three demogorgans. mike shouts will's name three times. three gay people in the room.
there are THREE doors that Max talks about!! suicide, acceptance, or escape. and I'm sure a lot of people know about the consistent door imagery used with mike, as well as references to it in songs and dialogue - but I'll give some examples anyway:
Nancy: open the door, Mike
Hopper: getting to Mike... that was the key
š¶ you open up the door š¶
Mike: Max, get away from the door!!
*Mike gets door slammed on him when he accidentally goes into the girls bathroom*
š¶ so I open the door - it's the "friend" that I let in the hallway. you know I hate to ask - but are "friends" electric? š¶
Mike: I have an idea. Boys only. *proceeds to walk though a door. the camera then zooms into a sign that says "boys"*
š¶ there's a knock on the door š¶
š¶ I can lock all my doors š¶
š¶ the door always must be left unlocked š¶
*Eleven slams the door on Mike when she knows he's lying to her*Ć2
El also seems to not like closed doors. When Mike hides her in his closet, she gets memories of her time in the lab. When Mike guides her to the bathroom to get changed, she asks him to leave the door open just slightly.
Hopper also tells El and Mike to leave the door open THREE FUCKING INCHES.
and the "Max, get away from the door!!" line is actually screaming at me right now because. Max talks about the three doors (suicide, acceptance, escape). and what do we see in the trailer? (Mike: you can open dimension doors)
right. right.
anyway. I wanted to say. the way he's holding up his fingers make a W. which could mean nothing...
I could very much be reading into it but they're really emphasizing this number, and this season has been very focused on signals and the radio station, when Robin slips in clues/numbers for the party to decode.
I think that this repeated 3, as well as the connection of Mike to doors, means that he's going to now, finally pick door 3. Camazotz is a place that represents conformity - it's a metaphor for the world we live in. To escape/deal with Camazotz, this hell hole of conformity, Max mentions the 3 doors. Suicide, acceptance, escape. Mike has tried all 3 doors. In season 1, he tries the first door. In season 2, 3, and 4, he chooses the second door (he represses his feelings and accepts the heteronormativity around him. he conforms.) And in season 5 - he's going finally going to choose the third door. Escaping Camazotz. Escaping conformity. Idk if that makes sense because I'm half asleep rn š
For those still in doubt that Will flayed/influenced Hopper in ST3ā¦
So when someone flays another basically what happens is, as Mike states they ā[take] over their mindā and ābasically become himā.
Now, itās very interesting how in ST3 we see Hopper act childish- but exclusively in ST3. The very same season Will desperately holds onto his childhood.
Itās suspiciously very meta for him to say lines like this. Itās intentional. The writers didnāt just forget how to write Hopper. We are supposed to notice this abrupt shift in his persona and overall demeanour.
As Will says, he likes to hide. Interestingly enough Will and him share that in common. Note the āonly used me when he needed meā. Same is true for Will using Hopper. Hopper still has moments where he is his ānormalā self.
Whenever Hopper is āseriousā, itās really him. Whenever heās emotional and kid-like, heās under Willās influence.
The Clues
So, letās start by going over some of the major clues, shall we?
Him saying this to a Byers of course. Interesting writing choice.
The original script tells us that Will wears colourful clothes. Thatās his style and he stands out because of it. Now it seems to be Hopperās style all of a sudden too. Itās even noted by officer Powell here that itās surprising to see Hopper dress this way.
Play these transition scenes. The first one has Lucas asking Will for permission to take a shower, then we are shown Hopper showering. I suppose Will granted Hopper said permission. Then of course we have El asking āhow can you tell when someoneās a host?ā afterwards the first person we see is Hopper himself. A perfect example of a host. They answered her question!
We are often shown Hopper acting childish. Look at how heās holding his pillow! We never saw him doing this in seasons prior. Then we have Murray outright calling him a āmanbabyā and āchildrenā.
When āHopperā orders an alcoholic beverage he struggles with the pronunciation. Reminiscent of a young person attempting (but failing) to appear older and more mature.
We even are shown him being fed lines that came from a Byers.
Now for the major clue. Why oh why did they show Will while Mike explained that Hopper threatened him? Not just Will, but Will moving pieces on a board. Heās essentially controlling things! Bending to his will, if you will. I mean it makes sense. We know Will was very jealous of Mike and El and complained about them! Just like Hopper, he wants them to break up. Perhaps even more than Hopper actually does.
Then we have Mike referring to him as crazy! Thatās their special word, so naturally āHopperā/Will does not take this well. Look at his face! He looks betrayed.
The References
Itās extremely subtle, but we have another Byler/Jopper parallel here. Earlier in 3x01, we see Joyce holding Hopperās left hand, very reminiscent of Mike holding Willās right hand last season. Then we have Hopper communicating in Morse Code as he and Mike fight to lock/unlock the car door several times. Notice how we have a shot of his left hand doing the locking of the door? Same one Joyce held. Iāve tried to work out what heās communicating but Iām falling short. If anyone wants to take a stab at it please let me know your findings!
Then we have the Back to the Future references. Again very subtle, but there nonetheless. As we know, Will is compared to Marty Mcfly a fair bit, ever since his very first appearance!
Do you recall the plot of Back to the Future? Marty travels to the past, accidentally changes some things, then has to bring his parents back together! Will does the same thingā¦ through Hopper!
And just like Martyā¦ things get a tad bit awkwardā¦
Now keep in mindā¦ these scenes all occur within the same episode. While trying to set up his mother and Hopper together through āflayingā Hopper, Will accidentally gets his mom interested in him (as Hopper). That is why he refers to Murray as āFreudā aka the Psychologist who created the theory of āthe Oedipus Complexā. This is also why Robin drops that line about of the movie.
Soā¦ How?
If you recall back in ST2, Hopper is spat on by something and was trapped in the UD. Will is able to sense him and thus is connected to him. Hopper is a part of Willās hive mind. I also believe they may be biologically father and sonā¦ but thatās for another post.
The Implications of All of Thisā¦
So what does this mean? Iām not fully sure, but it seems like Will has some abilities here. I have no idea if itās future Will manipulating things, or present Will and Iām not so sure how aware he is of all of this.
But in regards to Mikeā¦ here are some funny implicationsā¦
ST3 shows us a Mike with a peculiar fascination with bears. Bears seem to be associated with Will and ābearā has a specific other definitionā¦
Now the icing on the cake with this is the fact that Mike has made comments regarding Hopperās weight multiple times! So, heās well aware of Hopperās ābearā status. Mike shows interest in bears because heās interested in Will. Will essentially is a ābearā while he is puppeteering Hopper.
Itās also nice to know that Will actually did get that hug he yearned for from Mike. We just didnāt realize it. Mike and āHopperā hugged a tad longer than normal too while Will was facing them of course.
To conclude, I know this theory sounds so silly and I sound insane, but I swear to youā¦ this is real. I may be wrong about some aspects of this but I know Will influenced Hopper in some way. Remember though, itās not a constant thing. Will only āused him when he needed toā. Will experienced being flayed in ST2, then he became the āflayerā in ST3.
If you have any questions or comments about this theory feel free to send me an ask! These things are fun to think and talk about.
LET ME GET INSIDE OF MIKE WHEELERS HEAD!!!! VECNA GET HIM!!!
