#stranger things 4 speculation

[peachypaddys]

WILL BYERS Is The Missing Piece In The Fight Against Vecna

the dnd game in the first episode of season 4 was a clear foreshadowing of events to come in their battle against vecna, evident through the fact that the game itself, is against vecna.

so far, everyone in the st universe has been calling eleven the only one that can save the world against him, and are thus desperately trying to bring back her powers to help win against vecna.

however, in that scene from episode 1, the club is down to the last two throws to win against vecna. dustin rolls first and the dice comes up with the number 11, which proves to be a miss and not enough to kill vecna.

i believe that this is direct foreshadowing, wherein el alone is not enough to fight against vecna's immense power.

the following throw by erica though, proves enough to kill vecna, and they win the game.

erica throws the number 20. now, the number of children that were experimented on in the lab is said to be somewhere around 18. el, kali and 16 others. but the experiment subjects' numbers began from 002, since the initial child with psionic powers, henry creel, was 001. this makes up 19 children.

i theorize that number 20, the twentieth child with psionic abilities, is going to be will byers. and he will be the one to defeat vecna and stop him.

why?

ever since henry creel was introduced to us, people have been noticing similarities between him and will. the fact that they were both sensitive children who were different from the others, and both wizards. dustin calls vecna a dark wizard, will's dnd avatar is a wizard called will the wise. this has led people to believe that will is going to turn into a villain just like henry, but i propose the opposite. to defeat a powerful dark wizard, you would need the opposite. a light wizard that can combat them with the same/similar abilities.

henry tells el about how painful memories and sadness and anger can help unlock powers. he implies that his powers were unlocked like that, and considering the similarities between them, will might also have latent powers as opposed to powers recieved through experiments, which can be unearthed. (although we don't know how, if he ever did, henry get his powers. it's possible it was naturally occurring or he received it from somewhere.)

i think when will gets taken by vecna in vol 2 (which, let's face it, seems more and more plausible), him going through all his trauma again might unlock his powers. will has always been regarded as special. the upside down is stuck in the day he got taken, he was used as a spy by the mind flayer, strong enough to communicate from under its' control, and still has a connection with it, being able to sense when it's close.

this season, i presume, will end with eleven failing against vecna and will unlocking his powers, which will then lead to the last season where they can finally win against him. either will alone or will and eleven together. the whole show began with will, it only makes sense for him to be the one to end it.

[jazz-penguin]

Look guys, since I'm not homosexual, I don't know how coming out feels like. I understand that it must be a very emotional thing, though.

But does it have to be this emotional with Will and Jonathan?

Why Will is crying so hard?

Jonathan has always been accepting and supportive of him, I think Will understands that. He is also sure that Mike is straight and in love with Eleven, so that's not a post-rejection crying either.

So what is going on here?

Since everyone is sharing theories here, here's mine. I'm starting to think that someone has died or is going to die. Like sacrifice himself, or do something risky. What if it's a goodbye scene or something?

Please prove me wrong 😭 I have a bad feeling about Jonathan. The music tape he gave to Will at the end of s1... what if it's meant to be a remembrance of Jonathan, when he's gone?

And that would be a cruel way to resolve the love triangle between him, Nancy and Steve, but what if...

[beepboop358]

Matthew Modine is up to something again...

These tweets are really cryptic, but at least it's a little content for us! :)

Lesson 4:

“baking soda volcanoes” & "chemical reactions/earth science” = In the lab there’s an explosion probably caused by Eleven

There will probably some aftershocks of said explosion too like the building shaking or things falling, some blood shed possibly = beacause it's "high" "messiness level".

"Eleven fails" = Eleven is unsuccessful at trying to do whatever she is trying to do. (probably hurt someone or escape)

The number 4 was seen in the 002 teaser in the lab, and the number 4 may be a representative for Will, El, and Sara Hopper's connection to the lab, the upside down, and their powers. Or maybe this takes place in episode 4, currently titled "Dear Billy", which I would assume would be more about Max, so I think it's a little more unlikely this is an episode number hint, but there are multiple storylines per episode so who knows.

Lesson 7:

"weather" & "rain cloud in a jar" "Bonus - believes rain cloud is a *metaphor". Rain & rain clouds are usually a metaphor for sadness.

"Eleven is successful constructing experiment" - She succeeds this time around, with a different experiment that is a little more difficult than the first because it's described as "medium" difficulty when lesson 4 is describes as "easy-medium" difficulty, so we can assume because it's a little more difficult, her powers have gotten stronger and some time (unknown how much) has passed between the experiments.

