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Yo this is actually the craziest and best theory for the final season I've seen. It would make so much sense and the final battle would be epic!

The white goo in the S5 teaser is the Upside Down dimension collapsing. My theory on exactly how Vecna and the Mindflayer will be defeated in S5E8...

So WHAT the f*ck is this white goo in the background? I have a theory... I think this shot is from the final battle in S5E8 when Vecna and the MF are finally defeated.

"But wouldn't a clip from the final battle be so risky to include in a teaser??" You might ask. Well, yes! But they've done it before...

Lo and behold, the shot of Nancy with her shotgun blasting Vecna's ass into oblivion was included in the S4 trailer. And now we know that Vecna was being attacked from two different dimensions in S4 (both in his mindscape by El, and in the Upside Down by the teens).

So here's my theory.

To me, this looks like the walls are collapsing and melting down into formless, colorless nothingness. It’s all going “back to the vat,” so to speak. This is reality (or at least this version of it) being undone. Deconstructed. Returning to its original blank slate.

Visually, the first thing it reminded me of was the white goo that the robot ‘hosts’ in Westworld are made out of...

The robot hosts look like normal humans on the outside, but their building blocks are anything but normal. They are not born, but mentally conceived and then built by human consciousness, and formed out of synthetic-biological material. They’re artificial, yet strangely organic. You catching my drift yet?

The Upside Down mirrors this, with its fleshy portals and that big ass meat wall, and I wrote about that in this recent post and why it supports the theory that Will actually created the UD within his own mind and brain (read the "The UD is Will's Mindscape" theory by @willbyersabyss). UD Hawkins can almost pass as normal, until you look at its building blocks. Outside of the weird copy of Hawkins that exists within it, the building blocks of the UD look nothing like our dimension or even like Dimension X, which both look rocky and naturally-occurring and born of the universe, not made of flesh...

(Spoiler alert below for a line said by Vecna to Will, as seen in the vol 1 merch style guide leak)

All this talk of "building" and "deconstructing" leads me to one of the show's biggest twists: Will is Vecna’s "builder." We know via a leak that Vecna says to Will: “You were my vessel. My spy. My builder.” We've seen Will be a vessel and a spy, but not yet a builder...

Except, yes we have! On the day he disappeared, he built the UD dimension (in which Vecna and the MF have taken up residence after finding a way into it from Dimension X in 1983) in his brain with his own imagination (and possibly with some accidental help from El). It was built out of nothing, and to nothing it shall return. To complete his arc that began with its creation in S1, he will destroy it once and for all in S5, with Vecna and the Mindflayer still inside. He will literally ctrl alt delete them from EXISTENCE by wiping out the entire dimension. With just his mind. And it's gonna be epic !!! It will give our heroes the peace and closure they deserve to live their lives, never again having to always look over their shoulder wondering if another gate will open again when they least expect it. PTSD = cured.

It also makes thematic sense: defeating Vecna = confronting trauma. It will be a psychological battle, not just a physical one.

Stranger Things unfolds through three layers of conflict--the human, the supernatural, and the psychological--with each level shaping and mirroring the others. Vecna and the Mind Flayer symbolize psychological trauma, PTSD, and cycles of abuse--wounds that run deep across the series (we see it not just with Will, but also with El, Max, Nancy, Billy, Billy’s S3 victims, Vecna's S4 victims, and even young Henry Creel himself in TFS). Season 5 returns to this theme through the anniversary effect, setting its story near the anniversary of Will’s disappearance. The story centers Will bc the show itself begins on the night of his disappearance, anchoring his trauma in fear, isolation, and invisibility.

That’s why Will is positioned at the heart of the final battle--not because of physical power, but because healing his trauma is key to defeating the source of it. His arc also hinges on finally accepting that he is not a ‘mistake’ and IS worthy of love, particularly through his connection to Mike, which will be huge for Will. His healing will not just resolve his own story, but unlock the emotional solution to the conflict itself and the central message of the entire show: that love can overcome hate.

The Upside Down reflects a duality. It is both physical and psychological, just like Will’s trauma. His suffering began long before he got trapped in the UD and possessed by the MF--it is rooted in his father's abuse, the bullying, and the homophobia. Physically and mentally destroying the UD, Vecna, and the Mind Flayer will symbolize Will’s healing from that trauma, as well.

"We'll fix it together, okay?"

This is also why El has never been able to defeat Vecna on her own with just her physical powers. She failed in 1979, even with the power of happy memories, and again at the end of S4. Trauma cannot be overcome in isolation--real healing happens through love and community. El and Will will face this final battle together, supported by their friends and family.