This monologue had me thinking
Obviously I don't think papa is talking about mike directly, but this is the shows own ideals and philosophies so why on earth would they go against it?!?!?
Also pls let me see the inside of his brain I beg I know shit is dark in there!!!
Stranger Things: A Story about Fear, Love, Biases, Misconceptions and Us
We are well aware of the plot The First Shadow. A story in which two people fall in love, but fear wins over love.
We are all well aware of the ending of Stranger Things. A story where two people fall in love, but fear wins over.
First, I will preface this meta by saying a few things: I will not accept anyone rebloging this with points about a divorce, or about these people's personal lives, and if anyone tries I will block without discussion because I am not here to serve as jury, judge and executioner.
Secondly, this meta will touch on implicit bias, PR manipulation and what I think the meta of Stranger Things might be trying to do.
In a previous post I went into detail about the Conformity Test and as how we, as human beings, operate.
Now, I want to start at the beginning for a bit.
A story he can never tell
As much as I don't want to use the words "cautionary tale" I feel I will have to for the sake of the point I am trying to get across.
Before that, at the risk of sounding slightly aggressive, the foundation of Byler exists thanks to the Duffer brothers.
I know, I probably just said something that will offend pissed off bylers but it is the objective truth.
The very first scene that lies at the core of Will and Mike's relationship was written and directed by them. The scene where Mike strips himself bare, lays his armour down, and crying tells Will that asking him to be his friend was "the best thing I ever did".
Every gentle frame, every softly lit face, every contrast between shadow and light, every part of how intimate that scene comes across is thanks to them. The sheer devotion you felt when you watched it is thanks to them.
The scene that got many to ship them wss written and directed by them. If you watch that scene with no resentment, I can promise you, you'll find every ounce of care that was put into every single frame, every single shot.
And it wouldn't be the first time, nor would be the last.
The most important moments in the history of Will and Mike were either written by them, directed by them, or influenced by them.
Ok with that hot take out of the way, I want to talk about Mike for a little bit, and how he tells Will there is a story he'll never be able to tell.
That story is the story of how much he loves Will. Is their love story.
Another hit take while I am at it: Their love story remains. It was never finished, and to quote Cloud Atlas: "A half finished book is afterall a half finished love affair".
I understand the Duffers are trying to say Byler was never in the cards, that it was never part of the plan. Guys, meet a lie and a meta. (I'll go into more detail about this).
Mike is still a queercoded boy, remained so to the bitter end. He remained a queer boy too scared to face his feelings.
This is a story about fear that won.
But it is also a story about fear that doesn't look like it, but rather looks like safety. There is a reason so many people of the GA accepted as fact - is comfortable, familiar, predictable.
They are showing, via message, that most won't question what is safe, even when they should. That you might build your own entire life on a lie, only because is comfortable.
We often picture fear associated with something dangerous, but this ending establishes that fear can create the most normal of the worlds, one you wouldn't question because is safe.
Who would question a show that ends the exact same way most shows did?
The story Mike can never tell? Is the one where he loves his best friend so deeply but falters. Is the one where he conforms because the alternative is too scary.
Is the one where Vecna wins, rewrites reality as we know it and the world we live in, they live in - is a consequence of that.
So then you might ask? Why didn't they give us the good ending? Why make avid fans go through that?
If I would hazard a guess, I would say part of it is ego. They want to go down as massive storytellers with a huge plot twist and a publicity stunt of massive scales. They want to redefine how people interact with stories and they want to be the reason they do that.
I would be a hypocrite if I said I don't get it. I said it before and I will say it again, this isn't about shipping or any individual or even all fans. They do not expect anything from us and it would be a mistake and too self important of us to think they do.
They are clearly mocking the current disinterest of story tellers, the blase attitude of most, the betrayal of themes, the betrayal of characters, they are betraying themselves so they can make a point.
The story they need to tell
As someone has pointed out, we are all under Vecna's curse.
From a meta standpoint, it is interesting they would choose to do that as commentary. They pair us with children, make am offhand commentary about how we tend to perceive everything that is different as monstrous and how we often perceive our side as "the right" side while having Henry calling his side as the side of the light.
The USA is under Trump's administration, rights are being stripped away, ICE is raiding homes, innocent people are being ripped away from their families and a woman died trying to do the right thing. And millions of people are still trying to find a way of justifying that. There are people still trying to argue that Rennee Good was some type of terrorist and that she was threatening Jonathan Ross.
And the irony is? People believe that.
People no longer believe their own common sense, their lack of empathy and critical thinking runs so deep they no longer believe their eyes, or their ears. And they will still say they are in the right side.
And in one of the biggest shows in the world, we have a villain calling his side as "the side of the light", indoctrinating children via fear and misinformation and somehow we are debating whether or not the Duffers use AI.
The realization of what they were doing with that choice hit me deeply within me and it should hit you just as hard. It wouls have if you weren't too busy spreading false narratives online.
We are a part of the meta because we are a part of the problem.
And I don't mean just those who reviewed bombed an episode of a queer person coming out because it didn't happen how they thought it should (regardless of how well intentioned you were), or those who reviewed bomb due to homophobia.
I mean:
Those who consume things mindlessly, who accept any given ending because it is comfortable, those who ignore themes and message for the sake of nostalgia and don't question it.
I mean those who work under preconceived notions on the writers and believe everything that is spread online blindly. Those who pin it on a divorce, supposed stupidity and a skewed moral compass. Those who drag a woman who has her own accolades and her own voice into her ex husbands world for no reason other than being petty.
Those who are so desperate for someone to blame, who are rightfully so tired of queerbaiting that they send death threats and make dangerous, mob like mentality allegations against people they don't know because they think they are doing the right thing.
Those who watched in silence while Noah Schnapp was harassed for years and now want to pretend they ever gave a damn about him.
Those who would rather believe writers that took strikes seriously in a show were a producer said they wouldn't use AI deaging would leave a tab open where they use ChatGPT because that was what you already believed about them.
We are all guilty of having preconceived notions of others. They might not be about their race, or gender, or sexual orientation or their identity. They might be about something as "innocent" as them being too stupid to pull something off. About them being "slow", about their wife doing all work for them, about their personal lives.
They used every single one of those notions against us and many fell for it, and are still falling for it.
We are all under Vecna's course because we are all guided by fear, misguided views on humanity and the actors and directors are putting themselves in the line of fire to make a point.
We all believe what is comfortable for us, even without proof, even when it makes no sense, because is human nature. And the interesting part is that, if I am right, they are saying the same is true for them right now.
They are also under Vecna's curse because he managed to make them not write the story the way they wanted to. They let fear win and now we are all plagued with this eery sense that something is wrong, we just can't prove it.
Vecna not only erased everything else. They erased the heart and soul (Will and Mike) and the love between them so he could win. He erased a love that even at is infancy had the power to destroy him and the world he built.
Is interesting to note that the world Henry aka Vecna created was one that during his whole spiel to El he seemed to hate but one even he conformed to, in the end.
(I realize I'm getting cocky but potential spoiler warning for VOL 2 plot. This would be cool as a reveal so scroll now if you want!)
In this post I say Will is a receiver (I screamed when Robin said it! :D)
And, I say the dimension-travel in ST is traveling through memories. Yesterday, we learned Max is trapped in Henryās memories.