"Low" "messiness level"

The Number 7 is associated with Will. This may be another hint that Will's connection to the lab & Eleven is explained in s4. And it may be more proof he was in 002/002. Or maybe this takes place in episode 7, currently titled "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab". Interesting. It's not confirmation that this does happen in episode 7, since the titles are always subject to change, and this experiment seems less like a massacre from the tweets description.

Both of these Laboratory Lessons tweets describe volcanoes, chemical reactions, earth science, and rain clouds. They're all things found in nature, and these experiments are both typically done with children, so both of these lessons are probably flashbacks, or maybe they are "experiments" Brenner has Eleven teach to other children in the lab (if there are any) when Eleven is recaptured. There's a clear theme here with the type of experiments. Hmmm.

[peppydynamicpigeon143]

[shprka]

The only theory/speculation I have about Vecna/One/Henry Creel is that he picks victims for the MF but he choses them himself. He chooses abused and traumatised teens because they're the easiest targets, right? And in this season we see his process of elimination for victims.

But he's also probably the one to pick hosts for the MF, right? Like, I have no doubt in my mind that it was One who chose Will as a host. They're both so similar - traumatised, introverted, withdrawn kids with mean dads, like to draw, bullied as well probably.

So it had to be One as well to choose Billy as a host. And my theory is that Billy was the perfect host for the MF, which is even proven by canon and further proven by One this season. Billy, Will and One share so many things (trauma, mean dads, abuse, trauma, anger, profound loneliness and no support from anyone. And a sister!!) but One and Billy even look similar (blonde hair, blue eyes). That makes Billy the perfect host in One's eyes. I feel like One could've been the Perfect Host if El didn't kick him into Upside Down and the UD didn't make him part of itself. So One has to go with the other best option, someone who is so much like him - Billy.

Also I think the victims from this season (and maybe the previous one) might be the undead army that was mentioned a few times before. I'm especially thinking about their eyes being gone, that detail seems important. It's like stealing their souls to the Upside Down. And they're on display around the Creel House, I think they might come back somehow and fight our main characters.

Also in s3 Billy met his double (it had to mean something okay 🤡) with an army behind him. They were betting on Billy as the MF leading that army.

So if I was Vecna and the MF and knew who the perfect host was I would simply do anything in my power to bring him back instead of looking for someone else. Be it going back in time or taking him back from some other reality 🤡🤡

Also, it would be cool if One's motivations in targeting Max this season was because his mind is still somehow connected to Billy and thinking of her as his sister too and because he killed his sister once, he has to do it again

Max's not free of the curse yet, I want Vecna to really go after her

[willelbyers]

Wait what did you see that made you understand the crush thing? Could you please elaborate on your thoughts too?

i’m on mobile so i can’t put a read more so, fair warning, potential spoilers below!!!

basically, i heard from a source i trust that they heard the full audio of el’s letter to mike (you know, the one we heard a bit of in the teaser trailer). a few details mentioned in the letter tie in really well with the character profiles netflix released this week - ie, el tells mike that she thinks will has been making a painting for a girl at school. the netflix profiles already confirmed that el thinks will has a crush on someone.

then i remembered that last week (from a different source), i heard that when mike comes to california, will gives him a painting.

if that train of thought wasn’t clear : will’s painting -> for a crush + will’s painting -> for mike = will’s painting -> for mike, the crush

obviously this is all alleged, hearsay, speculation, whatever you want to call it. but given that as far as i know, these sources are independent yet corroborate each other, i feel fairly confident connecting these dots.

[that-thing-that-feeling]

It seems Murray was in the Byers house in the teaser. So it means a Murray-Jonathan reunion? Could be awkward with Joyce and Will there if he starts cracking jokes :) (I think El is too innocent to understand them). But I guess he’ll be in serious mood this time.

Oh whoa I didn’t notice Murray was in the Byers house, but yeah that seems to match up with the paint color and then all the Byers plaid™️ in the right corner lol:

Hmm so that kinda could change a few ideas about how Joyce leaving happens—like if Murray is there, they would leave direct from Cali together and must tell them all she’s going somewhere at least with him. I still wonder—how much do Jonathan, Will, and El know about where they are going? I imagine Joyce wouldn’t want to get El’s hopes up abt Hopper and would she want Jonathan and Will to know the extent of the danger the trip she’s about to take really is or does she tell them both where she’s going? And does she call in protection for them before she leaves?

[ocaisides]

ok ok I don't really care for canon anymore but just hear me out like hypothetically. what if stranger things is getting our hopes up about billy being alive so we will be focused on watching for billy to come back. that way we are distracted so they can completely blindside us by killing steve