This is foreshadowed in Season 4, when El gets bullied and she tries to fix her broken diorama alone right before her fight with Mike, rather than accept Will's help and support. That moment foreshadows not only:

How Will tried to fix El and Mike’s crumbling relationship for them all season long

But also how both El and Will continued to isolate and try to deal with their emotional struggles on their own without confiding in and leaning on each other (it's why they barely even felt like friends or siblings in S4, they carried everything alone)

And lastly, El’s failed solo battle against Vecna in his mindscape, because she tried to do it on her own again. It's a recurring issue that the group has always over-relied on her and her powers to land the final blow. In S3 she lost her powers as a result, and in S4 she failed altogether. But this time, in S5, Will and El will fix it together.

In Season 5, Will will not need new powers to defeat Vecna. The battle will be psychological, not just physical. He will realize he has always had a unique connection to the UD because he created it, and therefore has the power to end it. The message being: healing from trauma requires inner strength, and Will's journey will show that love and self-acceptance are what ultimately make us powerful...

So all this brings us back to this set-up in season 2:

If the brain dies, the body dies...

The UD is in Will's brain. Vecna's physical body and the MF are hiding in the UD. If the UD dies, they die.

In other words... if the mind heals, the monsters die.

This is Will's fMRI brain scan from S2 (which kinda looks like Vecna lol). According to Dr. Owens in S2, hippocampal abnormalities are typical with PTSD patients. So in other words, our psychological trauma can literally, physically rewire our brains. Will's gonna have to do some rewiring in S5 (AKA ctrl alt delete the UD, Vecna, and the MF)...

Vecna will be attacked from multiple dimensions again

Lastly... I think that in that shot of Nancy and Jonathan in the S5 teaser, we are looking at Nancy from Vecna's POV (or it will very soon become his POV). Like I said, it'll be a callback to the S4 shot (shown above) of Nancy blasting Vecna with her shotgun in S4 while El distracted him in his mindscape.

The group will once again be fighting Vecna in multiple dimensions (kind of paralleling what I said about how conflict in ST always develops across multiple fronts: human, supernatural, and pyschological!). I think she and Jonathan are cornering or distracting him in the UD, while Will destroys it from the outside/from within his mind. We might even get Max also dealing with him in his mindscape in S5 while all this is happening (that is, if she hasn't woken up by E8 yet and that's where she's been stuck all season). Vecna and the MF will be defeated by being attacked on all fronts, from every dimension, by everyone in our group (TBD on what El and the other characters’ roles will be in the final battle, I haven't thought that far ahead yet but lmk your theories! I’m thinking maybe Joyce and Hop might be helping Jonathan and Nancy escape the UD to let Joyce finally worry about saving Jonathan instead of Will this time lol).

Unfortunately for Jonathan and Nancy though, this means they are also still stuck in the UD, so they will need to find a way to get out of there before it collapses... but I think they'll be ok :)

TLDR: Vecna and the MF's ugly asses at the end of S5

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The fact that I usually despise love triangles and think of them as pointless drama, it's a big red flag for me when trying to find shows and books, yet my favorite TV show has literally every character be a part of one at some point and the Byler/Mileven love triangle to me is the best romance portrayal ever written really says a lot about Stranger Things and the Duffers. I full heartedly trust them to finish all of their love triangles perfectly.

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The fact that every Mileven argument I ever see can be countered or proven wrong easily.

"Mike is straight" it's never been explicitly stated.

"They've been building Mileven up for 4 seasons" season 1 was mostly platonic, season 2 hardly featured them, and 3 and 4 both showed their relationship failing when romantic and looking bad for both of them.

"Byler wouldn't make sense story wise" literally watch the show with your eyes open please.

"Byler/Mike being gay would be unrealistic" the show about supernatural horror 🤨. A repressed gay boy trying to conform with a girlfriend is the most realistic representation for queer people in the 80s I've ever seen in media.

"Bylers are delusional" then why do we have the most proof and analysis for it? You just have to be media literate and open minded to see it.

"The actors wouldn't want to do that" Noah, an openly gay man? Finn, an actor who has played multiple gay characters and kissed a boy for a role before?

And most of the time they just ignore us anyway. Honestly, the show is so much more exciting when you keep an open mind to anything happening Mileven's should really try to do it more.

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Not my brother on our season 4 rewatch mentioning wanting to get back to the California gang constantly even though it is kinda one of the more boring plot lines for a GA member 🧐 (it lack supernatural and has limited action). The only people I know that enjoy that group and story are Bylers sooooooo...

