Volume 2 doesn't doom Byler, but it does condition its execution (a comprehensive rant)
I don't think the release of volume 2 has done anything to let us think Byler won't be endgame.
However, I do think it has cemented the writing is not taking the audacious approach.
And, I also think we have the right to be upset and comment on the interview regardless of the true intentions towards the ending because wow
There was nothing IN THE SHOW to disprove or recontextualize previous evidence. The most we could argue about is the lack thereof. Which is the same amount we had before its release (that being Mike's pov.).
And actually, since the fandom went spiraling into collective meltdown (which, fair enough, we'll get to that) I haven't seen that many people looking up closely on clues we DO might have gotten. Like, Mike and Robin's dialog about records (they made a point of it being it audible enough amongst everything else that was happening it got subtitled). Or how they had Max reinforcing the idea that love can break you out of Vecna's control and how she felt Lucas' hands (Does it sound familiar? Maybe... how about when Will broke the Mindflayer's influence through the hand Mike had held back in season 2?). Or how Mike was wearing a camouflage print through the coming-out scene, something meant for hiding.
The closest we have to a 'byler rebuttal' is Will saying to the group it's 'just a crush' or assuming 'Mike's his Tammy', but then again. He is unreliable.
He also thought that he could not control the hive mind until he figured out he could. As the rest of the characters.
Nobody possesses the whole truth. Just as Max thought El was the one who saved them at the cave (while the audience knew that wasn't true, but from her pov. there was nothing that could lead her to think otherwise). Or as the different units of the gang had different pieces of information around the supernatural puzzle with wrong details in each theory until they shared all their perspectives (and I'm pretty sure there's probably still a bigger picture that hasn't been revealed).
So no, Byler isn't off the table yet.
BUT, it is quite telling on where their priorities stand by selecting to take this particular direction.
A decision that involves denying both the characters and the audience more screen time of them as a couple (just as Robin and Vickie's played out off-screen). Or at least, to have both of them explicitly pining for each other, letting the audience know they have the potential to be a couple and allowing some time to readjust to this new angle before the finale (eg. making clear to the audience that there is a very real possibility of Mike liking Will back and ending up on a cliffhanger of whether they'll be able to make it).
A decision that drags the resolution (and dare I say evolution) of Mike's character arc because we simply cannot know what's happening inside him. Because we are being kept in the dark ON PURPOSE. Either that, or Mike just turned into an emotional wooden plank in the season he was supposed to carry substantial 'emotional weight'.
A decision that fuels mockery and the capacity to call byler shippers delusional until the very end.
And for what? For the sake of making a risky revolutionary plot twist? I'm telling you what that would be: having two main male characters canonically in love with one another spending time on screen together in one of THE mainstream shows of the time.
Honestly, I think they might be shooting themselves in the foot. Because the people that won't think that it 'came out of nowhere' are the ones they are letting down (aka the byler fandom). They might also be exposing the community to be the target of even more harassment when byler becomes canon, as if bylers are at any fault of pressuring or brainwashing the creators to go for a 'forced' ending
And that could be the concerning part on itself.
Secondly. About that interview... yikes
Then again, I don't think they disproved Byler entirely. They could have, but they didn't. And they even might have had no malice or intent of coming out thatway.
Nevertheless, they ARE responsible for the words used in their explanations. Of what they said, what they didn't say and how they said it.
They CHOSE to answer a byler related question leaning towards the shipping side of it. About it "not being a thing when they were young" (which then again is b*llsh*t, Spirk historians would be ashamed). They might as well be talking about the love-triangle-frenzy of Mileven against Byler, or Jancy against Stancy (a bit hypocritical given the fact that they themselves fanned the flames with Steve's character direction this season and the marketing department has sure taken the chance for profit). Reducing the byler phenomenon to a mere shallow whim of "who ends up with who". Which tells me the DB don't really know the byler side of the fandom because I haven't seen any other shipping community so invested on subtext, clues, subversion of character archetypes and narratives, film intentionality, and overall appreciation for detail provided by the work and effort of the crew. Wanting to really understand and enjoy the show from an analyst perspective.
