#byler speculation

[august-shops]

And if I say Mike’s jacket is wrapped around Will passed out on the couch then what?

[prince-of--the-dead]

okay, hear me out.

Mike gets Vecna’d, or rather, Henry tries to break him, since Mike is Will’s emotional shield, protecting him from Vecna.

so Henry targets Mike. and in his mindscape, Mike runs from one memory to another

and suddenly he stumbles into the rain fight memory.

(images were created by me, without AI.)

he watches as in-memory Mike and Will fight, and then he hears Vecna’s voice

"can you see, michael? you always fail him… don’t you? even here, even in your own memories. how long do you think you can protect him, Michael, when you can’t even tell him the truth? you really thought he’d care for you, Michael? after the trail of failures you call a life?"

[jonahnotyourboy]

this is how i imagine ted wheeler when he finds out that will is staying with them in s5

like i imagine him standing in mike’s doorway like this at night when he sees will and mike sleeping in the same bed

i know he’ll know ab them i just can’t prove it yet

[itswhatyougive]

What if flayed Mike isn't allowed to touch Will?

We've seen in the past that Mike has been able to break Will out of his visions just by touching him, like in Season 2.

If Will is being used by Vecna/the Mindflayer to create a mass illusion (as his new Illusionist class in the credits suggests), maybe Mike has been prevented from touching him, lest the illusion is interrupted.

[hearteyes-wheeler]

And when Mike goes to the hospital to visit his mom again in vol2 and the rainbow puzzle is not in pieces but a full picture because he's sorted out his feelings, then what.

[woah-someone-actually]

THEY’RE HOLDING ONTO EACH OTHER IM GONNA BE SICK 😭

[televangelistics]

WAIT GANG you know how Noah was supposed to be wearing contacts during the byler/vecna church scene. And we’ve always taken that as Will being possessed. Have we ever considered that it’s actually cause MIKE is having a vision?? Like when Caleb had to wear contacts when Vecna gave Max the vision of Lucas. Aaaand it’s in a church aka the perfect place for Vecna to really get at Mike’s internalised homophobia. I don’t think Mike will be like vecna’d per se I think it would be more like just terrorising him possibly so Vecna can get to Will easier or something??

[byerseason]

Some food for thought about the teaser & What I think is going on?

First of all, I'm gonna take you back to last year because we will need those information later.

I will revisit everything quickly before connecting the dots, in case you weren't here during the filming or just need a reminder.

- CHURCH SET

This set was a VERY important filming place during last year, in which they closed all the close roads and everything.

The set also had a crazily big crane, basically everything that screams it's an important place.

That set was built late May 2024 for the first time, shortly after it was taken down & the filming was delayed to August, due to an actor being unavailable.

It all happened around two weeks, so it was a situation with that actor that happened suddenly. People initially thought it's Millie, but she was being seen hanging out with her husband so it wasn't her.During that time, none of the actors were really unavailable. Except Noah, who had a really visible stye on his eye this exact time.

Which means he won't be able to use contacts, and it will just look bad in close up shots. So he was most likely the actor they delayed this filming for.

— FINN & NOAH'S REHEARSAL

During these weeks, we were informed about Finn and Noah flying to set on their off day just to rehearse an important scene, the two of them. And the church was newly being built, even the information we got was them rehearsing for the church. So it's safe to day that was true.

— FILMING IN CHURCH

In August 2024, the set was built back. They filmed multiple scenes there with older teens and some other characters, but Noah or Finn wasn't seen during those filmings even if they were supposedly filming that week, probably in somewhere else.

However, to our surprise the production went back to the church set in October 2024, two months later, with Noah (confirmed) Nell and Finn (at some point, according to locals). This filming took 4 days in total.

— EPISODE INFORMATION

Every information we had points out to this scenes taking place in episode 6 - 7. The best guess is the scene with Noah taking place in episode 7 The Bridge, and some other scenes being in episode 6.

Speaking of episode 6, we have absolutely no information about Will in this episode. We were able to learn such kind of information for all the filming era, but for episode 6 Will is nowhere to be found.

The only thing I have is that Noah was filming something separately from the rest for a while. Jamie was also on set the same exact week. Not being 100% sure about this, that was from episode 6 because I remember thinking how that's all we got from that episode about Will.

What I think is going on?

At the end of episode 5 / beginning of episode 6, Will disappears.

Him filming with Nell in the church pretty much confirms she was trapped there. And when you put everything together, it very much seems like Will is there for her. Knowing him, sacrificing for an innocent kid who is about to have the same fate as him and is Mike's sister on top of that, is something that he definitely would do. He even might be tormented by Vecna, being shown visions of her, just to pull him in there willingly. And of course Will would do that, this might be how he finds her.

The scene of El going into the deprivation tank might be to find them. El seems to be comforting Mike in this scene, reassuring him about both her safety & finding them. Mike seems to be down and needs reassurance, which makes sense knowing how it would hit him to not be able to save his little sister, then losing Will, then putting El in danger.

And thanks to Shawn Levy posting a bts of this scene before, we know it happens in his episode, aka the episode we don't hear from Will, episode 6.

You could also argue that it's about Max, but i think Escape from the Camazots is already the episode she finally manages to wake up. But still, could be. I can't add more about this Max possibility because of our lack of information about her, so I'm gonna stick with the other possibility. The theory could still work without this exact scene not being about this.

After the gang finds out where they are, they go to the church, which are the multiple outdoor scenes that were filmed in there.

And the second filming that happened with Noah, and possibly with Nell and Finn, is when Mike comes in to save the day, to try, at least.

In his post, Ross confirmed only episode 7 was not included in the teaser, which is the episode this takes place in, probably along with some Max stuff.

Holly having a cleric figurine and Mike telling her "it will keep her safe" made me almost sure it was gonna be Will who ends up saving her, and all of this just adds to it.

General Opinions:

About this Elmike scene i'm honestly one of those who didn't experience doubt (as usual for me but wait, listen).

First of all the aim of a teaser is to remind the audience where they left while also giving them a general opinion on the new season. It is not meant to you give you any spoilers, nor let you know about the outcomes of the unresolved arcs. Especially when you're watching Stranger Things, after Ross had to make it clear while posting the teaser, Imao.

You did not imagine byler when it's not there. Will's love for Mike took them three seasons to build up. Two seasons of Will's character arc has been solely about his sexuality and love for Mike. Mike's behavior with El and Will has been put in an unexplainable way. And most importantly, the plot was left unresolved to the final season.

So no, The Duffers aren't trying to give the message to delusional byler fans, they, in fact know where they put this story and how would the fans react to it.

And no, they're not letting you know about the outcome of this plot that took them seasons to build up through a teaser which they sweared up and down isn't spoilery.

We also need to stop freaking out every time we see El and Mike together. If we want this to work, there has to be actual heart-to-heart moments between them that will contradict their dynamic during the relationship.

Also, we already know Mike and Will share 85% of this season together, and if you didn't see them in the teaser, congrats, there is something to hide there.

Other than that I'm pretty caught up with the scene where Vecna himself comes for an unconscious Will and only Mike & Joyce being there to save him. I can't even imagine watching this sequence & the aftermath of it with Byler.

There has never been a scene like this where Mike saves Will like this when he's not fully unconscious, especially not from something like this. We're so getting s2 byler on steroids it's crazy to think about.

Anyway, i think that's all i have in mind now, reblog with opinions if you have something to add! I could discuss those stuff for hours. <333

gif from @mikesbasementbeets