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Creelby is the key to Byler Endgame... just not in the way you're thinking (what I'm calling #BobGate)

Part 21: Finding the Lost Sheep (2/2)

It's been a few days since I posted Part Twenty re: Lucas' foreshadowed betrayal and why I think he is the Melot aka "traitor" to Byler's story -- a post I ended by raising the question about whether that betrayal will define his ending.

I think the immediate aftermath of that betrayal will be just as gutting as the betrayal itself --

A confrontation between Lucas and Mike that's been long overdue.

Not too dissimilar from their big blowout in S1, only this time, Lucas may not have El to blame. Nor are Mike and Lucas little kids anymore. Blood *will* be shed.

What's been bubbling under the surface for years is finally going to boil over -- the judgement, the resentment, the sabotage and subterfuge, the ugly truths about how they've treated each other that neither wants to own up to.

If Tristan and Melot's duel in Tristan und Isolde is any indication, if Lucas's betrayal has anything to do with turning over Will to the MF's control, he'll have essentially stabbed Mike in the gut first.

And what did Dustin say back in S1?

Dustin: "You know the rule: Draw first blood --" Mike: "No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand."

I believe Lucas will be of a similar mindset, and he won't be as easily swayed as Mike to apologize for what he'll think was a justified call, no matter how cutthroat.

But Party rules are Party rules.

Dustin: "Obey, or be banished from the Party. Do you want to be banished?"

This time, I don't think Lucas will care.

So banishment it will be.

Now, I don't know where this will take Lucas, but I do think that, regardless of his actions, he still sees himself as a Knight. Will he go off own his own to fight the MF with his wrist rocket? Off to save Max? Already with Max? We shall see.

But his absence will be deeply felt by the Party. Because traitor or not, Lucas is one of them.

Once again, Dustin is the voice of reason. In trying to get Mike and Lucas to make up in S1, he reminded them (and us) of the importance of sticking together:

"Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass? We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we split the Party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit, and we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what."

And what did Lucas say to that?

"If you two wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead."

Will he be made to eat his words?

Fortunately for Lucas, like his mentor Eddie, Dustin has a fondness for finding "lost sheep".

Side note: Dustin really is the best of them. Mike may be the Heart, but Dustin is the glue that holds the Party together 🥹

Still, Dustin likely won't be searching for Lucas alone.

But before I get to the ending, I think it's best to go back... to the beginning of Season 4.

This is when it first became explicit in the text that Lucas was playing for the Tigers (which @nuffit has pointed out signify conformity just as much as the orange of its stripes).

In the first episode of S4, Lucas chooses his basketball game over Eddie's Hellfire campaign. At the time, this seemed like a reasonable decision that wouldn't warrant much suspicion IMO (at least, in a real-world context). He had a duty to uphold his basketball commitments, Hellfire could have been moved, and it was the championship game. I think Lucas was entirely justified in his hurt when his best friends didn't want to support him.

Dustin and Mike especially disapproved of Lucas' desperation to be popular and, after a frantic search, found a suitable substitute for him...

His own "infamous" sister, Erica Sinclair AKA --

Lady Applejack, a LVL-14 chaotic good half-elf rogue who wields a poison-soaked kukri.

I first suspected Lady Applejack would be important to the Real!Ending when I saw this in the Ep8 credits:

Is Applejack's Helm making a comeback?

[Also peep "Zoomer's stead", possibly foreshadowing Lucas selling out Mike/Will to be Max's "stead" in Camazotz.]

The Netflix Puzzled clues confirmed it for me:

Not to mention the soundtrack to S5 (several songs I've taken to have a double-meaning tied to the Fake!Endgame and the Real!Endgame):

Speaking of Chaotic Good and Chaotic Bad --

After Erica is welcomed into the Hellfire Club, a pretty epic sequence follows as we cut back and forth between the '86 Hawkins Tigers' championship basketball game, and the thrilling conclusion of Eddie's Hellfire campaign.

At the end of that sequence, Lucas not only scores, but shoots the winning point for the Tigers (sponsored by Conformity Coke™️).

But, at the beginning of it, we learn that despite what everyone thought, Vecna still lives... Perhaps with (Lu)Kas to thank for it.

Time never quite played out in order on this show did it?

But hope is not lost. Even though things look grim, the Party decides to stand and fight -- even if it's to the death.

