Stranger Things penultimate season has concluded, but not the way fans expected. Never before did Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the rest of the Hawkins heroes fail to stop the evil from crossing over to Hawkins. The two episodes that make up the fourth season of Stranger Things volume 2 had a lot to deliver. The nearly four hours of television had fans on the edge of their seat and the Stranger Things 4 finale revealed a lot more about Vecna and the Upside Down.
Like all Stranger Things finales, season 4’s episode 9 “The Piggyback” was an action-packed, emotional rollercoaster. Set once again to “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush as hour heroes take down Vecna, the epic ending widens our understanding of the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer, and Vecna but the Stranger Things 4 finale leaves some questions up in the air. What is the endgame?
Stranger Things fans now know that all the evil our heroes have faced from the beginning were controlled by one person: Henry/Vecna/One (Jamie Campbell Bower). He has been behind every disastrous death in Hawkins since season one. Now let’s dig a little deeper into the details that Vecna revealed about the Mind Flayer, the Upside Down, and even Billy in season 3.
The Stranger Things 4 Finale Revealed Henry found the particles that created the Mind Flayer
The origins of Henry’s powers is still unclear. Like Eleven, he seems to have been born with the psionic powers, which led to him being held captive by Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine), labeled as “001” and used for experiments.
In the Stranger Things 4 finale, Vecna monologues, as all villains seem to do, to Eleven about what happened to him after she had banished him into a new dimension. “Somewhere new” and that he “became an explorer,” says Vecna. He explored this new dimension until he came upon the mysterious particles.
“I saw so many things,” Vecna tells Eleven as he revisits his memory of his exploration in the new dimension. “And one day, I found the most extraordinary thing of all. Something that would change everything. I saw a means to realize my potential. To transcend my human form. To become the predator I was always born to be.”
The Mind Flayer Was A Physical Manifestation of Henry
It was here where it was revealed that the Mind Flayer was never its own sentient being. It was a new physical manifestation of Henry. As a young boy, he had become interested in spiders. In Volume 1’s episode seven, Henry Creel described his “discovery” of the nest of black widows gave him a “sense of purpose.” Like he found a sense of comfort by the spiders.
“Like me, they are solitary creatures and deeply misunderstood,” Henry said. “They are gods of our world. The most important of all predators. They immobilize and prey on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem.”
The Stranger Things 4 finale revealed that Henry, being inspired by his black widows, created the shadowy monster that the Hawkins teens call the Mind Flayer. A name they took from D&D.
Henry Uses The Mind Flayer In Stranger Things Season 2
In Stranger Things season 2, Will (Noah Schnapp) was possessed by Henry/Vecna/One via the Mind Flayer. He used Will to spy, so to speak, on Hawkins. Henry learned more about what has been going on. Eleven was away when Will was being controlled by the Mind Flayer but as soon as she returned, she sealed off Henry’s main gate to Hawkins.
But a small part of the Mind Flayer was left behind. The small piece that’s inside Will. In Stranger Things season 3, we saw how Henry was able to use it to form a physical body in Hawkins. Using exploded body parts and rat guts, there was a physical form of the Mind Flayer. Henry had once again faced Eleven.
During season 3, viewers only saw Billy (Dacre Montgomery) speaking for the spider-like Mind Flayer monster. As if the Mind Flayer is still the main evil of the Upside Down. But now seeing the Stranger Things 4 finale, audiences have a better understanding that it is really Henry behind those eyes that show interest in destroying Eleven.
Henry Has Spoken To Eleven Before
In the sixth episode of season three, Eleven enters Billy’s mind. Again it is really not Billy that Eleven is confronting. “You shouldn’t have looked for me,” Henry said through Billy. “Because now I see you. Now we can all see you.”
Henry continued: “All this time, we’ve been building it. We’ve been building it for you. All that work. All that pain. All of it for you. And now it’s time, time to end it. And we’re going to end you and when you are gone, we are going to end your friends. And then we are going to end everyone.”
When the physical form of the Mind Flayer was created, it “bit” Eleven and left a small piece inside her leg. When she ripped it out of herself, she lost her powers. Henry tells Eleven this in the Stranger Things 4 finale saying he needed to find a way to open gates between the Upside Down and Hawkins. Something only she has done.
“I sought a means to open my own doors,” Henry said in the Stranger Things season 4 finale. “I sought your power. So don’t you see? Once again, you have freed me.”
The Mind Flayers so called bite in the third season somehow helped Henry become stronger and gave him the abilities to begin the murder spree in season four by giving his victims terrifying visions and placing them in some trance until they die. With each psychic kill, a new gate appears. He needed four victims to open four gates. The devastating fourth “kill” lead to the final devastating scene of Hawkins being swallowed up by the Upside Down.
One Final Battle Against Vecna
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about Henry and what will happen next to Hawkins. No one knows where he really is but Will knows he’s hurt but won’t stop until he’s taken everyone. One thing is for sure, a fifth and final season of Stranger Things will happen.
When Netflix announced the released dates of Stranger Things Volume 1 and Volume 2 of season 4, it also revealed that the show will return with one more season. Based on what we saw happen at the end of the Stranger Things 4 finale, it’s easy to guess how the hit show will go in its fifth and final season.
It has always been Vecna. In Stranger Things season 5, Eleven will have to bring her A-game and summon all her psionic powers to take out Henry/Vecna/One once and for all. The teens will be in the fight of their lives to save their town of Hawkins in this Stranger Things endgame.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix.
