(2/3) Stranger Things/Labyrinth Theory: MC Escher's Relativity Prediction (LONG)
PART TWO IS REAL?! (sorry for the wait, i got busy). As I was saying in part one, I think there's a chance that the climax of Mike's arc in Stranger Things will parallel Sarah's from the movie Labyrinth.
In the movie Labyrinth, Sarah had exactly thirteen hours to rescue her baby brother Toby after accidentally wishing for him to be taken away. In the climax of the movie, she finally spots him crawling up (and down) a trippy ass staircase.
As one of Sarah's last challenges within the Labyrinth, she runs throughout this maze trying to catch up to her little brother. The laws of gravity and physics do not apply here. At one moment, little Toby might be crawling across the ceiling, in the next he might be catching a crystal bouncing up a flight of steps.- fandom wiki
In Labyrinth, the setting of the “endless stairs” scene is based on M.C Escher’s ‘Relativity’.
Which is foreshadowed earlier in the movie, by a poster hanging on Sarah’s bedroom wall:
And as you know from my earlier post, I think this MC Escher poster hanging in Mike's room, was a reference to Sarah's from Labyrinth.
Because it could potentially foreshadow a Snowball/GoblinBall parallel going down in season 5. (read theory: here)
I ended part one on a cliffhanger (cue laughter), by hinting that Sarah's "Relativity" poster might ALSO relate to a potential s5 reference.
Perhaps Mike's Cliff Jump is parallel to Sarah's Staircase Jump...
AND GUESS WHAT, THE VIBES WHERE PROPHETIC OR SOME SHIT, BECAUSE IT TURNS OUT THAT A POSTER OF RELATIVITY IS ALSO HANGING IN MIKE'S ROOM?!😱 (hanging under the notorious “one way sign” pointing into his closet)
(thank you to @strangerchicka for telling me this, because when i originally paused to screenshot Mike's room, he was covering it)
What if the scene of Mike jumping off the cliff comes full circle in s5.
because it’s the only way (?)
Which leads me back to Labyrinth:
In labyrinth, the M.C. Escher poster was used to foreshadow the climax. The final confrontation between Sarah and Jareth happens in the Relativity-themed room. When she finally reaches the top of the staircase, she looks down and spots sweet lil baby brother Toby.
Edit:(November 7, 2025): As everyone knows, the episode title: “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler” recently got leaked. Mike’s baby sister and Sarah’s baby brother now parallel eachother!!!
but lil homie is contemplating life, staring into the abyss. He's looking over the edge of what appears to be a pretty steep drop.
The baby represents her childhood innocence. When she sees him, she must jump to break the curse put on her.
This is how Mike’s Season 1 jump into the quarry will come full circle in Season 5.
The crystal ball in Labyrinth is used to create illusions. It bares striking resemblance to the OTHER MC Escher poster included in Mike's room.
and you know who else has the power to transport people into illusions? VECNA.
So what if to break the illusion, Mike will have to once again jump into the quarry?
this it what Jareth (Vecna) says whenever Sarah (Mike reaches the ground:
This is the scene where Mike will realize Vecna has no power over him.
and humping successfully breaks her/him out of the spell!
According to multiple credible academic sources (LitCharts and Reddit) Toby the physical embodiment of Sarah's own childhood innocence👼
Which got me thinking:
What if the baby is the physical embodiment of Mike’s childhood as well? In other words, what if the baby parallels s1 Mike, and Sarah parallels s5 Mike
SPECIFIC S5 CLIFF SCENE PREDICTIONS:
3: TIME TRAVEL TOMFOOLERY:
This one is kinda edgy, but the writers almost made El mercy ki11 her mom in s2, so how crazy is it REALLY?
OKAY. So what if the ONE WAY to stop the end of the world, is go back in time and change things, but Mike unexpectedly DIES (by his own hand) as a result of this?
What if in s1, Mike still jumps off the cliff despite the bullies never threatening Dustin's teeth in the first place?
Let me explain: if time travel tomfoolery DOES have to go down in s5, as has been heavily foreshadowed, then that means they might never meet El or get involved in any supernatural antics.
Meaning that in s1, Mike would't learn the truth about what actually happened to Will after his “body” was found in the quarry.
The Cliff overlooking The Quarry is the key to all of this.
