so much in Season 4 just to survive and get back to his loved ones, he's part of Eleven's goal of having a loving family, and things were actually looking up for him regarding his "I'm a curse" arc by the end of Season 4.

ALSO! Something super important to keep in mind is that when characters die in the show, their death always leaves an impact. The Duffers Brothers said this themselves before Season 5's release.

So, who are the most likely characters to leave an impact?

Dr. Brenner (would be a big plot twist, affect Eleven, Kali, Henry and even Will, also the military/Lab plotline)

Will [fake-out death; revived] (would affect everyone, especially Mike, the Hopper-Byers family, and the Upside Down plotline)

Murray (if he died to reveal the truth about the Lab, this would affect the military/Lab plotline; Eleven and Hopper, plus Nancy and Jonathan who originally worked w/ him)

Henry (would affect everything about everything)

Karen – (I mean, in my theory her death is one of Mike's most traumatic memories, sooo... definitely would affect the illusion plot, Mike, all the Wheelers and the Byers, their family friends etc.)

That's why those are my picks!

I've only delved deeply into Karen as far as evidence goes, but that's what I've been thinking. Hope you enjoyed my colour-coded rambling session :P