Wait, Max is using Holly as her ticket out... JUST LIKE HENRY and EL
āThis place is not you thinkā (Whose mind is Henry trapped in?!)
Meanwhile, Mike is AGAIN associated with THE SOURCE & CHANCE
MIKE IS WAITING FOR HIS CHANCE TO FIX THE LEAK
HOW WILL HE FIX THE LEAK?!
MICHEAL PLAGIARISM WHEELER. He steals love monologues, copies Max's homework, uses derivative references for plans... It has been in front of us this whole time!!!
What if Mike isn't being controlled by the MF like we thought?
What if he is hijacking it? JUST LIKE WILL HIJACKED VECNA!
I point out all the rules, science, and evidence for this in Mike & The MF, where I regrettably accuse Mike of letting the Mindflayer do the thinking WHEN THAT IS SO NOT MIKE! The Mindflayer thinks it is controlling the timelines, when, really, Mike's plan is falling into place right under the MF's nose!
What I am essentially saying is that several major events in the show, including Will's kidnapping, have been painstakingly coordinated by our cast from the future! I have actually posted about how this could be possible before!
I think the goal is to find the timeline where everyone lives and the leak is plugged - the Indigo Another Way Timeline.
We have to keep repeating the loop until we find an opening ( a chance) to WIN. If Mike is looping us, then we are all technically in his (or our) memories; I think that is where the weird creatures come from: subconsciousness leaking in. I talk about that here and here.
THE PLAN
This plan is a joint effort from all our cast, but especially Will and Mike. Because Step 1 of the plan? Kidnap Will. I CAN PROVE IT.
Mike made a bet on Henry underestimating Will's strength! He made a bet on Will! They sent baby Will in there as a spy!
"The one kid the military failed to wrangle." This line makes me think the whole show might not be a rescue mission for Will, but for Will's TWIN who didn't escape like Will did! (White Lightning & CHIMERA).
Everyone on tiktok is saying that the door unlocking in S1E1 was baby Eleven... but I don't think so. I think that's our El doing her part for the plan.
All along... we have been the monsters.
Anyways.
The face of a man who will bet on Will Byers every time.
AND WHY DO ALL THE ACTORS KEEP LOOKING DIRECTLY INTO THE CAMERA AT THE AUDIENCE?! something about a never ending storyā¦
More. I am pulling screenshots from Mike & the MF in case you don't want to reread it every time I reference it.
Let's not forget the Core Four are the smartest kids in Hawkins. Lucas wonders why Vecna is 'holding back'. He is telling YOU the audience that something is not adding up about Vecna's supposed villainy.
Will = Not Vecna. Lucas just told us. It's Will.
Drain reference means we should pay attention to Mike (and Will). Nancy often gives subtext for Mike - it's ironic because the 'monster' she is looking for is closer than she thinks.
Byler sent El to unlock the door so the demogorgon could kidnap Will. In fact, Byler sent for El from the very beginning. Byler are puppet masters. Vecna and the Mindflayer.
Mike and Will are puppeting themselves, each other, everyone by using the power of Vecna and the MF. (theory by @greenfiend with evidence Hopper was flayed by Will in S3 (I am adding that it is Mike too)).
Because, as we mentioned in M&tMF, Mike and Will are looking for Gold (AU), the right Alternate Universe, the right timeline. Panning for gold in a river of time.
(Hopefully Mike and Will don't become corrupted along the way)
At the same moment that what Lucas noticed about Vecna clicked for me, I think it clicked for Mike too. Mike is starting to suspect that maybe meeting El that night in the woods was not 'actually dumb luck'. Pay attention to how coincidence and El are brought up here.
(Link to video - can't add videos in reblogs lol).
Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your
So, how are Mike and Will copying Vecna and the MF?
We already know the S5 plan to save Derek plagiarizes the S3 MF. But what if the S3 MF was actually plagiarizing its future S5 self? Because Mike is the MF, its a never ending story!
There's more - in the next hospital sequence, we see the whole show play out, Mike and Will's plan! It plagiarizes NANCY! (Just like when Mike stole Nancy's piggybank for coins, Mike hijacks Hopper (pig) for the AU (gold!).)
greenfiend's Back to the Future theory is relevant there ^
Siblings. Henry shows El the escape. Never ending story.
The whole show is like a chess game where you can control not only each other's pieces, but also each other!
And you can time travel! Complicating matters more, Henry is double crossing his teammate the MF, Will can get corrupted by the MF, and El could double cross Byler if she wanted.
Maybe this expression (the one that gives Robin byler doubt LMAO). Is Mike feeling guilty. When he tells Will he is Vecna, the sorcerer, he is testing the theory he started cooking up when he saw the puzzle pieces in the hospital.
And then this as we already mentioned is Mike's hypothesis being proven right. If Will can flay demogorgons, maybe he can flay people, maybe Mike can tell him who and what to flay. Puppet. Master.
@anotherjlynn how your El and Lucas theories fit into all this. If one of the rules is keep your mouth shut... you canāt exactly tell your friends what youāre up to. Byler are being very sus. Conflict ensues.
Each team gets a monster, a vessel and a knight.
Vecna + MF (not Mister Whatsit) wants to use Will as his vessel. He can't use Max bc they're not compatible but he could try. Obviously, both teams don't want any of this.
(creds to @noreasontobeupset for the Max photos!)
New split imagery with John vs. Johns. Maybe Will must become whole with his worst enemy. It's okay. ElMax got off to a rocky start too.
Lucas is our knight for ElMax. Lone ranger. @farrahfawcetts pointed out that G1 is the white knight in chess.
Lucas is not Vecna-y. The Winners are not Vecna fans. Meanwhile, it looks like The Dream Team is working with Vecna š„¶
Mike is not just a Wheeler, he is also Whatsit. But Mister Whatsit is not just a Wheeler, he is also a Byers! Cool
Interesting, because Max is Mrs. Whatsit.
She also swapped places with Mike this season. Remember One Way Mike? Now itās One Way Max, and Mike has recovered from his OneWayism.
So S3 Hop is flayed. S4 Mike is flayed. S5 Max is flayed (by who?)
Itās fitting since Mike is reunited with those he loves meanwhile Max is separated from Lucas and El.
Parallels don't stop there. Both teams have the same end goal and chess pieces, so their plans are sure to be similar even when they have conflict with one another. Return of The Rules.
But the only way to win is to WORK TOGETHER. Mike and Will are forgetting things, it seems, and Lucas (non-Vecna-y Lucas) remembers.
So he will eventually be the one to actualy save Will, as anotherjlynn points out. I think even Will might become convinced he is Vecna and, ironically, Lucas will be the one to remember he is not.
Working together means being honest with one another, which breaks one of The Rules, keep your mouth shut.
But, I know The Dream Team x The Winners will happen. Max is resident rulebreaker and Will says himself "we need to take risks".
And they must have because they already won.
The battlefield is Mike and Willās minds and they already won. Or this could just be Byler proof for Will "Looking for signs" Byers.
We watched their plan unfold (plan being making the right timeline a la Back to the Future) somewhere in S2-S5. (I am pretty certain if someone went and found when the Rubiks cubes stopped being unscrambled we could pin point when the timeline meddling started).
By the way, what makes someone a superhero? Is it when they save you? Or when they come when you call for them?
