My volume 2 timeline prediction: Byler, Will Byers, & the Upside Down
I will warn that this is somewhat using a very vague leak from Twitter which very well could be total bs but it lowkey sounds believable and it got me thinking. Basically they just said ep7 won’t be screened and is being hidden the same way ep4 was, that Mike and El will have to save Will after ep5 and Mike goes full s1 mode, that bylers will be happy with what El does for them in ep6 and that Will and her are giving wonder twins. So yeah… very vague but like, timeline makes sense so let’s use it as a basic guide.
Some of this, I feel very strongly on. Parts of it, is more wishful thinking. And towards the end and with Byler, since we've had so much of those scenes hidden, it's more me freestyling buttttt it makes enough sense and is satisfying enough that my brain feels content with it.
We pretty much know that vol2 picks up right after vol1. We see Joyce and Mike run to Will, with Mike probably looking so in love and awestruck, when I think Erica will interrupt them as she's stationed up in the tower (meaning she watched the entire thing which is crazy) like “hey guys that’s great but uh… the kids got taken.” They’ll jump back into action with everyone in the rightside up reconvening at WSQK. I have a feeling this is when everything begins weighing on Will too as he couldn't save the kids.
Given what they know, I think they will devise a plan to reach everyone else in the Upside Down -- because they have A LOT to tell everyone. They need to tell them Will has powers, that Vecna took 12 kid, and if their theory is correct, has everything he needs. So, because I don't think that was the end of the military, the gang has to find another way to get into the UD without going back to the MAC-Z.
Enter episode name: shock jock. I believe they make a plan to reanimate a dead demogorgon (because you can't tell me that that is not a dead demogorgon in that green sack in the above photo) so that Will can use it to open a gate right there. They're going to use electricity to shock the demo back to life on top of the radio tower.
Will uses his powers to get the demo to open a gate, which is what I feel pretty confident is going on below with Will's eyes white next to Robin and Mike. However, it goes wrong -- because I am also pretty confident that this is the 'run! Mike, do you hear me? You need to run!' scene as well.
Now I've seen some people say that the 'run' scene is Will seeing Vecna send demos after Max. However, I think this is too soon, based on other sequencing of shots (which we will get to soon) and will not happen until ep6. I think this is when we'll get a big reveal -- that the mindflayer is alive and the true big bad. I think the mindflayer may start coming out of the gate or Vecna appears, but either way, I belief Will is going to have visions where they reveal part of the truth of his role to him. However, this will be very unreliable as they are going to want to make Will feel hopeless. That they purposefully unlocked his powers. That he's just like Henry, and there's no way out. That everything was done from the moment they took Will.
Now, if you’re interested in my thoughts on what the UD really is, the Mindflayer/henry/Will relationship, and what this means for the end of ST, I made it a separate post so this wouldn’t get too monstrous here! I think we’re really going to find out the details through a mix of Will’s visions from the mindflayer and Vecna, as well as Dustin and Steve’s investigating.
Anyways, back to my proposed timeline.
Whatever Vecna/mindflayer shows Will, leads him to go through the portal into the UD after yelling at the others to run away. Maybe he has a vision that leads him there or he just genuinely acts on impulse. And you know who I think will follow him there before the temporary gate closes behind him?
Our other two gay idiots: Robin and Mike (I'm 90% sure they end up in the UD because of following Will, especially when we know Finn and Noah filmed most of their scenes together).
In the left photo, I'm going off of outfits to place this as the first in the sequence of their trips to the UD. Mike is still wearing his sweater, Robin is behind him with her black converse. I originally thought the white shoes behind Mike were Will's, but someone helpfully pointed out El's bracelet, meaning they meet up with El and Hopper (and likely Kali as well). Also, note the person has long pants on, indicating that El is still in her vol1 outfit as well. During this time, Lucas, Erica, Murray, and Joyce stay at the radio station (I have limited photos here but the shot of Lucas throwing popcorn with Erica next to him where I imagine they brainstorm).
I think that here we are going to get Will and El scenes where we realize how close they are, full wonder twins vibes, and possibly some Hopper/Will bonding? Somewhere around here is also when I think we'll see the rightside shot of El trying to go into the void. It looks kind of like they're in the lab more than radio station to me tbh... but I think based on what Will saw, El is going to try and find Henry again, maybe working with Kali. But it doesn't work. They need to get El to her tub. And they need to piggyback again.
Like how El uses Max's mind to get to fight Vecna, I think they will realize that El can go through Will's mind to find Vecna since they are so deeply connected. So, cue El, Mike, Will, and likely Robin heading to the rightside up (while I believe Kali and Hopper will stay in the UD to find Dustin and Co. and fight the military).
This is where I believe El will change into her wetsuit and we will get these two scenes happening in the cabin with daylight coming in.
