Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for the Stranger Things season 5 finale.
Stranger Things season 5’s ending reveals that Henry Creel aka One aka Vecna didn’t create the Mind Flayer after all, but was brainwashed by it before he ever even entered the Upside Down. A lot was left unanswered for far too long in Stranger Things. Back in season 1, viewers were given glimpses of the Upside Down, Eleven’s powers, and what the Demogorgon was.
However, that was only the beginning. Soon, the Mind Flayer joined the fray with his Demodogs and mass desiccation across Hawkins. Now, answers have finally arrived in Stranger Things season 4. Leading into season 4’s release, the Duffer Brothers noted several times that this would be the season of answers and reveals, and they weren’t kidding.
However, it was season 5’s finale that finally explained the true connection between the show’s main villains, Vecna and the Mind Flayer. In season 4, Dustin theorized Vecna was the Mind Flayer’s five-star general, his second-in-command. Although the show hid this fact, the finale proved that this was effectively their true relationship.
Vecna first met the Mind Flayer before he arrived in the Upside Down, when he stumbled upon a scientist in a cave during his childhood. When Henry touched a rock from another dimension (as explained in the Stranger Things tie-in play The First Shadow), the Mind Flayer began calling to him.
Whenever Vecna kills someone, he “consumes” them, according to Dr. Brenner; that means he acquires their consciousness and power. By using his own powers, Henry/One worked for the Mind Flayer and obtained the use of its powers, thus becoming stronger and in control of the Upside Down.
What Powers The Mind Flayer Gave Vecna
Even before Henry Creel became One, he had powers that enabled him to see into other people’s minds and kill them by using their worst memories against them. It’s what eventually drew Dr. Brenner to him, once Henry had killed his mother and sister. But his powers could only go so far.
While his telepathy and telekinesis were useful, linking up with the Mind Flayer again after Eleven banished him from Hawkins Lab brought him back to the world of the Abyss. In his own words, he finally broke free of his metaphorical bonds and became the predator. The scared boy in the cave became the killer monster Vecna.
Connecting to the Mind Flayer’s hive mind allowed Henry Creel to become the version of Vecna that audiences see in Stranger Things season 4, controlling the Demobats, Demodogs, and Demogorgons across the Upside Down and the real world. However, the Mind Flayer was the true mastermind of this arrangement.
Why The Mind Flayer Looks Like A Spider
Interestingly, Henry Creel never gave up on his fascination with spiders. This might explain why, when the Mind Flayer appeared to him, it took the form of a giant spider. Once a shadow monster, the Mind Flayer looked to Henry like a giant spider creature.
This explains why Henry obsessively sketched this creature design he was still a kid living at the Creel house. Thematically, turning the Mind Flayer into a spider-like creature was keeping in with the monster’s abilities.
The spiders in the Creel house were primarily black widows; they have a venomous bite that results in pain similar to what Will Byers felt when he was attacked. Furthermore, black widow bite symptoms typically last for about seven days, which is the same length as Vecna’s curse.
While that’s separate from what the Mind Flayer was doing to Will in season 2, the idea of the monster attacking, biting, and infecting its prey tracks with what happened in season 3.
Why Vecna Used The Mind Flayer In Stranger Things Seasons 2 & 3
The big question is, if Vecna was responsible for everything all this time, why didn’t he attack Hawkins earlier? At first, the Demogorgon in Stranger Things season 1 and the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things season 2 were means to an end, to occupy Hawkins, but they were ultimately stopped by Eleven.\
She killed the Demogorgon and shut the gate on the Mind Flayer, so in order to circumvent Eleven’s resistance, Vecna built the Mind Flayer in the real world and siphoned Eleven’s powers when it bit her. That bite presumably was partially responsible for blocking Eleven’s powers at the end of season 3 and the beginning of season 4.
But once Vecna acquired Eleven’s powers, at least a part of it, he was able to access people’s minds across dimensions, killing them from the Upside Down and using their deaths as a means to open new gates. None of that would’ve been possible if it wasn’t for Eleven.
After the Mind Flayer failed in its original purpose, it served a new one. However, the intriguing thing is that since the Mind Flayer was removed from Will Byers, it left an imprint on him, thus meaning Will is still connected to Vecna, even if the monster doesn’t know it.
Stranger Things Season 5 Reveals Henry’s First Encounter With The Mind Flayer & Power Origins
In the finale, Holly Wheeler helped the kids escape Vecna’s mind by hiding in the cave he was too afraid to enter. However, Vecna summoned up the courage to venture inside the cave, allowing viewers to finally see the entire memory that was contained therein.
A young Henry encountered a scientist who threatened to kill him. The scientist was terrified of Henry stealing the mysterious steel case he was holding, and Henry was eventually forced to kill him in self-defense when the scientist fired a gun at him.
The biggest new revelation from the Stranger Things finale was the contents of this case and its effects on the young Henry. Henry opened the case and found a glowing black stone with red veins that soon melted into his hand.
“We Are One”: Vecna’s Connection To The Mind Flayer Explained
The stone entered his bloodstream and Henry had a vision of the spider-esque Mind Flayer calling on him to find it. This proves that the Mind Flayer existed before Henry, despite what season 4’s flashbacks to Vecna’s origin story seemingly implied.
It also proves that, although he didn’t realize it, Henry worked for the Mind Flayer and not the other way around. The irony of Vecna’s Stranger Things season 5 plan was that, while he claimed children were easy to manipulate, Vecna himself was originally just another child that the Mind Flayer was manipulating.
How Vecna Was Using The Mind Flayer In The Abyss
Vecna seemingly utilized the Mind Flayer to build the Abyss and the Upside Down, something that was previously outlined in season 4’s flashback. However, where that flashback implied that Henry was banished to the Upside Down and created the dimension from scratch, season 5’s finale revealed the truth.
The Abyss existed before Henry arrived there, since it was where the Mind Flayer called out to him from when he was still a child. As the Mind Flayer’s influence grew, Henry became one with the spider-shaped entity. He used the Mind Flayer as a sentient lair in the Abyss.
Henry/Vecna resided under the Mind Flayer’s beating heart as its tendrils sucked the life out of his captives. The Mind Flayer functioned as both Vecna’s protective exoskeleton and a massive weapon for him, as he used the huge spider monster to attack the heroes in the Stranger Things season 5 finale.
Who Was The True Villain In Stranger Things?
Although Henry did not redeem himself in the finale, he did prove that he was an unwitting victim of the Mind Flayer rather than its original creator and owner. As such, he proved he wasn’t the show’s true villain, which leaves viewers with a major question.
One could argue that, as an ageless eldritch entity, the Mind Flayer is the show’s true villain. It doesn’t have a tragic backstory, a justification for its evil, or even any humanity. However, there is no knowing how long the Mind Flayer existed in its home dimension and whether its intentions were truly evil, or simply self-protective.
Thus, the true villain of Stranger Things is Dr Brenner, who opened the portal to the Upside-Down through his ill-conceived experiments. It was Brenner who inadvertently introduced Henry to the Mind Flayer, Brenner who tortured the boy until he became Vecna, and Brenner who attempted to discard Henry when the Stranger Things heroine Eleven showed more potential.
Source: screenrant.com
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