The Upside Down is Mike's Childish Understanding (MEMORY) of the World, brought into reality by Will.
Traveling through time is traveling through Mike's memories, traveling through dimensions is traveling through his memories. The Wheelers have powers.
Lets go.
Eleven (& all ST magic) uses electromagnetism.
Electricity (light bulbs flashing)
Magnetism (magnets fall off fridge)
Radios / Antenna TVs run on electromagnetism.
How a radio works:
āTransmitter' emits electromagnetic waves. This would be the machine coming up with, or person sending, a message.
Radio/tv āReceiverā tunes in to the frequency, decodes it (how it knows brightness of screen, colors, and sounds to show), and shows it to you.
Will is a decoder. Next I will prove he broadcasts to us the message he receives, which is transmitted by Mike.
Will Broadcasts Mikeās messages.
Don't forget, these messages are electromagnetic waves.
Check out Will DMing in the top right GIF ā he is usually not DM, but the radio is there next to him. This is Mikeās campaign, which Will has brought to reality.
"If Mike didnāt see it, it didnāt happen."
Will tells Mike it was a 7, he broadcasts it. 7 is now real. We know this, because the 7 roll meant the demogorgon 'Got him', which it immediately does in real life.
Mike and Will can do this 'magic' because they love each other. Love is electricity and magnetism. Electromagnetism. Radio. Powers.
El is a superhero, yes. But Mike and Will are, too: Patty says to Henry in TFS, "We are only superheros together".
We can be heroes! - David Bowie.
The events of Stranger Things are Mike's fantastical version (Mike's skewed MEMORY) of what is happening to Will.
As I mention in this post, Mike's view of reality is skewed, he has a childish interpretation of the world, partly because he is a child, partly because escapism. Mike's mind looks like DnD because he plays it so much. + Mike's mind is a prison = The terrible things we see on screen is how Mike sees Will's experiences, and the suffocating and bigoted world he is living in.
I have tried to avoid this kind of theory because I hate talking abuse, so moving on to the fun time travel bits.
Traveling Through Time and Dimensions is Traveling Through Mike's Memory
Semantics are important here. I will try to be as clear as possible. Ask questions if I lose you.
When Mike tells Eleven his life started the day he met her, what he means is his life stopped the day he met Will. (The Upside Down of his profession).
This is why the Upside Down is stuck on the day Will went missing. The Upside Down is Mike's view of the world, his memory.
When you 'time travel' in Stranger Things S5, you are traveling through memory, not actual time. One broadcasts Max's memories to El just like Will broadcasts Mike's memory to all of Hawkins.
S2 Mike "Is this in your now memory?"
In S5 we will explore how you can alter reality using memories, because if Will / One broadcasts it, it becomes reality, technically the future. You can leave codes for yourself and others to find in your memory with instructions, which they can find in the future. Loops happen.
But, be careful, because, as we mentioned, memories are tampered with. And also just hard to navigate! Birthdaygate, associations with minds and labyrinth imagery. You are all Level 50 Bylerologists you know what I mean.
Anyways, maze mind + time travel = dungeon crawl. Crawl backwards.
This connects to wrong timeline and alternate dimension theories.
ALTERED MEMORY = ALTERNATE TIMELINE
FANTASTICAL MEMORY = ALTERNATE DIMENSION
Holly has the same transmitting powers Mike does. But her world is not based on DnD, it's based on Camazotz. She reads different books than Mike and sees the world as more suffocating, less abusive.
One will broadcast Holly's mind in S5.
Extended plays:
@anotherjlynn - More details on time how time, loops, and code will play into S5
https://www.tumblr.com/cypherheartnokey/796619687064748032/since-the-first-season-especially-the-second?source=share (Mike, Will might be aware somehow of their campaign, also scroll to Cypher's Holly take)
Fun fact, this whole post started because I saw this GIF of Chance and thought hmmmm... this means something. Chance can not tune into Will like Mike can = not endgame. Bychance reveals all.
YOUR MIND HOLY SHIT ... here are some half-baked thoughts that came to me due to the Chance mention, I think you're onto something!
It reminded me of these three scenes:
S1 Ted = S4 Chance = S4 Max
@offsidetracked I remember you brought up this to me in DMs omg, since the Chance and Max scenes are in the same episode
We don't see if the tapping managed to fix the TV in Ted and Max's case but Chance did fix it after being instructed by Andy to hit it š
that's how they find out there has been a murdered student.
The Chance scene also parallels this in EP3:
The interruption there is the police, though, not static. And then we see a TV again in Will's room an episode later, but it's turned off:
*squints* There's also that "payday" game which offside and I also talked about
THERE'S SOMETHING HERE I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS IM GOING INSA
Something about Alan turing's probability theory = "out of a set of probabilities, the outcome is ultimately determined BY CHANCE"
Something about Chance, as a concept, not being a player but determining who the die favors / And something about Chance Lawson, player #22, being a benchwarmer
Something about Chance feeling very meta / the weird 4th wall breaks
Something about Jedediah = "God's favorite" which is a name also associated to King Solomon, summoner of demons ... ( which reminds me of Henry but also Will. Wonder what kind of demons is Chance summoning? )
I was kinda joking about the "is this the Duffer's favorite?" thing but now its
kinda frying me a little ...
I mean I'm not married to anything yet tbh but I do tend to do that too in my campaigns. Saving my best tricks for the finale so I guess the Duffers could be planning Chance the same way they did Henry/001/Vecna that's why the clues are kinda weird as hell
The TV and payday threads are insane. Payday obviously related to @cypherheartnokey's Vicegate.
I am gonna post my draft-thinking too, because I really think Chance is the key to figuring out something insane, I just don't know what, and I really want us to figure it out before Vol 1!!!!
Let's go.
HOLY CRAP I ACTUALLY FIGURED SOMETHING OUT
Ven0moir, did you know Alan Turing's theory is also described using this language: "frequency of outcomes"?
Chance = frequency of outcomes
Tuning into the right frequency = tuning into an outcome.
In psychology, "frequency theory" primarily refers to the auditory perception theory stating that the pitch of a sound is determined by the rate at which the auditory nerve fires in response to sound waves. A related concept is the frequency-effects theory of memory, which suggests that the more frequently an event occurs, the more readily memory resources can be allocated to it. - Google
THIS SUPPORTS MY ORIGINAL POST ABOVE BUT ALSO SOMETHING ELSE IN A SECOND HERE - STAY WITH ME
Today I saw this phrase used regarding Byler "unexpected and statistically improbable" - @fleetwood-will. Literally insane and perfect, and EXACTLY what I think the Duffers are going for. It got me stuck in this loop in my head, and I genuinely can't believe it is paying off like two hours later. It reminded me of this jarring language (anytime something feels awkward to me I know they are trying to hint something) used in recent promo:
A surprise is a deviation from what is probable, yes. But let's look more at surprises in ST:
When Erica inherits the DnD game, Hopper's famous S3 speech mentions surprises. BUT ALSO LOTS MORE.
"So I think maybe that's why I came in here, to try and stop that change. (Mike's life stopped on the day Will went missing, I mentioned above). To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were. But I know that's naive. It's just not how life works. It's moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. Mike won't let time move theory. And yeah, sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's sad. And sometimes, it's surprising AH. Happy.