Will, after seeing those visions, feels utterly hopeless, hence him telling Joyce they already failed. I think he feels guilty, like he's a part of the monster, like he's responsible for the kids going missing, and like there is no way out of this for him: either he becomes part of the mindflayer's army, or if they defeat Vecna and the mindflayer, it will kill him too. Cue his hug with Joyce. It make me sick.
Meanwhile, we have the Mike and El heart-to-heart where he’s nervous and worrying about Will. We know from when El goes into the military guy's mind that staying in someone's mind for too long can hurt them. Also, I think Mike is freaking out at everything Will has learned about himself. El tries to reassure him, strongly hinting at the fact they are no longer together, Mike says some DnD stuff about how they can save the day, and El tells him that this isn't like one of his campaigns.
Then she enters the void.
El goes to Will’s mind and finds Vecna. Through this, I think she also finds Max and Holly as they are trapped in Vecna's memories. I'm not sure she'll be able to communicate with them as that feels maybe too easy, but she at least is able to watch them enough to figure out that Max has a plan -- she has a possible way to escape with Holly.
However, it goes wrong. I think Vecna will figure out what they're doing. He'll sense it. And then he goes after Will in his mind. I think he'll put Will into a trance, leading to this terrifying shot above where they're in the UD (hence the lighting), Vecna possibly revealing even more to Will -- like maybe that the UD was his creation? I think he will then torment Will further using Mike (like how the mindflayer uses Pattie against Henry). But because El is in Will's mind, she's going to see it. And if this is how the painting comes back up (because we know it does)... then this makes sense for El doing something that helps Will/Mike.
El is going to snap out of the void as Vecna traps Will's consciousness (similar to what he does to Max, but not necessarily in that same memory). The mindflayer and Vecna need Will alive -- hence why they don't just kill him -- but they can't let El use him either, so they put him into a coma.
El freaks out and tells Mike what happened (to some extent), before rushing into the other room where Will hasn't woken up. Cue the end of the episode.
Now, the four have gone back to the radio station from the cabin. El tells Mike in more detail what she saw and asks him about the painting. This is how Mike finds out.
Cue this scene where Mike is lingering behind Joyce and an unconscious Will on the couch. I'm sorry, imagine the ANGST of Mike knowing about the painting and not being able to talk to Will about it. Imagine the Joyce/Mike heart-to-heart. Ugh.
But they come up with a plan based on what El saw. They send Lucas and Robin to the hospital to get Max -- if El saw her, she knows that she's going to escape (from camazotz) soon, and they'll need to protect her. And based on what we've seen from the hospital, yeah, that's a good idea. Because Henry finds out Max and Holly are going to escape. And if Max's consciousness gets back into her physical body, part of the connection between the UD and rightside up (created when she, as the final victim, 'died') will be destabilized. So, Henry sends demos to the hospital to kill her.
See here how Vickie is right there, yet the demo ignores her. It's because it is specifically after Max, who we know Lucas picks up and carries as the demo continues after them. Eventually, they'll make it out, and I think with Erica and Murray waiting in the car, all of them head back to the Squawk, where Max I think will wake up (or in the car on the way). I also think through their escape, we are going to find out more about Henry -- and why he's so scared of those damn rocks. But I think ep6 will really be where Henry's role and life is made clear.
Meanwhile, Joyce stays with Will's body while El and Mike go to the UD -- cue what the leaker said about Mike and El teaming up to save Will and bringing out s1 vibes. Cue their 2nd trip to the UD.
I've placed this here in the timeline based on outfits once again. Notice that Mike, hugging Dustin, is still wearing his sweater, while El (labeled with a J for Jane) is wearing the wetsuit still. Then, I think it could be Hopper behind them. But here, El and Mike find the rest of the crew and have to devise some kind of plan to get Max and Will out (I think they will try to get Holly out but it won't work as planned -- after all, her body is still trapped, in what I think IS the wall with the rest of the kids). Maybe they temporarily breach the wall somehow, the logistics get a bit fuzzy here. But the important thing is that whatever they do, it gives Max, Will, Holly, and maybe the other kids (?) the chance to escape. Now this might all be a lot to fit into one episode, but stick with me.
Will and Max wake back up, and we finally have everyone reunited in the rightside up -- cue Will group hug. Will has now changed into his final outfit -- the hoodie and vest -- indicating it's later in the timeline, while El is still in the wetsuit and Mike is in his sweater.
Also given the circumstances, I think them all hugging Will makes a lot of sense, especially the emotion on Jonathan's face: they have found out he has powers, that he is a part of (or literally IS) the UD, and probably even more that I can't fathom yet from Dustin's discoveries.
Now, cue group plotting time and what I think leads to the last trip we see in the trailer of them to the UD. Possibly the beginning of the final battle. And oh yeah, Mike finally gets a damn change of clothes and is back into his camo getup.
The whole group breaks into the UD (with murray driving them in the truck), and splits off into groups. I think Will is going to be some kind of bait here or have a dangerous part in the plan. And Mike will be losing his shit.
