Stranger Things Season 5 Doubles Down on Vecna Retcon
Stranger Things season 5 emphasizes the show's major retcon by rewriting its entire history. The end of season 4 revealed that Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, was the real villain all along. As a distorted mirror of Eleven, this powerful psychic created the Mind Flayer and seized control over the Upside Down.
Vecna's True Influence Revealed
The question of how much control Vecna had and how many of Hawkins’ disasters he caused is now answered. Netflix released the full opening scene of season 5, featuring a surprising flashback to season 1.
Flashback to Season 1
The scene shows a younger Will (Noah Schnapp) while trapped in the Upside Down, finally uncovering what happened after the Demogorgon captured him. It turns out the Demogorgon itself was under Vecna’s influence, and Will was intentionally exposed to the Mind Flayer.
“It was you,” Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven realized as she confronted Vecna in season 4. “It was always you."
Impact on the Story
This new information completes the retcon from season 4, profoundly changing the overall narrative of the show.
Author’s summary: Season 5 of Stranger Things confirms Vecna as the mastermind behind Hawkins' horrors, reshaping the story by linking past events directly to his influence over the Mind Flayer and Will's fate.