So you know what? Keep on growing up kid. Don't let me stop you. Make mistakes, learn from 'em. And when life hurts you, because it will, remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you're out of that cave. PEOPLE ARE LOSING MEMORIES (birthdaygate) MIKE IS STUCK IN THE CAVE, HE NEEDS TO HURT, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, closures/MEMORY/CAVE. But, please, if you don't mind, for the sake of your poor old dad, keep the door open three inches."
Okay, translating my blue text into something coherent:
Mike is refusing to move on, therefore manifesting the UD.
When you hurt, you exit the cave - encountering uncomfortable, painful truths which oppose your (Mike's lol) fantastical view of the world are they key to escaping the cave, the closure, the Upside Down.
This is so confusing because as I explained in the OG post, we are also all getting our memories messed with. Hopper says "Remember the hurt". So the moments where you were challenged are the key. PAUSE. THE KEY TO THIS POST. THATS HOW MIKE ESCAPES THE CLOSURE. Damn!
Someone posted recently that Mike always tells people they are wrong / lying when they disagree with him. He won't face painful truths.
Mike can only escape UD by facing the truth, opening the door to the closure. Coming out.
Will is the one who challenges Mike with the painful truth. (Actually El does too in S4, because she loves him.) If Mike loves Will, I wonder if Mike is going to force Will to face a truth or own up to something in S5, maybe like dating a bully?!!!
Duffers have an interesting view about what makes love qualify as true love (how much someone can challenge, therefore hurt you) but whatever that's on them.
HOLY FUCK. IT'S GAMBLING. TRUE LOVE IS A GAMBLE BETWEEN JOY AND PAIN. HOLYCRAP. SEE, IT IS NEVER A DELUSIONAL TAKE!
Um anyways... More on closures in the speech
Joyce in TFS: "The question of the play, can love defeat fear?"
Door open 3 inches > no closure > no prejudice > absence of fear > LOVE
El (Love!) always leaves the door open even before she meets Hopper, it starts as a ElMike thing before Hopper (just a cute sidebar lol)
Okay, I hate to keep going, but I think this scene is important. I am gonna add my thoughts but I am thinking someone smarter than me can see more? Or it may come back later if we figure more out.
I think it's an allegory for what will happen in S5?
This is from the tape in the Russian nesting doll Joyce gets in S4
"Surprise", Loops. This is just our indicator we are in the right place for the chance narrative. I think ST does this a lot, like with 7. From my research on decoding I learned there is usually a 'key' to know if you are in the right place, or which is used to decode other pieces. Words and phrases are ST 'code' keys. Anyways,
Frequency, Decoding (gay person decodes as per the rules)
Money = gambling.
Stuck in the cave, stuck between the slides, time stopped.
People are going to encounter each other in a memory or the void or the future or a dream (@anotherjlynn theory) having forgotten them. I am betting on Byler because Mike always says "Just trust me".
I am not sure here but El has anger issues, E.T. phone home, calls people mouthbreather. Something with El. El might save Will? Or try to?
Cop thing. Hopper analysis never my strong suit. sterlingarcher has more on the word Cop
I know the Ritz is a hotel but it's also a Casino in Bulgaria and referenced in this movie. Mike steals Will and One tries to steal him back before the timeline gets fucked?
How to Steal a Million (1966) Charles Bonnet (Hugh Griffith) expresses his passion for art by forging masterpieces -- and selling them at a hefty profit. The trouble starts when his reproduction of a prized sculpture winds up in a famous Paris museum. If experts determine that it is inauthentic, Bonnet's reputation will be tarnished. That's why his fetching daughter, Nicole (Audrey Hepburn), hires cat burglar Simon Dermott (Peter O'Toole) to steal the sculpture back before it's too late.
I recc finishing that whole scene honestly, there is more on money in there. I am supposed to be mock-running a social media company for class right now so I gtg. Thanks @ven0moir for jogging my mind lol.
Anyone know of any references to alpha and omega in ST? Omega is the term for 'set of all possible outcomes'. My only recollection is the new Wolf Pack in S5.
Will can remember the future & This is how Erica will save the world in Season 5 (with the help of Robin, Max, and... Steve?)
*Message in a Bottle by The Police starts playing*
#loopgate
This post streamlines theories from all of my favorite accounts and brings them together using an important, and too-forgotten piece of US history; The Code Girls. I found a TON OF cool stuff making this, and saved the best for the end.
@anotherjlynn Just read your recent post why do I always miss your posts?! What I gathered is that Young Will has been privy to a lot more information than appearsā¦ TLDR; during Will's first foray into the UD, he heard conversations from the show, happening in the future.
So.. Will can remember the future?
Thatās useful (said Brenner, discovering a kid who can astral project into the future)! I personally hope nobody messes with Will's ability to remember things, changes his memories, or even discredits Will so no one believes his predictions (side-eyes that photo of Will presenting in S5 teasers).
If Will knows the future, he can try to prevent it. He can take certain actions or instruct others to take actions, too. But as he is stuck in what is effectively a time loop (he is changing the past and future), he might learn that showing his hand too early or recklessly results in a Bad Timeline. That's why he knows so much, Quoth @eyrieunderground:
the ghostbusters photos [will fakes a smile] WHAT ARE YOU HIDING
the disappearance s1 is offscreen WHAT ARE YOU HIDING
castlebyers being right next to the lab in the official maps WHATTTTT ARE YOU HIDING
will being *canonically* good at lying and hiding things, METATEXTUALLY!!! will lying to the audience. us needing the script to learn that wills lying/to understand what hes thinking. WHAT ARE YOU. HIDING!!!!!
el recognizing will from a photo immediately. will recognizing brenner in the s4 script which bc the duffs released that part of the script they obv wanted us to know WHAT ARE YOU HIDING *shakeshakeshakeshake*
Will learns to communicate outside the loop (revealing to others that he is in a time loop) by speaking in code (It was a seven). He can't make himself lie to Mike, so he will obfuscate the truth, leaving enough hints for the truth to be revealed when it is Time.
Enter Will's DnD game gift to Erica - his painting gift to Mike. These are encoded with messages, instructions to enter the timeline where everyone lives. If Will has always been able to see into the future, his rainbow ship (rainbow - related theory about the movie theatre being a time machine) and other drawings provide hints, too.
This is a code that only those he trusts can break. Did you know some of the most famous code breakers were women of color?! Did you know a woman assisted famous codebreaker Alan Turing?!!!!!! YOU CAN'T SPELL AMERICA WITHOUT ERICA! (Literally the defining line of this show imo). Nice byler accessories and loop/labyrinth-themed sweater, Erica!
Famous names of code breakers you can find on the Code Girls wiki page include Driscoll and Clarke btw.
"When asked publicly about their highly sensitive work, the women were told to reply that they 'sharpened pencils and emptied wastebaskets'. Reportedly, their cover story was never challenged. These recruited women were to remain dutiful and patriotic with no expectation of public credit for their concealed intelligence work. A major accomplishment by female cryptographers was breaking the Purple Cipher. The complexity of this machine was revolutionary, but (they decoded them). They determined the date and location of a planned attack, enabling the Americans to prepare their own ambush, and execute the Battle of Midway, ultimately changing the course of the Pacific Theater of World War II."
Who recruited all these girls? William did.
