not done w this poster actually
ok first things first.
1. the rainbow in the background is the rainbow room, the play room at the lab in the Nina tank.
2. the El is the El in the Nina tank.
3. there is an image of the Creel Door above her head.
4. she is upside down.
5. there is swirling imagery in the far back -- appears to be smoke.
6. the quote in the upper left, "Don't go too far, sleepyhead" is said by 001, Vecna, to El at the lab in the Nina tank.
7. the colors are either shades of blue or blue-toned.
8. there is red dripping from the rainbow and splattered over the top right of the poster.
evidence has been established so its theory time babyyyy
TIMELINE FUCKERY:
1 & 2. Nina tank = fairly well known theory I subscribe to that the stuff that happened in the Nina tank wasn't real, with evidence ranging from like. math. and symbols and memory etc. to the fact that story-wise it just doesn't fit/doesn't work canonically. there's two main theories, one that the Nina "memories" are a branched timeline (mr clarke's st1 quote about the many worlds theory) or that the Nina memories are someone else's memories being applied to el. and with the general memory fuckery (ex. birthdaygate) i find both fairly reasonable but lets stick with manyworldsgate or branchedtimelinegate or multiworldgate or whatever the ever loving fuck it's called for now.
3. the Creel Door = in st4 robin smashes the creel door with a brick. in the back of the lumax scene in the creel house towards the end of st4 when max is about to use herself as bait, the creel rose is clearly visible in the background, behind max. therefore, the door that robin smashed cannot be the same door that was behind max later in the same season. based on the countless times the entire creel house is shown to us, we know that there is no other creel door or creel rose window. therefore, the creel door with the creel rose can be a symbol for alternate or split timelines.
EL'S VOID:
5. el+spirals = I believe @o11yradio initially pointed this out, but when el brings max back to life, the camera moves upwards in a spiraling motion. smoke contributes to this as people who disappear in el's void turn into smoke.
TIMELINE FUCKERY 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO:
6. quote = don't go too far -> el has gone too deep into Something, most likely max's mind in order to bring her back. sleepyhead -> who do we know that keeps sleeping in too late? even in st1, mike faked staying in bed/being too tired in order to go out and look for will. the dm mike theory is essentially that mike has some power over the story or timeline = him going too deep is him going too far into the memory/timeline/whatever he's created to find will and keep him safe. let's do a handy dandy tie in and say, it's easy to think that will was in the lab with el and the Nina memories were his. what if they were mike's? he is far more connected with timeline fuckery and therefore memory fuckery than will is. but el and will were confused for each other - they're way more likely to be real siblings? el and will DO end up becoming semi-siblings, but "will you be like my brother" was there first and finder's keepers. thats a lil out there for me and also NOT THIS THEORY PAY ATTENTION TO MEEEE
EL and THE UPSIDE DOWN:
7. the color blue and the upside down = something you can see (more obviously in st1/2) just plain visually. while vecna's mindscape (and dimension x) is red and people often confuse that with the upside down (which st marketing isnt helping lmao they keep promo-ing w the red and black color scheme. the only blue i've seen thus far was a bialetti ad) BUT the upside down itself is blue and blue-toned. 8. the red makes things a lil more interesting! it's a lil bit on the edges of the blue smoke swirls = vecna's mindscape/dimension x braneworlding the upside down (st4 red lightningggg) and the at-first-glance blood splatters over el could also be the spores from the upside down. add that to 5. and it looks like our girl el is gonna have a rough time with the upside down. maybe even stay there forever! or have a version of her stay there -- the version with superpowers.
linear plot from theories of ONLY THIS POSTER:
the nina project was not Our El
El has "gone too far" and sacrificed something to bring Max back from the void, probably having gone too far into her memories
there are separate timelines
one of the main branched ones was created and is controlled by Mike, potentially for Will
at the same time, Henry is trying to bridge the gap between the upside down (Will's creation), his mindscape (his creation), and our world, which is separately at the same time Mike's world
in these three worlds, El is the only active player consistent throughout -- she is connected to Vecna, the Upside Down, and Mike's dream of saving Will
the catalyst to these three worlds falling will be:
Vecna trying to bring all three together; El's sacrifice; Mike "going too far" with his timeline
Robin also holds a timeline, but her goals are unclear as of yet -- probably connected to the creel rose and the key symbolism she keeps showing up with
a version El will end up in the Upside Down and stay there
Our El is likely to be controlled by Will's world at some point -- this will be when she is alone in the Upside Down