The reason was revealed in an official Stranger Things play… and it’s potentially setting up Vecna’s redemption arc… Yes, you read that all right.
The reason Max is able to survive in the cave is already known for diehard fans who have seen the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
We’re going to quickly break it all down for you, along with the potential retcons the play has caused, and how all this is setting up Henry to have a redemption arc.
I want to preface that I think giving Vecna a redemption arc is a bad idea. I hope I’m wrong, but the seeds have been planted. The Duffers have even confirmed it’s the same cave from the stage play.
New plot points revealed in the play
Back during WW2, the government had its first brush with Dimension X.
It’s revealed that they were experimenting with an invisibility device on warships to try and be undetectable to the Nazis, however, it accidentally briefly transported one of their ships to Dimension X, where nearly the entire crew was killed almost instantly by demogorgans, leaving a sole survivor, Captain Brenner, father of Dr. Martin Brenner, aka ‘Papa’. He returned with a different blood type and recounted the events to his son before dying shortly after.
Fast forward to the 1950s and Dr. Brenner attempted to recreate the transportation in the Nevada Experiment. Some of the equipment was stolen and hidden in a cave by a Soviet spy, which brings us to Henry Creel.
When Henry was eight years old, he lived in Rachel, Nevada near this cave system where the equipment was hidden and never found. He went exploring into the caves, stumbled on the equipment, and the moment he touched one of the devices, something activated and he was transported to Dimension X. As a reminder, Dimension X is a different, but similar universe to The Upside Down. In there, he saw strange creatures (likely including demogorgans) and returned 12 hours later with a new blood type, powers, and a changed personality. It’s also implied Henry was first influenced by an early version of the Mind Flayer there.
This is a very different account to what we see when Henry explains what happened to himself after Eleven transported him to Dimension X. This likely means that what happened in the cave is a repressed memory, or the Mind Flayer doesn’t want him to remember this day, preventing him from going into the cave.
Another detail the play implies is that it’s not clear who is really in charge of the hive mind between the Mind Flayer and Vecna. This is a seed that already sets up a potential conflict between the two forces later on as they vie for power.
Henry Creel’s Age Seems to Be Retconned
Now, I want to explain what would be a major retcon the Duffer Brothers just seemingly did between the play and S5, and how they are setting up Vecna/Henry for a redemption arc.
When Henry Creel killed his family, it explicitly stated in S4 that he was 12-years-old and then was reported dead after falling into a coma. We know this from newspaper clippings Nancy and Robin found, but I do want to point out there seemed to be a production error with Henry’s sister being listed as 15, when she seemed clearly younger. Could that mean it was also an error with Henry’s age? The young Henry Creel actor was 13 at the time of filming, so it seems doubtful he was meant to be a high schooler.
The stage play — and this season with the Max memory sequence where she’s at Hawkins High School — show that Henry Creel has been cast in ‘Oklahoma!’, and also knew Joyce Byers (who they showed in the scene) and Jim Hopper… this makes no sense, as no 12-year old would be in high school.
Joyce even directed him in the show, and never mentions knowing him ever in S4 or S5?
I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt that maybe Joyce Byers cast a 12-year old in the production, but it’s stated multiple times in the stage play Henry is in high school.
The play further implies that The Mind Flayer is influencing Henry to kill animals, as we saw happen in S4, but it also feels like this retcon is going to lead to some contrived connection between Joyce and Henry, and why her son Will was targeted originally.
Henry Creel’s Redemption Arc
The Duffer Brothers have already stated they were inspired by Darth Vader this season, specifically the Rogue One hallway scene for Vecna’s dismantling of the military at the end of S5 E4, but it seems so clear now they’ve also laid the groundwork for the Anakin Skywalker redemption arc for his Henry Creel side, and I would not be shocked if this ends with Henry/Vecna turning on the Mind Flayer and sacrificing himself to destroy the Upside Down universe / Dimension X, and the Mind Flayer.
Now how do we get to this point? My theory below.
When Max inevitably gets out of Vecna’s mind trap, she will share the information with Eleven and Eight on how he’s scared of the cave. Eight’s powers include the ability to manipulate people’s minds. You see where I’m going?
They team up with Will, who can now tap into the hive mind when he’s in proximity of it, to fight Vecna and get into his head and dig into that memory. This causes Henry to remember the true events of what happened in his childhood, and being influenced by the Mind Flayer unknowingly, and frees that part of himself to fight back.
Do I think this is a good idea? No, I’d love to just see an evil villain stay a villain. Not every character needs a redemption arc. This show though is known to pull from all types of iconic 80s projects, and nothing from that era is bigger than Star Wars. why not just go all the way with it and take the Darth Vader killing his manipulative master storyline? It’s something they would totally do.
Not totally convinced? When Noah Schnapp was asked who is the most misunderstood villain, he said ‘Lowkey Vecna…’ and then Millie Bobby Brown immediately told him to shut up. The older actors were seperately asked the same thing in that junket and danced around Vecna being misunderstood.
Finally, here’s the Duffer Brother’s response to Variety when asked if the Mind Flayer is the ‘real evil’.
Leave your thoughts and comments below and check out our TV section for more updates.