The Purple Cipher was a highly complex encrypting machine, noted for the following on its wiki page:
"For decryption, the data flow is reversed. The keyboard on the second typewriter becomes the input and the twenties letters pass through the stepping switch stages in the opposite order."
Ok, so we are going backwards. Decoding time travel?
Steve Harrington:Ā When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards. Who crawls? Who wears purple?
This corresponds with this theory that Erica knows more than we think about the time shenanigans going on, she is privy to the coded messages. Now, I am adding to it, arguing that Robin and Max are getting involved, too.
The Purple Code results in the victory at the Battle of Midway AKA The Turnbow Trap. If you read the wikipedia page for The Battle of Midway, it has the same plot as this theory on what The Turnbow Trap will look like. According to this theory (all but confirmed honestly, it's pretty sound), who orchestrates the Turnbow Trap? ROBIN AND ERICA. Enter Robin.
Robin is THE codebreaker. She conveniently speaks Russian and decodes the transmission, revealing that blue meets yellow in the west. She is the one who figures out the rest of the clues about the landmarks in the mall, too. She is the one who figures out music breaks Vecna's curse. She wears an Ask Me! pin in S4 because she is the one who finds the answers.
Robin tells Dustin everyone dies at some point. Well yeah, in a loop someone else dies everytime, until they figure out the right timeline. You know who agrees with Robin? David Harbour, who remarked in an interview that in S5 'everyone dies'.
Robin, like Erica, is or will be privy to The Loop.
She code breaks with Max, too, when they figure out who Reefer Rick is. Max is about to wish she never knew about The Loop.
Note that in both S3 (DustinSteveEricaRobin) and S4 (DustinMaxSteveRobin) Dustin and Steve are paired with our Code Girls. Dustin also seems to be dating a code girl (Suzie). I am not sure what I think this means (this is my cry for help).
I don't have to explain too much for Max, because sterlingarcher has this great explanation for how Max is living groundhog day. She is seemingly dead to us, but really living the same day over and over. I'd like to add that Max is famously followed around by clocks in S5. She is genuinely stuck in the physical loop, unlike Will who is living it with everyone else, Erica who is living and remembering it, or Robin who is living it and refiguring it out every time.
Max and Erica are coded as queer allies, interestingly. Robin is obviously a queer ally lmao (Dustin and Fslur Steve are both coded homophobic)
Another side note: If you've read anotherjlynn's theories, you know they posit that El might be why all the Code Girls' work must be clandestine. My theory might explain why. Like Will, Nancy and El are trying to change the future, too.
So, the Code Girls: Max, Robin, and Erica, recruited by Will, will SAVE THE WORLD.
Erica will lead them. How do I know?
I codebroke the word Miracle
The Stranger Things twitter account,
Erica will orchestrate the combination of The Cure, The Miracle, and the Superhero that I mentioned in my last posts. This is what will defeat Mike's, El's and Will's worst fears and antagonists respectively.
You can't spell America without Erica, well, ya can't spell Miracle without her either
Superhero pose with her cape
For the Cure, let's do, my traditional journey of screenshots. And more allusions to 'keeping quiet'. Stranger Things marketing team was starting to annoy me with the constant use of 'nerds'. Enjoy :)
Part 4 of Sentinel Gate Next part is the DnD connection.
Let's go.
The Theory of Everything is the quite-famous term for a hypothetical physics framework which would "unify all fundamental forces and particles in the universe into one coherent system". Basically, the theory explaining everything. This theory is also deterministic - meaning, it thinks that if we measured every particle on earth, we would be able to predict everything until the end of time. This would mean that humans don't have free will, and that chance or luck does not exist either.
(The Theory of Everything partly came about due to the Planck Scale, which is mentioned in the show by Dustin, and occurs during the Big Bang, and connects to the whole Inorganic vs Organic reactions thing, and also popcorn, but if I go on that tangent this will never get posted lol. Basically, popcorn represents love because love can not be controlled by the laws of physics. I did a post on popcorn = love before.)
The Duffer Brothers don't like this idea - I write about that here. A theme in Stranger Things is that trying to define ourselves, others, or the world, is reductive and harmful.
Yet, as we mentioned, One Way Mike does not agree with the DBs.
And Mike is surrounded by closures.
Like Brenner, Mike believes that if he leaves his circle, he loses. We covered that in this post, where we noticed that Mike thinks there is only One Way. Obviously, this is a metaphor for conformity, and the circle is like Mike's prison. But it is also so much more. It's science.
So, Mike is trapped in a closure. And, based on DnD lore, we know that the Mindflayer consumes worlds and makes them become one.
I wanted to find a closure for Mike to be trapped in that would represent that transition from multiple worlds to one.
Found it.
Once I found this, everything else clicked. Mike is in a crystal.
White light is a combination of all the colors, but when a beam of light hits a crystal, it slows, reflects, and disperses at all different rates. The electromagnetic wave frequency unique to each color becomes separate and distinguishable to the human eye.
This phenomena is called refraction, and actually happens a lot in nature, creating some wacky optical illusions.
This is probably what the scientists who were trying to make the Eldridge invisible were playing with.
We have many references in the show to the concept of crystals, like rainbow reflections following Mike around and this school poster. (Noah you're in the shot!).
Other references to crystals, like cubes, follow us throughout the show, too.
I picked this screenshot specifically because it has Mike Die (foreshadowing), Mike controlling fate (the roll of the dice being manipulated to spell his name), and a tape roll with a cutter (Mike ending everything). LIKE LMFAO.
If I went looking for Mike / grid imagery we would be here all day, but here is more cube closure from S5 promo. Notice how Mike is always at the scene of the crime.
A consideration within the Theory of Everything is Relativism, and inside that is Block Theory, basically that timelines can be contained in blocks. Pocket dimensions.
Consuming parallel pocket (fruit pocket) dimensions... very MF of you, Mike.
In A Wrinkle in Time, time is stored in a tesseract. Another crystal.
So Mike is trapped (or is he trapping us?) inside a backwards crystal, where everything is being forced to conform instead of to express, going from rainbow to bright white.
But... Will can see out of this crystal with True Sight. I think this is also a reference to Will's drowning, as this is what you see when you drown. Will's death/resurrection gave him a new perspective, a cone shaped perspective. His cone hat lol. Also, Snell's first name is Will!
This idea actually fits really well with our metaphorical interpretation so far, where One Way Mike is deterministic and Artist Will can see the truth, that reality is not so easily defined.
Now I'm gonna switch gears and get more into The Everything Theory. Either Noah was having a hard time keeping his hands still, or they really wanted us to notice Will's relationship with this prop.
Reminds me of the String Theory branch of the Everything Theory.
I promise I am not crazy I am just noticing patterns and sharing them as a hobby. Also, let the record show I am an econ major. I did have a Stephen Hawkings phase in elementary school tho š
Closures strike again...
Hm.
Right.
Braneworld theory proposes that parallel dimensions don't exist far away, they exist right next to us. Like the Void.
What Wheeler is saying in nerdspeak is that everything is code, 0 or 1, yes or no. CHOICES.
I present to you the science of Stranger Things, from Wheeler himself
You get to make yourself, your own life, and in fact, the whole entire world. You get to write your ending.
No deal with the mindflayer needed. Just CHOOSE TO DO IT.
