The final episode of Stranger Things is about to hit Netflix, bringing the Duffer Brothers’ epic coming-of-age, sci-fi/horror nostalgia throwback series to an end. Season 5 Volume 2 was a major “arranging of the board” in terms of settling minor character arcs and getting some long-dangling mysteries and backstory out of the way. The moment that’s made some of the biggest waves (and generated some of the biggest backlash) is Will Byer’s (Noah Schnapp) big moment coming out to his friends and family, during Episode 7 “The Bridge”.

Memes, commentary, and headlines have all been made from Will’s big monologue, where desperately conveys how he has truly felt about his identity and his desires, in an effort to keep his secrets, fears, and insecurities being weaponized by Henry Creel/Vecna. However, some Stranger Things fans are looking past all the noise and reaction to Will’s coming out scene, and are questioning whehter his words are hiding a deeper twist…

Was It “Will” Talking During That Coming Out Scene?

Stranger Things / Netflix

The theory that’s floating around in Stranger Things chat threads and forums is that Will Byers wasn’t alone when he decided to come out to his friends: he was still being influenced by Vecna. The reasoning for the theory is intriuging: fans on TikTok have gone back through Will’s monologue, and question whether or not some of the references he made were actually his experiences, or the experiences of Henry Creel.

Will’s speech begins like this: “I haven’t told any of you this because I don’t want you to see me differently. But the truth is… I am. I am different. I just pretended like I wasn’t because I didn’t want to be.”

He continues by saying “I wanted to be like everyone else. I wanted to be like my friends and, I am like you. I’m like you in, in almost every way. We like playing D&D late into the night and we like that old person smell in Mike’s basement, and we like biking to Melvald’s for malted milkshakes, and we like getting lost in the woods and getting lost in Family Video and arguing about what to rent and settling on ‘Holy Grail’ for the millionth time.”

The details Will shares there – particularly the mention of “malted milkshakes” is conspicuously anachronistic. Stranger Things is set in the 1980s, which is not an era where kids were particularly enthusiastic about malted milshakes. Those were a soda fountain treat offered iin diners and soda shops in the 1950s and 1960s – when Henry Creel was a little boy.

The second thing that stood out to many fans was Will’s mention of loving “getting lost in the woods.” That was particularly odd, since Will’s experiences surviving in the wilderness of the Upside Down clearly left him traumatized (see: Season 2). So why would Will claim that? Was it “Will” claiming it? Or was Henry’s influence slipping through a bit?

Will Could Still Be Vecna’s Spy

Netflix

The Tony Award-winning stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow has been encorporated int Season 5 – namely the backstory of Henry Creel, and how he first made contact with the Upside Down, and the shadow entity. Henry was the explorer who loved getting lost, as we were constantly reminded, through the cavern setting that Max and Holly hid out in (the place where Henry got lost, found the portal device tot he Upside Down, and became “evil.”

Vecna told Will that he was going to serve as his spy one last time; Season 5 Volume 2 made it seem like Vecna meant invading Will’s mind to find out where Max was being kept in the hospital. But has Henry Creel ever been that straightforward with his plots?

It’s been established that Will Byers was one of the original children Vecna targeted because of his ability to be a “vessel” who could channel the villain’s powers. Will harnessed control of that power-channeling at the end of Season 5 Volume 1, but that may have only made him a bigger target. After Vecna reastablished influence over Will, he could easily have left a “backdoor” that will let him possess Will again, this time giving him a fully-powered lieutenant who can fight with as much psychic might as Vecna. That would be a horrific tag-team for the Hawkins gang to face – especially Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her “sister” Eight (aka “Kali). Or, Will could be sleeper agent in the ranks, who gets “activated” to attack his friends, allowing Vecna to launch a full-powered strike without leaving his lair.

The question here is what the Duffer Brothers see as Will’s true arc: the fallen and corrupted kid who rises to redemption, or the kid who may have to ultimately sacrifice himself, in order to save his firends and ensure Vecna’s courruption is erased for good (a similar fate Eleven is facing)?

We’ll all find out in Stranger Things‘s Season 5 “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up”. Let us know your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!