But the battle is bloody. As members of Eddie's Party are taken down one by one, two players remain: Dustin and Erica.

The other Party members want to flee, calling Dustin and Erica "delusional" for wanting to keep fighting. Some meta commentary on #conformitygate for ya.

Erica: "'Delusional'? How about 'not cowards?'"

Even Eddie agrees that they "don't have to be heroes. Not today."

Still, despite the fact Dustin and Erica only have twelve hit points left, they choose to keep fighting.

Alas, Dustin rolls an 11 and misses. The Party has one more chance...

It's all down to Erica.

At this point in the sequence, both she and her brother Lucas take their final shots, everyone else watching with bated breath...

And although Lucas scores the winning point for the Tigers...

....Erica rolls a twenty -- A CRITICAL HIT --

Defeating Vecna and winning it all for the Party.

...But that was in DND, not real life.

How will Erica deliver a "crit hit" against Vecna in the Real!Endgame? By getting through to her brother.

Even though they don't always get along, it's clear they have always loved and supported each other when it mattered most.

In the scene Twitter user @cadielumax references, we see that, as snarky as she can be, Erica is sincere with Lucas here, expressing her remorse (in her own way) for missing Lucas' game and not being there when he needed her.

Which is why I believe she'll definitely be there for him at this critical juncture to pull him back from the Tiger's maw:

"Even though you're a bench-riding loser, you're still my brother."

Erica has been nothing if not a truth teller...

...Even if she's not always polite about it.

"ERICA!"

Even if she tends to be reprimanded by the rest of her family for it, she sticks to her belief that it's better to call out BS and *state the facts* than to keep quiet for civility's sake.

Almost reminds me of the enchantress Morgan LeFay... Maybe exposing truth through chaos is something Erica and another Morgan-coded figure can agree on.

When Dustin and Erica go off on their side-quest to get Lucas back, it looks like Dustin might "miss", but Erica will be able to hit Lucas with a powerful dose of truth and hopefully get him to wake up too.

By what means?

Here was another Puzzled clue:

I thought this was just a reference to the Mother Goose rhyme, but maybe it was relevant in more ways than one...

Lady Applejack has her kukri, but Erica's been known to bake a mean pie.

Remember the last time someone had to pick between Erica's pie or her kukri?

Let's hope Lucas is smarter than Tina and eats his damn slice of truth pie (with a dash of humble to boot).

But what is the truth Erica is dosing him with?

Here, Erica reminds us of what the show's motto is:

"Friends don't lie."

So is conformity.

I recommend watching the video attached to this Tweet where the Party "beats" the MF with lots of fire.... All while the audience is being Rick Roll'd on WSQSYNC.

So, if lies spread like fire, then what's the opposite of fire? What's the opposite of lies?

The opposite of fire is water.

The opposite of lies is truth.

And if this is all true, then that means that, as Bob points out here, truth... is also love.

Again, we are shown that you can't fight fire with fire, with lies, or with fear...

You can only fight back with the truth. With love.

The "poison" Erica will use on her brother isn't actually poison at all, but something much more powerful: the antidote to the Agent Orange in Lucas' system. What he's desperately wanted and needed all along... love and acknowledgment of the truths he perhaps never thought he could voice aloud (as a member of a conservative, repressed society, as a young man, as a young Black man).

And I believe this dose of truth (and tough love) will save this lost sheep and bring him back to his Party --

-- Where they will welcome him back with open arms.

Even Mike... who I think may realize on his own journey that he has some apologizing to do too.

Whoever extends their hand first, I believe Lucas and Mike will be ready to shake hands once more and forgive each other.

With the Party back together and their festering wounds healed, not only will they be at full-strength, but they'll be stronger than ever...

Ready to fight the Thessalhydra.

~~~~

While I'm think that will be Erica's story, I think Lady Applejack will be important to the endgame in more ways than one... and maybe not in the way you're thinking.

Stay tuned.

Disclaimer: I'm going to break my evidence for this theory into different posts under #BobGate (also #PuzzleGate) but, if possible, let's keep this contained to Tumblr because I think there are folks who might care about being spoiled for what I think is going to be an amazing twist (if #conformitygate is in fact real) **I haven't come across a theory like it, but in case someone else also had the thought -- lmk!