I mentioned that Sentinel was a potential name for Stranger Things. Here is our Crystal and our Brane.
We aren't done yet guys, though that would have been a cute ending.
Wheeler's theories explain how time and space fold in on itself in a kind of curved spacetime. There is an explanation of it, and also an example of scientists using this theory for 'magic':
There may be more examples of this pattern in ST.
Okay, for the next post just remember that braneworlds aren't branes, branes just generalize your point of location, they are a reference point. So if you wanted to travel somewhere in time, you could try to identify a location at a specific time.
Also the concept of black holes 'having no hair' and El being bald..
Consider this the prelude to the Science of ST installment
Let's go.
The Theory of Everything is the quite-famous term for a hypothetical physics framework which would "unify all fundamental forces and particles in the universe into one coherent system". That is all you need to know for now.
A Universe Governed By Law
Our dimension, like a game, has rules.
The Mindflayer is changing those rules, trying to unify all fundamental forces and particles in the universe into one coherent system (The Everything Theory).
The Mindflayer is The Thing that controls Everything.
As we covered in Parts 1 & 2, Mike is the MF's assistant.
Mike lets the MF into our dimension (unlocking a gate) and helps it destroy everything: unify all fundamental forces and particles in the universe into one coherent system.
(so metaphorically, Mike has the key and is the sentinel to our dimension)
We mentioned that Mike helps the MF by policing the timeline, making sure nobody is breaking the MF's rules.
Of course, Mike's deal with the MF has rules, too, and we figured them out in Parts 1 & 2. But there's even more evidence:
In our world, the defenders of rules, or law, are cops. As we mentioned Mike is a timeline cop. But the Duffer Bros can use Hopper as a mouthpiece for the rules Mike has to follow.
There's the two-man rule, which we'll explain using science later.
The Don't Talk about Everything rule. Which we can actually watch Mike struggle with live (notice the word "happens" from Mike and Hop).
video creds @timblriche here
Since The Everything Theory is about physics, our genius scientist Dustin tells us the rules just as often as Hopper does.
Another rule: Obey or be banished...
Notice The Thing poster between Dustin and Mike.
We know this means stay in the circle, the closure, OR LOSE.
Dustin tells us what happens to the banished, too: they get replaced. It's the Two-Man rule. Like how El replaced Will in the party?
Eleven is collared by the law.
El (Capital L) represents Love, the most powerful force in the universe...
So, metaphorically, Love has been collared by the Law. There is a gay rights metaphor in there.
(Let's not forget that Mike gives Holly a necklace in S5, and her costuming is covered in heart motifs -- collared heart. Mike is collaring his own heart in addition to others'.)
Luckily, Eleven has Max on her side.
Max teaches Eleven to break rules (go Max!). Eleven picks it up amazingly, which pisses Sentinel Mike off.
It would be pretty sucky for the Mindflayer if El got too good at breaking rules.
Notice how when Eleven breaks rules here, she is stealing that dummy? It reminds me of Will's dummy body in S2.
El is breaking the Two-Man rule.
Okay, I'll start to explain the two-man rule.
Obviously, rulebreaker Max breaks it.
Breaking the Rules
Check out this framing wow / Max = Will Mike = Lucas
Max is not from our timeline, she is not a part of the "Original Party". She's New Coke, and Lucas loves her. Awe...
As @farrahfawcetts pointed out to me, in Donnie Darko (an inspiration for Stranger things), a hint that someone is in the wrong timeline is having alliterated names (like Max Mayfield).
Side note, Mike prefers the ORIGINAL THING. As in, from the The Thing Franchise. The Original Thing is an artifact from a crash landed UFO (which I might have actually found already, I think, check out my posts on Robin, in ST it may be a lock, making Mike the key like we already discovered). The Original Thing is the mother of all The Things, like the Mindflayer is the mother of the hivemind, of which Mike is a soldier. So yeah, Mike likes The Original Thing. That's his police chief.
Max's song, swap our places, means swap our plates (dimensions)!
Lucas calls New Coke (Max) "Sweeter, Better Bolder"
Max wants a bowl because her plate (dimension) is folded.
Like a wrinkle in time. If you fold a timeline, two disparate points touch and you can travel between them. That's how Max got here.
Anyways, that doesn't look like a bowl (cut) Yeah, CAUSE IT'S TNT.
El got here, too.
Sounds like Will was meant to do something, couldn't do it, so now they brought something better from within him.
Kaboom. El is a New Coke too! Ghosts are also angels...
I already covered that the whole show is about the Sinking of USS Eldridge (like a UFO crashing) in my Robin posts so I'll leave that alone for now.
What is a ghost, exactly? Well, so far we established that it's someone who is not from the Original Timeline. I'LL GET TO THE SCIENCE.
THE SOURCE
Let's find it, Nance. In Season 3, the Source is... the Steel Works.
Obviously Steel is a reference to Silver Cat (the USS) and Project Mercury (Robin posts). But it's also...
Stealing Works. Trading Jobs.
We covered that this means baby swapping already (at least, in my pretty granular interpretation. I would be very happy if someone came up with their own explanations for the evidence I put in these, because sometimes, while confident I found something that matters, my preconceptions trap me, and I end up in a sort of predestination loop... Mike moment).
And who did we say is doing the swapping? Mike.
Mike is the Source
Look at this guy not a single thought in that mullet.
Time is a river that flows, and Mike is influencing the direction (but don't forget who turns the knobs in this scene, who controls the temperature, Will).
Notice how time, and in a sense reality, is coming from a circle, a closure.
The source of every river is the Headwaters. @offsidetracked has, just, the most awesome analysis of the role of water in ST.
If Mike is the heart, he pumps water, blood, to the head (the brain). Mike is redirecting the timeline to feed the brain. This is consistent with him being a Timeline Cop. Besides pumping blood:
The heart generates the body's most powerful electromagnetic field, which is stronger than the brain's and can be detected outside the body. This field is linked to emotional states and plays a significant role in communication between the heart and brain, as well as between individuals. Practices like focused breathing can align the heart and brain, a state of "coherence"
In a river, you might say the point of no return is a waterfall.
We have three.
āYou know, they travel to a faraway land, a peaceful land, beautiful, with, like, three waterfalls or something. Enjoying it together.ā
Watch the S5 trailer. Our good guys are convinced Vecna is trying to end everything. Mike literally says the same thing in the trailer, he wants this all to end. Mike is the destroyer of everything Nancy is looking for. "Drain every lost drop of suffering" cmon.
They think Vecna is the bad guy, but, like Mike, Vecna just is using the Mindflayer as a means to an end.
Mike wants to write the end to his story and is convinced there is only one way (double whammy determinism).
Vecna wants to change humanity's rules (destruction then creation, so he needs Will, but making new rules just means continuing the cycle of abuse).
Mindflayer wants to write rules onto the universe, merging all timelines and dimensions into one (also sorta determinism). MF has the power Mike / Vecna need.
But our artist, Will, can see that existence transcends rules (creation or just pure existence and acceptance).
And our embodied love, Eleven, refuses to be controlled (freedom).
I am less confident about Max. She could be randomness (maximum entropy) but I actually think she is duality, the term for when two entirely different mathematical principles can lead you to the same conclusion (applied in a space-time physics framework). I like it because it plays into the "another way" vs "one way" thing.
