Spoilers for Stranger Things season 5 episodes 5-7 follow.
More episodes of Stranger Things have landed on Netflix as a slightly belated Christmas present, with Chapter Six solving a big mystery about villain Vecna.
The Duffer Brothers' beloved sci-fi series has just gifted fans three episodes of season 5 volume 2 after what seemed like an interminable wait.
Following the first half of this final instalment, released on 26 November — just in time for Thanksgiving in the US — viewers had a little less than one month to go wild with theories.
While most were concerned, and rightly so, with whoever might perish in the inter-dimensional showdown, there was another, more subtle reveal in the first volume of season 5 that might have huge consequences for Hawkins, and the world at large.
Episode six, 'Escape from Camazotz', looks back on Vecna when he was still just a boy named Henry Creel, and draws a connection to the Stranger Things prequel play, The First Shadow.
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Penned by Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry, the play opened in London's West End in December 2023 and has recently crossed the pond for its Broadway debut, welcoming Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower in a December performance.
It was no secret that Stranger Things season 5 would drop a few hints to The First Shadow here and there, though the final chapter remains a heart-pounding, thrilling ride regardless of whether you've seen the play.
But let's take a step back. Planting a seed of an origin story for baddie Vecna, episode four of season 5, 'Sorcerer', didn't just drop the bombshell that Will (Noah Schnapp) can siphon the powers of the hive mind after years of neck goosebumps.
'Sorcerer' also proved that even Vecna has but one, seemingly inexplicable, fear — the cave where Max (Sadie Sink) is hiding in his mind palace.
Now, 'Escape from Camazotz' reveals what Vecna/Henry/One is really hiding from. As Max and Holly (Nell Fisher) search for an exit from the suspended reality Vecna has them trapped them in, they go for a stroll down memory lane. Except, it's not their memories this time around.
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Stranger Things season 4 introduced the idea of hiding inside a happy memory to escape Vecna's curse. By focusing on her friendship with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the Snow Ball with Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max was able to resist Vecna.
But memories can be tricky, as Max reminded Holly in 'Sorcerer'. To flee Vecna's mind palace in 'Escape from Camazotz', the duo had to relive some of their hardest moments, with Holly going once again through the Demogorgon attack that almost killed her mum Karen (Cara Buono). (And dad Ted — why has everyone forgotten about him? No, seriously.)
Hopping from one memory to another, Max and Holly stumble upon a nest of underground tunnels in the desert. However, this location isn't in either of their pasts.
As they advance, they spot a wounded man lying on the ground, his hands tightly gripped onto a briefcase. The man shouts at someone, as a young Henry Creel (Maksim Blatt) steps into the light — and that's when all clicks into place.
Written by The First Shadow playwright Trefry, 'Escape from Camazotz' has the strongest connection to the prequel play.
Max and Holly, and us fans with them, witness Henry's first, shocking killing, albeit one in self-defence. In The First Shadow, Henry goes missing in a Nevada cave, emerging on the other side of it a changed person. Meanwhile, a scientist is found dead in what appears to be an unrelated event.
'Escape from Camazotz' confirms that Henry was, in fact, the one who killed the scientist.
After shooting Henry and injuring his hand, the scientist reloads his gun, leaving enough time for the boy to attack him. Henry doesn't just disarm the man; he crushes his skull with a stone.
"He was only trying to help," Holly says to Max. She feels for Henry, forced to make a quick-thinking decision that would forever alter the course of his life and that of many others.
"Is this what made Henry bad?" Holly asks, but Max has had enough of Vecna's mind palace by now and is determined to follow Kate Bush. We don't blame her.
As Max urges Holly to run, the girl sneaks back to see a sobbing Henry open the briefcase that the man was guarding. This contains the key to enter Dimension X, as mentioned in The First Shadow.
In the play, Henry accidentally transports himself and the scientist to this parallel plane, exposing himself to the influence of the Shadow Monster aka the Mind Flayer. 12 hours alter, Henry gets back with a different blood type and personality, and it all goes downhill from there.
This season of Stranger Things explained the Upside Down has never been the alternate dimension we've all led to believe. The foggy, spore-filled universe is but a bridge between our world and Dimension X, who the Hawkins gang calls the Abyss.
As the series finale, 'The Rightside Up', is gearing up to put this whole mess right, the Hawkins kids need not just to destroy Vecna, but also the bridge that connects the two worlds, the Upside Down.
Like season 4, 'Escape from Camazotz' spotted a glimpse of humanity in Henry/Vecna. A casualty of Dr Brenner/Papa's (Matthew Modine) experiments as much as Eleven and the other gifted kids, Henry is not entirely at fault for what he's become.
The revelation in the new episodes connects the dots with the play, opening a scenario in which Eleven can get through to Henry in a way she never managed before, stopping Vecna from merging the Abyss with the human world.
As we await the show's last battle, Henry may be too far gone and Vecna too evil and powerful to be redeemed, but we wouldn't be surprised if Stranger Things pulled a few, final tricks to make its conclusion truly epic and a little more humane.
Stranger Things releases its series finale on Netflix on New Year's Eve in the US. In the UK, the final episode becomes available at 1am on New Year's Day due to the time difference.
Season 5 episodes 1-7 are streaming now, as are seasons 1-4.
The new edition of Living Legends, celebrating music icon Dolly Parton, is here! Buy Dolly at 80 in newsagents or online, priced at just £8.99.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
