Thinking about the way Billy has an eyebrow slit when Dacre doesn't, so you know it's an intentional character design choice. But it was before eyebrow slits were popularised, which means the most likely explanation is a subtle scar preventing hair growth. One guess as to how he might have gotten a facial scar?
Hi! Thanks so much for this question. It's a great one, and one that I think really delves into the subtle nuances to Billy's characterization.
Before I jump directly into what I think may have happened, allow me to provide some context.
When did this eyebrow injury happen?
The first important detail to acknowledge is that Billy does not have an eyebrow slit in S2, but he does in S3 (and we see Billy's eyebrow slit immediately in the first episode).
S2 Photos Showing No Eyebrow Slit
S3 Photos Showing Eyebrow Slit
This means something happened between S2 and S3. We're looking at something occurring roughly between mid-December 1984 and end of June 1985. That's ~6 months for some type of eyebrow injury to occur and then heal to the point that we see it in S3.
When considering eyebrow injuries, hair loss implies that the injury was deep enough to damage the hair follicles. Generally speaking, if the cut is deep enough to damage hair follicles, it is likely that the cut also warrants medical attention, specifically stitches to help with healing, reduce risk of infection, and reduce the effect of scarring. Healing time for the cut (and the removal of the stitches) may take under 2 weeks, but it can take months to see just how much hair will (or will not) grow back. Any scarring also will take significantly longer to heal, too, and could also take several months (roughly 6-12 months, though there are numerous variables that will affect this healing process). Eyebrow injuries can sometimes hide scarring because of the hair, but when we look at Billy's eyebrow slit, there's no apparent visible indentation (obviously because this was Dacre's choice and not a real injury, but walk with me for the purpose of this post).
The other thing I would like to point out is the hair regrowth is not even. The shape of the missing hair line is a bit jagged.
So, considering all of the above, I think it's safe to say that Billy suffered some type of injury to his eyebrow fairly soon after the Epilogue of S2 (so after December 15, 1984) that was deep enough to damage the hair follicle, thereby requiring stitches that helped with the healing process (including some level of healing from scarring). I think a general range for this injury to occur that makes sense for Billy's eyebrow to look as it does in S3 could be between December 1984 - January 1985.
What is one possible explanation for the injury?
Stay with me for a second here. In Season 3, we know that Dacre made the intentional choice in his acting to convey Billy in the eyes and the Mind Flayer in the body. When El comes to Billy, she says, "I want to see what happened." Of course, this is because she's going into Billy's mind, and Billy shows her what happens. REMEMBER: When El asks this question of Billy, she asks this because she wants to know what the Mind Flayer did to Billy. El has NO IDEA about Neil yet. The question was not about Neil. But Billy has been abused since he was a child and has been living in a constant state of traumatic stress (CPTSD). Billy therefore cannot differentiate the trauma from Neil versus the Mind Flayer. And so when he hears, "I want to see what happened," it's not about the Mind Flayer. It's about Neil. Because it started with Neil and continues with Neil. It is hard for Billy to emotionally separate what Neil does to him from any additional trauma and abuse that others inflict on him.
El (and the audience) then visually sees what happens to Billy. Thematically, what's going on with all of this is: Billy (the real Billy) and the truth of the abuse and trauma he's suffered is all there in the eyes.
For an implied history of some injury that occurred on Billy's eyebrow (of all places!) when Dacre's whole point in S3 is to convey the real Billy and the pain that he's suffering as a victim of abuse through Billy's eyes, I think that missing hair implies a recent past injury Billy suffered from the hands of Neil.
Now I need to stress a point: I think Neil's abuse is extremely calculated. Neil is all about power and control. The physical violence Neil inflicts onto Billy is just one part of the abuse. Neil manipulates, gaslights, emotionally abuses, verbally abuses, psychologically abuses, emasculates, isolates, intimidates, parentifies (thereby encouraging resentment between Billy and Max), verbally threatens, and (implied) economically abuses Billy. He makes sure that Billy is always trapped no matter where he turns, creating and instilling near constant fear and anxiety that takes away Billy's agency, body, and defiance until Billy cannot fight back against Neil because he has lost hope.
Again, Neil loves control and power. He curates an image of a perfect family to the outside world that enables him to continue on with the abuse at home. He runs the risk of losing that if his violence onto Billy requires medical attention. I don't think Neil is hurting Billy all the time with injuries that require medical attention regularly. It runs a risk of putting up warning flags to the outside world, and it could come back on Neil if investigations are launched from suspected child abuse.
That said, we also know Neil's rage. The way he breathes and almost holds in his rage with his downturned and pressed facial expression when he throws Billy into shelves in Billy's bedroom shows that he's trying to hold back. He wants to hurt Billy more. And no matter how controlled an abuser is in their tactics, abusers can lapse in their curated abuse.
And I do think a lapse in Neil could have happened.
I think it's also worthy to point out the (rough) timeline as to when Billy's eyebrow injury occurred. It likely happened over the holidays, a time of year that increases the frequency and magnitude of violence in abusive situations. We must also consider Billy's personal situation in the immediate aftermath of the epilogue, which you can read more about here. Through Billy's clothing, styling, and body language, we see a different Billy in the epilogue of S2, one that reveals the effects of abuse and how abuse and violence is perpetuated in such a way that has beaten, emotionally manipulated, and drugged him into a withdrawn silence with nervous energy.
Billy is living in a home where Neil abuses him, Susan has looked away while Billy is abused and doesn't acknowledge Billy, and Max has drugged him with an unknown drug and in such a way that should have killed him. There is no support system at home. Billy is alone and helpless.
There could also be some potential twisted source of power that Neil derives from kicking Billy when he's already emotionally down at this point in the timeline. Allow me a moment to explain this: I do fully believe that Billy's advice to Steve, "Plant your feet; draw a charge" comes from his own experiences of Neil's abuse. Billy has learned that no matter what swings come his way, no matter how many tears he wants to cry, no matter how much Neal beats the defiance out of him, Billy still stands. He still keeps his feet planted. He won't be knocked completely down. And it's important to note that even while Billy is emotionally down at this point, he's not physically down. Could this have pushed Neil over the edge in a moment of rage where he just wants to knock Billy off his feet? And in so doing, Billy does fall and hit his head on the edge of some surface that cuts his brow? Possibly.
I also did a little digging into the weather in Indiana in December of 1984 and January 1985. In December 1984, the weather was a bit milder for the time of year and rainy. In January 1985, Indiana went through an extremely cold spell with record breaking cold (in negative degrees Fahrenheit) that forced school and business closures throughout the state. Several towns didn't have access to water because of burst pipes, and there were multiple deaths across the state because of the extreme cold. There was also heavy snow in January 1985 that shut down major highways, with blizzard-like conditions. In short, Billy (and his whole family) had significantly less ability to get out of the house in January. That's incubating an extremely dangerous situation at home for Billy.
The ingredients are all there, but what stays the most with me is how an injury to the eyebrow from the hands of Neil is just too thematically close to Dacre's choice to show the real Billy and the pain that he's suffering as a victim of abuse through Billy's eyes. It's that subtle hint that if people just looked, just acknowledged him, just showed one act of kindness and care to Billy, he could have been helped.
They just had to see him. They just had to see the signs.
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