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season 5 ep 1 theory

(Based on bts and the teaser that just released)

I'm imagining the shots of Will jumping between the trees away from the demogorgon is actually part of the opening sequence for the first episode. We know that episode 1 will open with young Will singing should I stay or should I go, and there was the bts shot of Will kind of waking up in Castle Byers next to a younger version of him. My theory is that Will is going to wake up in a memory/nightmare/Vecna vision inside the upside down when he was escaping from the demogorgon and it will be like an epic chase ending in Will waking up or being pulled out. Bonus points if it's Mike who wakes him up.

I think this could be a really sick way to open the series and set the tone with Will being the focus of the season and all.

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YALL ITS HAPPENING

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HOLD UP you're telling me Heroes by David Bowie had already been on the soundtrack of TWO different stranger things seasons??? 1 AND the finale of 3?? Yeah it's definitely going to play again in season 5. Specifically in a Byler scene. I have no doubts anymore.

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More updates from my family stranger things rewatch in my hope to convert my family into Bylers:

(we're on season 3 btw)

Right after the rain fight my mom said "I forgot that this is the season where they become emotional and defensive teenagers" which I find interesting because it was after THAT scene specifically. Not Mike and El's fight, Mike and Will's fight. My mom's always been supportive of the lgbtq community (her friend at work just got married and he's gay) so I have hope for her.

Also basically this whole season my brother has been saying "Mike you're fumbling bad" every time he interacts with El and he sarcastically said the scene where Mike shares m&ms with El is so romantic. When Mike and El made out in the beginning he kept saying gross. At least he can see how terrible Mileven is lol.

Last but not least, they were all utterly silent when Will was destroying Castle Byers which I am grateful for because they usually make 'funny' comments in sad scenes and make fun of the character.

I told them Mike seems really different this season and they agreed but couldn't explain why and now the seeds are planted 🤫

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Rewatching stranger things and my dad literally says Ted Wheeler is his fav character.

"He's hilarious" for you, yeah gee I wonder why

Plus there are so many better ones out there with real story arcs and personalities like come on dad

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Chronically online? No, I'm chronically on Byler Tumblr

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My family is planning on doing a ST rewatch soon for season 5 together and I am so excited to see how they react to the Byler scenes on a second watch. Like, they've clocked Will as gay, but now will they finally see all the signs of Byler? I think they're all Milevens/don't really care about ships so maybe the reaction will be positive??? Maybe they can become one of us??? I'm holding onto this hope because ain't no way am I saying anything to point it out and revealing my obsession with Byler. PLEASE FAM SEE THE SIGNSSSSS

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YESSSS HUGGATE HUGGATE HUGGATE HUGGATE

How Will and Mike's first kiss could be directed to mirror their platonic-romantic tension and culminate in a romantic plot twist and "gotcha!" moment for the GA. Also, the narrative weight of hugs for Mike...

hear me out… it'd be a fantastic directing choice to maximize mike and will's platonic-romantic tension while preserving the 'mike likes will back' twist for the GA until the very last second by centering it around an intense platonic hug. (skip to the end if you just wanna read my rendition of their first kiss!)

like if instead of suddenly kissing, if during a big emotional moment they shared a super intense but innocent & initially platonic hug that lingered and grew until slowly morphing into a kiss, shocking the GA. a real hug is also what mike and will need so badly; even that is something mike denied himself in the airport scene bc he was already repressing how badly he wanted to hold will. so starting their first kiss with an intimate hug wouldn't just be romantic payoff, it would show how blurred the line between platonic and romantic feelings can be for mike and will. it'd be emotional catharsis, character resolution, and the moment mike finally stops running from the truth: starting with a simple hug (it'd validate mike's fear that a mere hug from will is the gateway drug to dangerous uncharted gay territory which would be kind of hilarious lmao). iirc the last time they shared a real hug was at the end of S3 when will moved and we got that scene of mike looking sadly and longingly at the car driving away, then the byers house, and then the shot of him devastated while getting a hug from his mom just like he did in S1 when he thought will died. and then we get that ridiculous ass half-hug at the airport in S4. so my point is, hugs carry a surprising amount of visual narrative weight when it comes to mike, the intensity of his feelings for will, and the blurred line between platonic and romantic.