Why? because if Will's body was found in the quarry, then the police’s leading theory as to the cause of his death would probably be this:
Police would suspect that Will was either:
A: hate-crimed/pushed off of the cliff (bc of his sexuality)
B. committed suicide via jumping (bc of his sexuality)
In this alternate timeline, Mike would still watch Will's body get pulled out of the quarry. Only this time, he would falsely believe that the cause of Will’s death was his sexuality.
This is why Hopper kept pressing Joyce about Will's perceived sexuality in s1. It was a significant factor for them to consider, especially in the 80s, because being gay might have lead to his death:
Ted knew this as well, which is why he subtly implied to Mike that Will's disappearance wasn't shocking:
“You see Michael, you see what happens”-COULD have been in refrence to Nancy storming off.
However Mikes reply-“what happens when what?” before bringing the topic back to WILL, suggests that Mike picks up on Ted’s homophobia. He realizes what might have happened.
But why does everyone in town even think Will is gay in the first place? Clothes you say??Clothes could be the sole reason for these rumors (like Joyce said), but what there was something more?
Like something about how Will acted around Mike?
if that were the case, one can only image how Mike would react if he found out that Will di3d as a result of their friendship...
What if after he finds out that Will "jumped" into the quarry, Mike jumps too
What if in the alternate timeline, Mike's decision to jump remains unchanged, despite Dustin's baby teeth never being threatened.
This reveal would be powerful- it would reframe the s1 cliff scene, implying that if the party never got involved with the supernatural, Mike’s decision to jump would remain unchanged (and would have had a more profound underlying cause.)
Mike didn’t fully realize his sexuality until s3, so he wouldn’t jump because of that.
However, learning that Will, his best friend (who he Loves), died because of the town’s homophobia might.
Especially if he assumes that it was indirectly caused by their friendship.
This is even supported by the way the cliff scene was shot and written. Mike wasn’t shown struggling with the decision. He just calmly looks over the edge, before stepping off of the cliff.
If Mike still jumps in this timeline, there would be one major difference though. This time, El wouldn’t be there to save him:
Which might be why Mike was paralleled to Romeo in s4. Because just like Romeo, what if Mike tragically di3s by his own hand after learning of Will's fake “d3ath". What if, just like Romeo, he is tricked by the body?
And just like Romeo, Mike chooses to copy how Juliette (Will) died?
conveniently, this scenario would also add a whole new layer to this joke made by Ted in s2:
“So if your friend jumps off a cliff, you’re going to jump too?”
Might this line be yet another classic case of reverse story telling antics within Stranger Things???
Reverse Storytelling is literally how they constructed Mike and Will's entire relationship. Which suggests that reframing prior seasons and Mike himself will be a pretty major focus of the final season.
If this joke can only be fully understood in reverse it would play into this storytelling device, especially because as of now, it’s a pretty mid joke. Considering that Mike jumped off of the cliff to save Dustin's baby teeth, the dramatic irony only applies to the fact that Mike also "jumped off a cliff". The implication that he jumped "because his friend did" doesn't even apply to the s1 cliff scene!( I’m the comedy police, and you’re under arrest!😡👮♀️) UNLESS this joke was actually in reference to the season 5 cliff scene😨Because in s5, after “his friend Will jumped off a cliff, he’s going to jump too,” -just like Ted said.
More Potential Foreshadowing (Mike/Water)(watergate?!?)
I already thought another cliff scene was a possibility (before all this Labyrinth delusion started), based off of the water imagery surrounding Mike throughout s4:
idk guuuuys...something something about all that water symbolism around Mike really makes me of the quarry, since it’s one of the only significant bodies of water in the show. It's also literally the setting where Will briefly "died" in s1, cementing it as a pretty significant water themed setting for both of them, but especially for Mike. Of course, the water symbolism might also foreshadow him drowning in Lover's Lake. (more on that later maybe?)
Along with this, I also think that Mike's death will end up referencing Artax's in the Never-ending Story. If Will is Bastian, and El is Ateyu...then who's Mike?
HE'S THE DAMN HORSE. Arguably the most iconic scenes in the Neverending Story is when that depressed horse Artax drowns. (just tryna think outside the box guys, idfk)
the end! hope you liked it!