(Which, btw makes the "I have not seen anyone get the ending correct" comment to be reconsidered... because... where exactly are they looking?).
They might have also chosen not to talk about their dynamic and avoid the subject entirely because of it being spoiler (further proving the possibility of byler being canon), but they still chose to say everything else the way they did anyway.
Meanwhile, they chose NOT to address the inherent homophobia inside the Stranger Things fandom, both against the byler audience and towards Will as a character.
They chose NOT to talk about the 'bury your gays' trope and how the community has been neglected by media time and time again.
And they CHOSE to compare Jancy's situation with Byler which... I don't even know what to make of it at this point.
I think there is a point in stating that accepting yourself, regardless of whether your crush loves you back in itself is powerful.
BUT, relating the 'unrequited straight teen crush' experience with queer identity acceptance its CLEARLY not the way of expressing it. If you want to see a truly strong take on this statement, I would deeply suggest to read this post, as it brilliantly explains it (way better than the Duffers):
💬 12 🔁 53 ❤️ 341 · I just got it. Why it was important for us to not know about Mike yet.
It was for Will's story, his message, in this f
Also, equating 'you don't need your crush to accept yourself' with 'he comes out to everyone and their mother' rubs me the wrong way. And I thought we had already done that arc in volume 1.
Specially the wording of it as a 'secret', and the kind of implication of it being 'something that needs to be shared with the world'. 'Cause, no. You don't owe that information to anyone. But I might be nitpicking with this one.
Like, sure. Having accepted oneself and being confident enough to speak about it it's not the same thing.
However. Even if they are willing to dedicate two separate arcs to Will's queerness - one for his self acceptance and the other for his self confidence, even though this second one had a way weaker development - why neglect Mike's? Doesn't his internalized homophobia and potential comphet also deserve progression over the episodes? Doesn't it deserve proper addressing and payoff? As I said earlier, it hinders his arc whether they go the queer route or not (and if they don't it's even worse).
Sidenote. I still don't know how to feel about the coming-out scene. Sure, it was awkward. But maybe that's just projection? Just like some people felt like Mike was uncomfortable with Will flirting because they were uncomfortable? I truly don't know how to assess this scene.
(And I guess this is confirmation that Will is, in fact, the bravest character on the series. Because who else would have THE BALLS to come out to a room full of people in the 80s, some of them he is not even close with. Anyway.)
So yeah, the interview sucks. Words can hurt, even if they are moved by carelessness instead of maliciousness.
Ending on a more positive note, I want to list whose character arc (or character dynamics) volume 2 did resolve:
Steve and Dustin (+Dustin grieving arc by proxy)
Jopper (romantic and parental)
Will's self acceptance and powers
And now I'd like to list what hasn't been resolved yet:
Mike. Anything (himself and his relationship in regard to Holly, El, Will... whoever)
Jane's resolution (and by extension Hopper and Kali's)
Will's relationship with Vecna/Upside Down/Mindflayer
Henry's relationship with the Vecna/the Mindflayer
And...that's pretty much it. It seems like a lot, but the finale is the length of a movie.
Jancy's resolution took 5 minutes.
Byler doesn't need much build-up, it only needs addressing/recontextualization and payoff. And to prove this I exhibit this less-than-5-minutes-video-montage (it is great btw, big shoutout).
It is still possible, but it is going to be more difficult for them to pull it off in a satisfactory way. I genuinely don't know how they'd figure it out. Who knows. They might surprise us all in the end.
For the record. Byler is canon (it's been established and it hasn't been debunked). Still, we can question the writing choices (and interview responses apparently).
It isn't about byler hope or byler doubt. Not anymore. It's about byler trust and byler disapointment.
It isn't even about queerbaiting. Because it ain't a bait, it's a mass fishing net. It'd be queerfraud.
Please. Whatever happens. Take care.
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