let me set the scene... something crazy just happened, maybe one of them narrowly escaped certain death, maybe one just risked their own life to save the other, maybe one just did something super heroic to save everyone, OR maybe it's not even life or death but will just confessed his feelings after mike confronts him about the painting lie... and mike, in his shock at the sudden revelation, jumps to showing acceptance for will's sexuality but doesn't verbally reciprocate bc he's still figuring things out internally. it's at this point where will has already accepted that mike doesn't return his feelings, so he just accepts and values mike's platonic acceptance via a big platonic hug without expecting anything romantic, and the GA is like aww look at these besties being besties, they're the bestest of friends! of course mike doesn't reciprocate, he's just there to show will acceptance! platonically!

they're wrapped up in each other's arms with their heads tucked into each other's shoulders, feeling so much relief and closeness and maybe they're out of breath and tearful if they just escaped something life-or-death, and mike lifts his head a bit to whisper something into will's ear (e.g. "I thought I lost you") and he feels overwhelmed by all the platonic love he has for will... but wait... is it? platonic? why does the newfound knowledge of will's feelings for him stir something in his heart? why does this closeness he's been avoiding for so long feel so right and more importantly why does mike want more of it? and their faces slowly inch up each other's necks and get closer and closer together [tender, emotional music playing] and the GA's starting to panic a little bit and now their cheeks are pressed up and they're breathing heavily and the tension is unbearable and their eyes close (bc the momentum is unstoppable now, and all that’s left is to close their eyes and hold their breath and brace for the inevitable) and the corners of their mouths touch and they linger until slowly but surely succumbing to the pull of each other's gravity and GOTCHA! slowly falling into a kiss…………………. bro someone give me a director's chair on that set pleeeease

I took some inspo from willhelm and simon in young royals (willhelm faces a super similar internal crisis as mike):

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Will being the only thing holding together Mike and El's relationship

Will carrying Mike's side of the Mileven relationship

Mike trying to figure out why Will is so passionate about El's feelings for him in the van scene and failing to miserably

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Some ST comments I've seen recently...

"They're just friends!"

"I like them more as best friends"

"They've been friends since season 1, why would it change in the last season?"

"Why do all male friendships have to be gay now"

Just because Byler's relationship becomes more romantic doesn't mean they just forget about their friendship?? Like?? They will always be best friends and they have always been intimate, it's just that in season 5 they can finally express more romantic gestures and feelings to each other. Also not all male relationships are gay in the show? There's literally a MULTITUDE of male friendships (Steve+Dustin Dustin+Lucas Lucas+Mike Mike+Dustin Will+Dustin Will+Lucas Dustin+Eddie Jonathan+Argyle etc) in the show so not everything is "becoming gay"?? Mike and Will have had their friendship SPECIFICALLY shown to be different from what the others are since the first 10 minutes of the show.

Some of these audience members are either incredibly blinded by Mileven, terrible at reading actions and emotional cues, or obliviously homophobic I can't see any other options.

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The fact that all of the scenes with Mike and Will in season 4 have this beautiful lighting and cinematography, + many shots with the two of them framed nicely while scenes of Mike and El either have Will somewhere hovering in the background, boring lighting, or no shots of them both nicely in frame.

It's really revealing how we are supposed to feel about Mike and El's relationship through the season vs how we are supposed to feel about Mike and Will...

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Mike, after that shitty half hug/pat you gave Will in season 4, I am expecting the most genuine, desperate, loving embrace the world has ever seen in season 5.

This is no threat this is an order

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When you realize that the non-toxic milkvan shippers are literally just have Eleven's perspective on the ship.

For example:

Wow! A cute little romance between two of lead characters just like all those other movies and shows! Things were better back in season 1 and 2, and I don't understand why Mike suddenly changed and can't treat Eleven (me) the way he used to. Why can't he tell Eleven (me) that he loves her (me)? It's like everytime their (our) relationship does romantic instead of platonic things it's hard for them (us) to be normal and be happy. And why is Will acting strange? Why is Mike acting strange around Will? According to every other piece of media, the (our) heterosexual relationship always ends up together and happy and romantic? Why do things keep getting worse?

AKA: they are GA or haven't been opened to the idea of gay love and how not everything is surface level.

Not all Milkvans are anti-gay or obsessive, they just enjoy their ship and don't understand why things have changed because of what the environment around them is telling them should be normal and acceptable. This is why I think Stranger Things season 5 will be a great eye opener for some people and kind of reveal to the world something that common media never touches on due to conformity. Byler being endgame won't have as much backlash as we think. The GA and Milkvans are going on the same journey as El, discovering the world in many ways and how not everything is cookie cutter perfect, there are outcasts, people have problems, people love differently, and that's okay.