Warning: spoilers ahead for the season 5 finale of Stranger Things.
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 Netflixseries creators Matt and Ross Duffer, along with Bower, address the connection Stranger Things‘, the main antagonist, Vecna, has with Mind Flayer. At a crucial moment in the finale, Vecna is shown confronting his demons in the Nevada cave he spent the entire season avoiding, and Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) tries to reason with him and show that he is being manipulated.
Instead, Vecna refuses compassion and states that the Mind Flayer simply “showed me that this world is broken, that man is brokenBower said it was a lightbulb moment for Vecna, but also for the public and fans around the world: “It was the first moment of season 5 [where] I really felt human again and I understood that. I felt like I wanted to protect him all this time, because I felt like everyone hated him. And that’s when I said to myself, “Now you see why I’m [the way I am].’ “
Ross Duffer also addressed the connection between who Henry Creel was and who he became at the hands of the Mind Flayer in these caves:
“We discussed with the writers room if he could have a Billy [Dacre Montgomery] moment when he turns against Mind Flayer [in a] Darth Vader situation. But the more we talked about it with the writers and with Jamie [Campbell Bower]he has come this far to this point to get to this point, he needs to justify everything he has done. And the only way to justify that is to say, “I chose this and I still believe in it.” »
Even though he is shaken by seeing this memory, he has gone too far at this point to turn against the Mind Flayer. But we wanted to give the audience a choice as to whether young Henry chose that or whether it was just the Mind Flayer controlling him from start to finish. But ultimately, as for where Henry goes, it doesn’t matter because he chooses the Mind Flayer’s side in the end. »
Billy’s death in season 3 was a pivotal moment for a character who started out as a selfish, arrogant and rather unsympathetic individual who was later taken under the control of the Mind Flayer in the same way as Vecna, but in the finale at Starcourt Mall, Billy sacrifices himself for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her half-sister Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink). Vecna, however, chose to stick to her plans, which ultimately led to her head being amputated by Winona Ryder’s character, Joyce Byers.
All seasons of Stranger Things are available for streaming on Netflix.
- Release date
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2016 – 00/00/2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
- Directors
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Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Antal Nimród, Uta Briesewitz
- Writers
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Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
