The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5, Vol. 1, now streaming on Netflix.
The first half of Stranger Things’ final season has already passed, and it’s given fans a lot of satisfying moments for instrumental characters while keeping the door open on so many questions to be answered in Volume 2. The first four episodes of Season 5 have brought back the focus on Will Byers, who’s strangely been a background character in his own show since Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy kicked the Mind Flayer out of him in the Season 2 finale. But creatures from the Upside Down don’t stay gone forever.
As implied in the Season 4 finale, Will still has a strong connection to the Upside Down that allows him to feel its presence in the real world. This is marked by a sort of “spidey-sense” that he has, taking the form of the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. It’s no coincidence that he feels this for the first time since leaving California and returning to Hawkins after the Upside Down started bleeding into the small Indiana town. Now in Season 5, Will’s hive-mind connection to the Upside Down has only intensified, so much to the point that he’s finally starting to take control of it.
Stranger Things Gives Will Powers in Season 5
Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and Vecna (Jamie Campell Bower) in Stranger Things Season 5Image via Netflix
Will’s abilities in Season 5 aren’t exactly anything he hasn’t experienced before since being rescued from the Upside Down at the end of Season 1. Just like he could in Season 2, he can see through the eyes of different Upside Down creatures, such as demogorgons and their ruler, Vecna.
Since Vecna invades the minds of people to lure them into his mental trap, eventually using them to master his grand plan to take over the world and get rid of humanity, Will can also see through the eyes of Vecna’s victims. The two most prominent of these include Holly Wheeler and a new character named Derek.
But unlike Will’s situation in Season 2, he’s not being used as a spy for the Mind Flayer or Vecna in Season 5. Or at least, that’s what it appears to be. Will is tapping into these “visions” accidentally and at random times, likely when Vecna is at his most determined to capture or kill people.
One such case is in the Season 5 premiere, when the sky starts spinning for Will out of nowhere. Unbeknownst to him, he was in Holly’s mind while she was on a roundabout in the school playground, right when Vecna was entering her mind to appear as Mr. Whatsit to her.
Robin theorizes that Will can use his abilities as an antenna to locate Vecna’s targets, which they’re successful at. However, Vecna later catches onto the plan to smuggle several children out of Hawkins, protecting them from him. After an epic battle between the military and demogorgons (just take a wild guess who won), Vecna approaches a distraught Will.
Not only can Will see what Vecna and the demogorgons see, but he can feel their pain. Anytime a demogorgon gets burned, Will feels a burning sensation as well. Again, this is nothing new: Will experienced the same hive mind sensation in Season 2 when Hawkins Laboratory soldiers attempted to kill vines connected to the Mind Flayer in the Upside Down.
Vecna leaves Will alive after the fight, presumably because he thinks Will is important. Being his first victim, Will must have a different role to play in humanity’s end than Holly or Derek does. But Will’s family and friends are unimportant to Vecna; the villain sends demogorgons to kill Mike, Lucas, and Robin, all in three different places.
Desperate to save his friends, Will recalls a speech that Robin gave to him about freeing herself from other people’s opinions of her to feel loved. Before the demogorgons kill them, Will destroys them using telekinesis and telepathy powers.
Will’s Powers Mean So Much More Than You Think
Will Byers and Robin looking up at the sky on Stranger ThingsImage via Netflix / Everett Collection
It’s always been clear that Will was permanently changed since Vecna took him in Season 1, but he always believed it was something out of his control. More than anything, he thought his ties to the Upside Down were a burden. They always reminded him of the trauma he endured living in the Upside Down as a child, and how frightened he was that he would never return home or die in the hellish dimension.
On a deeper level, they’re an allegory for his struggle to accept his sexuality in the 1980s and his unreciprocated love for Mike. Will being gay had been strongly insinuated since Season 3, when Mike commented, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls,” which stunned Will to the point of going nonverbal. But it’s always been subtly hinted at from the beginning when Joyce told Hopper that her ex-husband mocked Will for being queer and the boys’ school bully called him a “fairy,” as well as made other taunting insults related to his sexuality.
Season 4 further explored Will’s crush on Mike and his pain in knowing that Mike will never return that love. Noah Schnapp, Will’s actor, also confirmed that Will is gay while also coming out himself. Though it’s still never been explicitly said on-screen, Will’s arc in Season 5 revolves around finding peace with who he is without feeling shame. He admires Robin for being forthcoming about her sexuality with her love interest and friends, but clearly feels it’s not worth being open about it if his crush doesn’t feel the same way.
Will is afraid of being cast out by his peers, the only people who have ever accepted him, but Robin shows him that he doesn’t need other people’s approval to be happy. Will coming to terms with this is enough to tap into his full powers and save his friends, particularly Mike. Because while Mike will never share romantic feelings with Will, he is still Will’s biggest supporter and best friend. And for Will, that is everything he’s ever needed.
Stranger Things’ Season 5 Reveal May Have Spoiled Will’s Ending
Jonathan, Will and Nancy stand at the front of a group of people looking skyward on Stranger ThingsImage via Netflix
His new powers also show that Will is no longer hiding from Vecna and shoving down his trauma. He’s welcoming the fact that he is different, both in terms of his sexuality and that he has a unique link to the Upside Down. However, this could also mean that Will isn’t getting the traditional happy ending that he and his family would like. Everything is building up to the idea that Will is going to sacrifice himself for the world.
Will’s new powers are similar to Eleven’s, but they more closely resemble Vecna’s. Will can control demogorgons from anywhere in the world like a hive-mind master. One theory could be that there’s a Harry Potter/Voldemort situation going on: Will and Vecna’s souls have become entangled after Will was taken, or maybe even before, if the show chooses to dive deeper into why Vecna specifically chose Will. Killing Vecna means Will has to die.
This was a roadblock the party found themselves stuck at in Season 2, when the Mind Flayer took over Will. While they could easily extract the Mind Flayer from Will’s body then, chances are Stranger Things isn’t going to play that same card again.
Will may have to give his own life to be the hero he’s always wanted to be. But as sad as that sounds, it may be a bittersweet ending for him. All Will wanted was to feel important and have a fun adventure with his friends. In this scenario, Will has the autonomy to choose how his journey ends.
Will’s death would allow for some closure for many characters: Will can become a hero despite his differences and grow from a young man marked by his disappearance to a man destined to save the world. Joyce and Jonathan would be devastated by this loss, but they might finally be able to let go of their overprotective instincts that have held Will back for so long.
For Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, this could be a turning point in their individual coming-of-age narratives, forcing them all to grow up, but also being tied together by his death forever. Whatever happens to Will, it probably won’t be a purely sweet ending. But it also might not be an entirely bad one, either.
Stranger Things Season 5, Vol. 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Vol. 2 premieres December 25, and the series finale premieres December 31.
Release Date
2016 – 2025-00-00
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
Directors
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz
Writers
Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
Millie Bobby Brown
Jane ‘Eleven’ Hopper
Finn Wolfhard
Mike Wheeler