The tournament bracket idea comes from Max herself in S4.
Together, El and Will are FREE WILL.
Add Max you get self-determination (Wonder Woman makes herself).
They will defeat DETERMINISM.
And Mike will help via
INTERNAL REFLECTION
So he will probably be truth but I haven't gotten that far yet.
The audience is about to get hit with the gravity of Mike's love for Will in an insane way .
It is Mike's reason for being the twist antagonist.
+ how we defeat Mike!
I will give you a synopsis first because this is the most evidence-heavy, dense post I've ever done.
Mike will be an unwitting antagonist in Season 5, due to a deal he made with Vecna (who was acting as an agent of the Mindflayer) to save Will's life when he died in S1.
The deal requires Mike to conform: help everyone stick to a relatively specific timeline and keep his mouth shut about it. Mike is like the prison warden to our timeline, a timeline cop.
I believe Mike is getting visions in his dreams to guide him to follow the 'right timeline'. That's why Mike sees this coming.
In exchange for Mike doing his job, Will gets to live (get found in S1). Mike puts himself in 'prison' (slowly killing himself - "forced conformity is killing the kids") so that Will can escape 'prison' (his S1 death).
Mike thinks he made out with a great deal. But he has been tricked. Mike did not realize his actions would have TERRIBLE consequences for so many others, and eventually even himself. He never asked how exactly Will would be brought back to life, or what it would really cost.
This is a metaphor for conformity: Mike thinks hiding his feelings and policing his own behavior so as not to get outed will save Will somehow, when really it just results in a depressing life where you forget who you are. On a large scale, it means everyone conforming until we're all a hive mind.
Because Mike is a timeline cop, in order to win we have to catch him off guard and by surprise! Mike does not want to lose, because in his perspective that means Will stays dead, and Mike is convinced his way is THE ONLY WAY. You also can't outright tell Mike what you're doing because the mindflayer is watching.
There is a scientific explanation for how all this works, which is how I found this all in the first place. I'll explain the mechanics in my ST Science post when I finish it.
"If I only could, I'd make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places"
OKAY Let's go!
Mike is the bad guy, but, is he really? I mean he just wants to find someone.
Mike thinks there is only one way (go rewatch Mike looking at Will's photos and that Henry scene, besides the set being identical, they made that kid emulate Finn's expressions, it's sick, I didn't even grab the best pics but you can see it enough in what I got).
But he is wrong.
Mike makes the choice, he follows a man he knows is evil. Despite thinking it's the only way, it's actually not, and Mike is wrong. But, it's too late, he is going to do what he is told.
Mike follows the bad man (yes that's his dumbass saying 'okay' lol). This seems odd coming from "leader" Mike. Mike agrees:
Mike does not think... he follows. LOL. But, he also just doesn't think that he follows. Mike thinks he is getting a great deal out of following the 'bad man'. To us it seems out of character, stupid, crazy, even, for Mike to follow! But there is not anything Mike wouldn't be willing to give up for his, uh, friend, Will. The whole world would probably be an even trade to Mike.
This parallel is so obvious I am surprised I have never seen anyone else post it. We see two comically ridiculous outfits in S4. Anyways, Mike is willing to do anything for Will, including wear this stupid outfit (CONFORM). Again, Mike thinks he made off with a great deal because getting to speak to Will rocks!
Wow even ST theories have boring Russia sideplots, back to Murray and Yuri!
But is it such a great deal? I mean, Mike's end of the deal is keeping his mouth shut (literally gagged) and acting like someone he is not. This exchange between Murray and Yuri has them impersonating each other, swapping places, peanut butter, and breaking out of prison to save Hopper.
Murray is one of the only characters associated with trades. ElMax gets one other 'trade' mention. Don't get trade and swap confused, because 'swap' actually refers to sharing DNA, so no romance in that, lol.
They just think they are so fucking funny.
The trade/swap motif has a double meaning, like all good writing:
Metaphorical Trade : Mike has imprisoned himself (killing himself slowly - forced conformity is killing the kids) in order to break Will out of prison, (death).
Physical Trade: Mike never asked how exactly Will would be brought back to life. The universe has laws!
I'll explain in my science post, but balance is restored by taking someone from another timeline and bringing them here, too. It has to be someone genetically similar to you, like someone from your family, a sort of 'sibling' if you will. If you can't find a 'sibling', you have to bioengineer one, because a lack of balance will result in total timeline collapse.
Anyways, the Physical Trade is represented in the text ALL OVER and I will get super into it in the science post. But in this specific narrative I'll stick to the most relevant evidence.
First, Nancy in the background of Robin's "anything speech" I just cited.
Second, Mike stealing from Nancy's piggybank when he doesn't have enough money in S2 (this little sibling-stealer!).
And third, since we already mentioned Kali I'll use her again: swapping plates. Families all sit at a dinner table, at place settings. If you move them around using Mike's sibling-swapping, you are swapping plates. Your mom from another timeline could be sucked into your timeline and become your daughter (that's not an actual example). But she leaves an empty spot behind which ANOTHER sibling will have to fill from another timeline. Getting messy....
I am not saying Mike is masterminding the sibling swapping, it is just a bad consequence of his wish for Will to come back. A lot of y'alls favorite characters are from another timeline - results of Mike's dominos falling, so to speak. Sorry, lol. Nature has laws.
Project Rainbow is an example of deliberate sibling swapping and bio-engineering.
Anyways, Mike is definitely still complicit as a Timeline Cop. Mike can influence the timeline and has knowledge the rest of the party doesn't. But as @ven0moir pointed out, there is one aspect of the game the Dungeon Master can not control: chance. If he is a willing part of the hive mind, one of the major requirements of winning in S5 will be surprising Mike. Mike will be working against us because he is convinced his deal is the only way to save Will.
The surprise is a pretty obvious answer: it's proving to Mike that there really was "another way" (you may have to read this post twice lol). Mike can reject conformity, and Will will still get to live. Mike can disobey, stray from the conformity timeline, the "normal path".
Where there is a Will, there is a way.
Yay happy ending.
Just kidding... will Eleven be able to forgive Mike for following the same footsteps as One and Brenner? For what his desperation-dominos did to her mother...?
Lucas says it all:
I love you, Lucas.
Anyways, I don't know enough about literature besides Emma by Jane Austen to make comparisons to ST or find evidence for it. But @cypherheartnokey wrote this comparison which I think fits perfect with this theory (scroll to their section). I think literature is a worthwhile avenue to pursue because Mike's favorite subject is actually english, not science, despite science surrounding him and untying his plot.
I think science might be Mike when he is closeted and english is when he is open, per my Closures theory.
This whole post and my upcoming science post are sort of expanding on this original post. There will certainly be differences as I find more evidence and basis but this was my original intuition + OTHER PEOPLES' REBLOGS / ADDITIONS which are the really important and most insightful parts :)
Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your
What if I said Holly parallels El more than she does Will & Mike lowkey Mister Whatsitted El in S1
Edit for M&tMF Redux yes itās a 2 minute long edit but itās a mile long theory sooooooooo. Getting better at editing is my new thing Iām trying to learn š
i SAW mike wheeler's lingering stare at will's d&d binder, and i SAW as he gently ran his finger down the spine of BOTH his and will's binders. I SAW THAT. don't you dare tell me he didn't love him
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