Cue this scene between Mike and El. To me, this reads as acceptance and guilt. To me, this is El telling Mike that it's okay, that he should go be with Will, that Will needs him. And she says it with such a knowing look, now having fully put together Mike's feelings for Will, that it hits Mike. He feels guilty, hit by the realization that El knows, that she knows he never loved her that way, and that he loves Will. But he accepts it. He backs up, and goes to find Will.
Now, this is where much of my certainty ends. But as an ep7 "The Paladin and The Cleric" truther, I believe ep6 ends on a byler cliffhanger. So hear me out...
The Byler of it all into ep7
Time to freestyle. I think that here, Mike is going to confront Will about the painting, finally having time alone (mimicking Lucas and Max's lil moment before everything in the s4 finale). It appears in the above shots that nothing is happening yet, they're in a waiting mode.
While they wait, Mike brings up the painting. Will gets tense, they begin arguing possibly (Shawn Levy did hint at an angsty byler fight after all). But the cliffhanger? It turns into a Vecna vision.
Imagine this: they're arguing, and all of a sudden Will becomes cruel. He possibly tells Mike he loves him and the second Mike reciprocates, starts telling Mike that he's disgusting. Saying that he knows what Mike really is. And the 'Will' slowly morphs into Vecna.
Roll credits. That's why El/Mike fans will hate the end up ep6 according to that leak.
Now, episode 7. The supposed leaked title being 'The Paladin and The Cleric,' only to now be called 'The Bridge.' However, the leaker got every other episode name right aside from 7 and 8. I think it's a high possibility that 'The Bridge' could be a fake name to avoid spoilers, like what they did in seasons 2 and 3. Or, at the time the leaker had the information, ep7 was going to be titled that. Either way, I think ep7 is byler time. And I think it's where we get Mike's perspective for the first time in SEASONS.
I think ep7 will pick up here, now going back through Mike's memories and recontextualizing EVERYTHING. We see him getting Vecna'd (losing sleep and then drinking coffee, having nightmares, etc.). We will possibly see missing scenes from prior seasons (like the mysterious motel scene of s4??), the missing 18 months, or even just going through scenes we have seen but in this new light of knowing Mike's feelings.
Now, if I'm trying to incorporate basementgate into this somewhere, I think it could be here -- a memory of Mike's, possibly one he hides in to escape Vecna. It will be them in the basement, sharing a moment, and leading to an almost kiss (or even a real one? but I think not quite yet).
But it will end with Will saving Mike. Maybe he goes into Mike's mind somehow, or he gets El to help. But I think Will is going to say something to Mike, not directly confessing his feelings because I think it'll be Mike first, but maybe telling Mike he needs him. And Mike hears it, and realizes that Will didn't just lie about the painting and make those words up -- no, they were Will's words.
Now, alternatively, if Mike is not Vecna'd, though I really think he could be considering how hard they have hidden his perspective this season, I could see Vecna putting Will into a trance instead. But, for this, I'm going to assume it's Mike because I want it to be <3
Mike wakes up, and immediately hugs Will. Cue the post-near death moment where Mike confesses everything to Will. And we get a beautiful, breath-taking, 360, spinning camera, 'Heroes' playing, soul-crushing, passionate, intense byler kiss.
But back to the action. Again, logistics of the party's plan get fuzzy, but I know how I believe the episode will end.
A fake-out death of Will.
Imagine, Will does it on purpose, believing that nothing will save them unless he dies, to collapse the UD. Imagine him using his powers to HOLD MIKE BACK. The ANGST. I don't think reciprocal feelings from Mike would stop Will from doing this; in fact, I think it would actually make Will a bit more content to do it, because that -- kissing Mike and knowing he loved him -- was more than he ever thought he'd have.
Or, it's an accident. But they get a big hit on Vecna or the mindflayer (possibly even kill Vecna, leaving the mindflayer as the final enemy for the finale) that hurts Will so badly, they think he dies (or if Vecna is killed, he potentially does tie temporarily).
I think that's where ep7 will leave us, a 'Deathly Hallows' Harry Potter esque scene where we see everyone absolutely destroyed. We get Joyce falling to the ground. Jonathan holding onto Nancy and having to look awake. Mike refusing to get up, sobbing over his body.
But don't worry, it won't end like that. Will is getting his happy ending. Because his power comes from love, not anger or fear. He will be able to break out. He will be given a chance to cut his ties to Henry, like Harry cutting off the part of him that was a Horocrux.
So, yeah. This is the longest a post has taken me, but I feel good about this explanation for vol2. I think I loaded a lotttt into ep6 so some of it might actually bleed into ep7 too. Pleaseeee let me know your thoughts, I am so curious and so ecstatic (and so, so scared) to see where this season is taking us.
dailybridgerton
germansingergirl
blakekathryn
tangentwithtanner
