Charles Wallace goes to confront IT alone, allowing himself to be overtaken and trapped. He insisted that he understood the scape better than the others, justifying his decision to go alone. In Volume 1, Will also insists that he could use his abilities to help find and rescue Holly through his connection to the hive mind.
If the emotions we see from Will here are tied to his failure to save the children, his loss of autonomy, and his growing sense of defeat (which we hear echoed in his lines in the trailer), then he is at a point where he is particularly vulnerable to emotional manipulation by Vecna.
Will is described by the Duffer Brothers as the heart of this season, and there is a noticeable emphasis—at least twice—on his emotional persistence in trying to find Holly. It is implied that Holly is left behind in Camazotz, trapped, and that this will weigh heavily on everyone.
Will is the only one we know who can see beyond the wall and locate where she is. He is also foreshadowed to be part of Vecna’s larger plan: the spires, Will positioned at the center, the twelve kids forming the numbers of the clock, and other symbolic imagery all point to this.
What if Will goes alone not just out of necessity, but out of regret for not saving them? He chooses isolation willingly. This could stem from several factors: survivor’s guilt, a sense of responsibility toward the kids given his own experiences, and his desire to prevent them from enduring what he did. Will has always been a deeply selfless character. His growing lack of hope, saying that they failed, aligns with the progression of his loss of autonomy.
From Vecna’s perspective, isolating Will from what are considered his emotional anchors would allow full control over him. The question then becomes: what could break those anchors? Will’s guilt, regret, and his fear of seeing himself as a monster are all exploitable weaknesses.
Vecna wouldn’t drag Will in against his will. He would let Will choose. And that choice, made out of love, guilt, and responsibility, is what makes Will’s eventual possession so much more tragic.
Now…
Charles is saved by the act of love. Meg goes after him, and though they share the sibling bond, for a story to take inspiration it does not always have to be 100% parallels to characters, rather the narrative at large. If we didn’t have the Montauk script I would’ve assumed Mike went in to search for Holly, who also parallels Charles, as they would share the sibling bond as well, and Jane is accompanying him. However, in regards to this script, as well as parallels to the villain taking complete control over the character’s self, it also aligns to Will and to his bigger role in Vecna’s plan. (Why Will?)
That’s what makes theories fun, there’s a possibility for anything. But this, in addition to the parallels of Mike with Patty in the stage play, at a moment where Will has regrets over himself, there needs to be the ones who’re Will’s anchors, his believers.
Robin.
Joyce, Jonathan, Jane.
And Mike. Who refused to accept Will was gone, and never stopped believing in him, tying this all back to S1.
Again, seeing the Montauk script, and drawing the parallels from the (still very vague) trailer, it had me thinking.
Again with the parallels. Not going much into the stage play but they did also recently confirm through their official site that these pairings draw direct parallels to each other (wow, what a coincidence…) Mike had never lost hope in Will, and he is part of Will’s emotional anchor. It is ultimately love that refuses the entity’s influence, same in AWIT, same in this universe. It was only that Patty’s love was not strong enough to break Henry free from the darkness. It did briefly, but not entirely.
What happens when love refuses to let go? And this time, Mike would be stepping into the darkness to find the answer.
“… really love each other beyond any way they knew they possibly could. And fighting for things that you love when it seems like they could be taken from you[…]”
Don’t take the interview too seriously, we don’t know what he means by this YET. They could also be fucking with us lmao but anyways, bring on Volume 2! (We’re so fucked)
did gaten say will went missing both times?? WDYM BOTH TIMES (it’s like a 3 day timeline for s5, I think we are at the nov 6 mark once it turns to daylight after the macz stuff
