Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5 finale.
Stranger Things delivered an explosive final episode after nearly a decade of Netflix’s sci-fi series, and questions remain after the season 5 finale, including Jamie Campbell Bower’s complex character, Vecna/Henry Creel/Mr. Whotsit/001’s connection to the Mind Flayer.
In an interview with Tudum by Netflix, the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, as well as Bower, address the connection Stranger Things’ main antagonist, Vecna, has with the Mind Flayer. During a pivotal moment in the finale, Vecna is shown confronting his demons within the Nevada cave he’s spent all season avoiding, and Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) tries to reason with him and show he’s being manipulated.
Instead, Vecna refuses the compassion and states that the Mind Flayer simply “showed me that this world is broken, that man is broken.” Bower stated that this was an enlightening moment for Vecna, but also the audience and fans around the world: “It was the first moment in Season 5 [where] I truly felt human again and understood him. I felt like I’ve been wanting to protect him all this time, because I felt like all the people just hate him. And it was at that moment that I was like, ‘Now you see why I am [the way I am].’ “
Vecna dying in the Stranger Things series finaleImage via Netflix
Ross Duffer also addressed the connection between who Henry Creel was and who he became at the hands of the Mind Flayer within those caves:
“We did discuss with the writers’ room if he could have a Billy [Dacre Montgomery] moment where he turns against the Mind Flayer [in a] Darth Vader-type situation. But the more we talked about it with the writers and with Jamie [Campbell Bower], he’s gone so far at this point to get here, he has to justify everything he’s done. And the only way to justify that is to go, “I chose this, and I believe in this still.”
Even though he is shaken by seeing this memory, he’s too far gone at this point to turn against the Mind Flayer. But we wanted to leave it up to the audience in terms of whether young Henry did choose this or whether it was simply the Mind Flayer controlling him from beginning to end. But ultimately, in terms of where Henry goes, it doesn’t matter because he chooses the side of the Mind Flayer at the end of the day.”
The Mind Flayer in the Stranger Things series finaleImage via Netflix
Billy’s death in season 3 was a pivotal moment for a character who began as a selfish, arrogant, and rather unlikeable individual who then was taken control of by the Mind Flayer in a similar way to Vecna, but during the finale at Starcourt Mall, Billy sacrifices himself for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and his step-sister Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink). Vecna, however, chose to stick with his plans, which ultimately led to his head being amputated by Winona Ryder’s character Joyce Byers.
All seasons of Stranger Things are available to stream on Netflix.
Release Date
2016 – 2025-00-00
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
