I think a lot of us need to be reminded that Henry is really only redeemable from a narrative standpoint in that his plot line and character arc serve a very specific purpose to the story. His redemption will serve the same purpose as Darth Vader’s in Return of the Jedi—to show the audience that their redeemer is merciful and kind, and to restore balance to the force.
I keep seeing claims that Henry is innocent, and therefore deserving of redemption. What this take is ignoring is that Henry/Vecna, like Anakin/Vader, are not innocent by any means. They have both hurt, killed, and caused the deaths of so many people. Henry’s redemption is essentially inevitable, even at this point, but not because he’s innocent. Yes, Henry, like Anakin, was groomed and misled and seduced by the dark side. The entire POINT is that they gave in instead of fighting it, serving as a direct contrast to their redeemers, who (will) have been targeted by evil but resisted it. This is not innocence. You quite literally cannot be redeemed if you are innocent.
The Star Wars references and parallels in Stranger Things are one of the most obvious and talked-about topics in relation to the show. The Duffer brothers themselves have admitted to being inspired by Star Wars. I talk a lot about Will’s parallels to Luke on this blog.
In the spirit of Luke Week, and of my own interests, I want to delve into the similarities between Luke Skywalker and Will Byers. However, it’s pretty hard to talk about Luke!Will without talking about Luke!El and therefore Leia!Will which of course leads us to Leia!El (and maybe, Yoda!El…) which of course must follow be followed by WillEl, also lovingly referred to as the “wonder twins,” may have some similarities to some other wonder twins I know.
So, is Will Luke? Or is El? Which one is Leia?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer:
Narratively, it is quite obvious that El is given the Luke Skywalker role in Stranger Things. Young, powerful hero fighting a cosmic evil? (Multiple) Dagobah training arc(s)? Mysterious parentage? Yeah, that’s Jedi El.
But characteristically, personality-wise—Will Byers is Luke Skywalker. And who knows? Maybe something will shift narratively. I certainly have some theories about that; but that is for another time.
A connection is there: Star Wars References in Stranger Things
Mike’s Yoda impression: when showing El around his home, he shows her his Yoda figurine and quotes him.
Mike’s Lego Millennium Falcon: once Mike discovers El has powers, he attempts to show them off to his friends by asking her to make his Lego Millennium Falcon fly for them.
Dustin references Lando Calrissian in the context of betrayal (surface-level reading of that character, but a reference nonetheless)
Dustin and Steve’s secret handshake ending in a lightsaber duel
Steve’s favorite movie being, apparently, the Star Wars “one with the teddy bears.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Dustin quoting Han at a D&D campaign: “Never tell me the odds.”
Mike’s ANH poster in his room
Will, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin dress as Luke, Han, Lando, and Darth Vader respectively in Stranger Things Holiday Special comic book:
Look how cute and little Jedi Will is back there.
El’s Powers
El’s character arc, in many ways, is the most similar to Luke Skywalker’s. The similarities begin with her superpowers—telekinesis and her void. In Star Wars, Force-sensitive individuals (this term makes me chuckle it sounds so politically correct) can wield the Force to similar ends. The Force can be used to move objects with one’s mind—like El’s telekinesis. A trained Jedi can call out to other Jedi psychically, like El’s ability to find people in her void.
Season 1:
El is found in the woods by Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, and kept in Mike’s basement. She resolves to help them search for Will, having recognized a photo of him, while Mike promises to save her from the bad men at Hawkins Lab.
Season 2:
El follows her heart, leaving her home where her father is keeping her and discovers her “lost sister” Kali, or “008”. Kali trains El in the ways of the Force to channel her feelings into her powers to lift a train. This Dagobah training arc resembles how Luke follows his dream of leaving Tatooine and learns the ways of the Force from Yoda.
Season 4: After seeing a vision of her friends in danger in Hawkins, El leaves another Dagobah training arc to save them (in the NINA project) before Dr. Brenner believes she is ready. Like Luke, El fails to save all of her friends, and the season ends with Max in limbo—much like Han at the end of ESB.
Will’s Powers
Will does have supernatural abilities. Whether or not they are revealed to be at all similar to El’s powers (I don’t think they will be), I am fully convinced that these powers will be a major plot point of season. Will canonically already has something like force sensitivity—he is able to sense the presence of the living “Upside-Down”. A disturbance in the force, if you will?
Will’s Missing Left Hand Imagery
This is a theory described in more detail by the wise @pinkeoni in this classic post. To summarize, Will is often depicted with his left hand out of the shot, and there have been several ST5 behind-the-scenes photographs of Noah Schnapp with his left arm non-conspicuously out of view. While this is only a theory at the moment, the imagery is still there, and may be another parallel between Will and Luke Skywalker waiting to happen…
Luke and WillEl’s Personality Traits
I touched on Luke’s personality traits earlier for Day 1.
Luke: ability to see the good in everyone, “whiny”, emotional, empathetic, gentle, merciful, lonesome, sensitive, angry, impatient, dutiful
Will: ability to see the good in everyone, “whiny”, emotional, empathetic, gentle, lonesome, sensitive, dutiful
El: “whiny”, merciful, lonesome, angry, impatient
Although El does share some personality traits with Luke, Will has a personality more similar to Luke than any other character I’ve seen. Whether or not his narrative focus is anything like Luke’s, we don’t know yet. It may be more along the lines of “there is another”/Leia’s narrative role, but we’ll see.
Jedi & Religion
In-universe, the Force is often perceived to be a type of magic, which invites widespread skepticism. (Han, for one, is a skeptic for almost the entirety of Episode IV). The Jedi are essentially a religious order of highly skilled force-sensitive individuals. Clerics, the class of Dungeons & Dragons character Will is labeled as by Mike in ST2, are magic-users who source their power from gods. The Force, being the force in the universe within and surrounding all living things, could be likened to a deity—and (in the most simplistic trend possible) gives the Jedi their power.
Above: Luke and Will wielding their god-channeling rods
Stranger Things 5: What is to come?
Vecna has tried and failed to get El to join him. In the ST5 trailer, we see Vecna Force-manhandling Will and asking him to help him “one last time.” What has failed with Luke!El may work on Luke!Will.
