Multiple Bychance âChekhovâs gunsâ have not fired yet. And they inevitably WILL in the Ep8 Finale Byler resolution. Ft. âPlayGateâ + âVecnasCurseGateâ.
A.K.A. the âMISSING PUZZLE PIECEâ of Stranger Things.
+ a possible chronological timeline of Bychance.
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Itâs VERY unlikely Chance the Jock doesnât have some kind of relevant role in the finale (even if through flashbacks only).
Because⌠thereâs all these breadcrumbs and Chekhovâs Guns that havenât fired or gotten any payoff at all yet:
JealousyGate.
Mikeâs extremely recurrent possessiveness/jealousy arc throughout all seasons. Thatâs definitely not just a funny gag.
ChanceGate / LuckGate.
Chance being named after the concept of Luck/Randomness. Mike: âitâs simple dumb luckâ.
22Gate + BirthdayGate.
Chance being number #22 in the Tigers basketball team, which is Willâs mysteriously âforgottenâ birthday.
TimeJumpGate. ItsBeenAYearGate.
18 full months of Willâs AND Mikeâs life (between s4-s5) that we have seen nothing of.
OrangeGate.
Why is there SO much orange in s5, specifically in Vol 2âŚ
⌠and even WILL is wearing ORANGE too now.
Yellow (Will) + Red (Vecna) = Orange (Chance).
Chance is associated to Orange through Basketball đ, Tigers đŻ and Halloween đ.
Orange is also a color that signifies danger, alarm, risk, thrill.
HalloweenGate / RainGate / BasementGate / PossessionGate.
Max & Holly visited memories from Halloween day, when it was RAINING and Holly occupied the basement with a friend.
Meaning, Will had to have slept SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Now, was that âsomewhere elseâ really Mikeâs bedroom, like many are theorizing right now?
Or was it⌠not?
Rememberâthat was exactly the moment Henry took control of Hollyâs mind. And Holly is acting as a bit of a metaphor for Mike and Willâs minds too.
What if Will was somewhat possessed by Henry that night and did something to push Mike away?
SecretsGate.
Will talking about Vecna seeing his âsecretsâ in Vol 2.
What secrets???
Are we sure itâs just him loving Mike⌠I donât think so. Weâve been KNOWN that. I think thereâs definitely something else at play.
DustinsLiesGate / PhysicalInvolvementGate / SnakeGate.
Dustin having been PHYSICALLY INVOLVED with the Jocks is still a secret to everyone else (except Steveâhis BEST FRIENDâwho suspects it).
Dustinâs been LYING about it.
And I firmly believe this is foreshadowing for Willâs own secret PHYSICAL INVOLVEMENT with (one of) the Jocks.
Except⌠this physical involvement is not really about a âfightâ but about something all of us can probably guessâŚ
Plus, the Dustin-Andy conflict implicated a SNAKE đ, which is not only a very established type of PHALLIC symbolism, but also BETRAYAL symbolism.
FramingGate.
In all of Chanceâs scenesâand specifically in s5e1 when Mike and Will approach the jocksâthereâs a very weird focus on Chanceâs blocking, behavior and facial expressions.
He even exchanges noticeable looks with both Will and Mike; and Mike and Will exchange deliberate looks at him too!!!
Will and Chance in particular look slightly worried/guilty, but like theyâre trying to hide it or act nonchalantly.
Thereâs even one shot where theyâre all framed together in an incredibly suspicious way. You could even say in a love triangle imagery way.
What the hell was THAT all about?
[see more about this in the *** âBychance Chronological Timelineâ section below]
SwingGate.
âNice swing!â.
This is what s5e5 Will says in a flirty voice towards a bare-chested Lucas (a former Tiger/Jock, and also a man of darker skin lol).
Keep in mind, âSwingâ and âSwingersâ have a sexual connotation too.
Then, Lucas responds with âYou saw it?â -> prompting an immediate & slightly possessive response from Mike: âHe didnât ONLY see it.â
Meaning, Will didnât ONLY âseeâ Chance, he DID something about it. He ACTED on it. He got INVOLVED.
HunterRomanillosGate, lolâŚ
Finally, Hunter Romanillos (Chanceâs actor) said heâand the jocksâwould reappear again after Volume 1. They did not, yet. This means they will play a role in the finale.
And that role will 100% be relevant or even crucial, otherwise the writers wouldnât even bother wasting time on those âbackgroundâ characters in the very last episode of the show.
Yes, it will be about the Andy-Dustin conflict, but taking DustinsLiesGate and SnakeGate into account⌠I fear thatâs not going to be the exclusive reason.
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*** Bychance Chronological Timeline:
My theory of how the Bychance thing went (chronologically) is this:
1986 March
Ending of s4. Will starts trying to get over Mike.
1986 October 31st / November 1st (Halloween)
Will either meets and/or begins his secret affair with Chance.
1987 Uncertain Timeline:
Somewhere along this year, Will cheats on Chance with Mike (Byler development that we will probably see in flashbacks, likely BasementGate).
By this point, Mike still doesnât know about Chance; at most he simply suspects something.
Chance finds out Will cheated on him. Bychance breaks up.
1987 October 31st / November 1st (Halloween)
One year has passed since Bychance started dating. âItâs been a year, Mike.â
Itâs raining. Henry takes control of Hollyâs mind (and metaphorically, of Willâs and Mikeâs minds). Will isnât sleeping in the basement.
Something VERY crucial about Byler AND/OR Bychance happens this night. One of the 1987 events in the âuncertain timelineâ above; whether itâs:
- the aforementioned Bychance breakup;
- a Byler fight;
- and/or BasementGate (the Byler confession/kiss).
1987 October / early-November
Whereas before he probably didnât really give much of a fuck, Chance now grows a personal vendetta/resentment against Will, Mike and the entirety of the Hellfire club because of jealousy.
Heâs a cowardly pick-me gay, basically lmao.
And thatâs why we see him being so collaborative with Andy and therefore violent against Dustin in s5 (November 3rd).
1987[???] November 6th
Itâs Nov 6th, but weirdly, thereâs no mention of the year. This implies time distortion/warping, which could mean Willâs past [SA] traumas from Nov 6th 1983 are resurfacing.
Mike listens to Willâs âcoming outâ that he weirdly agrees to do in front of the entire group of ST characters on their team. Will says his feelings for Mike were a âcrushâ and Mikeâs his Tammy because âheâs not [queer] like meâ, implying heâs âmoved onâ from Mike.
Throughout his speech, Will also adds eerie references to the 1950s, activities that we know donât really belong to his life (or his friendsâ lives) and âgetting lost in the woodsâ, which is his childhood core traumatizing SA-coded vanishing event from Nov 6th 1983âand quite literally what set the entire story of the show in motion in the first place. (The details in this paragraph werenât noticed by me; this is #playgate and #vecnascursegate, theories that arenât mine.)
Mike remembers their intimate moments of the last year/days (BasementGate?), notices the inconsistencies in Willâs words & attitudeâclocking that this isnât Will speaking. He realizes Will is already being possessed by Henry, whoâs putting on a BAD performance of Will (Will is dressed in ORANGE).
However, Mike doesnât say anything. Because if he does, then Henry will know that HE knows.
So Mike has to equally put on a âperformanceâ to pretend that he doesnât realize whatâs happening. And thatâs why he stays silent, acts weirdly distant and looks so conflicted/heartbroken/scared during that scene.
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Edit: PLEASE also read the reblog I made to this post, because thereâs another piece of crucial evidence (related to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is one of the main movie references the Duffers told us to watch before s5).
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