Stranger Things Theory Part (3/4) (Labyrinthgate/Flickergate Crossover) Does Mike have powers?!
part 1 (here) part 2 (here)
(WARNING: The following is most likely a combination of confirmation bias and mental illness, but let's ignore that for now)
When will I stop obsessing over a random scene lasting a total of 2 seconds? who can say.
The scene where Sarah turns off the light in Labyrinth parallels the scene where Mike turns off the light in Stranger Things
in both Labyrinth and Stranger Things, Sarah and Will's seemingly innocuous statement foreshadows reality:
"Goblins" from the story Labyrinth actually do take Toby, and a "Demogorgon" from D&D actually does take Will. In both cases, this foreshadowing is punctuated by Mike and Sarah switching off a light directly after.
In both cases, Toby and Will's magical disappearance is conveyed via a shot of an empty room following this.
But was this parallel intentional? maybe, maybe not. Let's run through some possibilities. It could be:
a pure coincidence (most definitely)
unplanned originally, but framed to be intentional in s5.
a strictly visual parallel, loosely inspired by Labyrinth.
a visual and narrative parallel, planned from the start because it foreshadows an important aspect of the final season.
Lets pretend that this parallel WAS intentional, and that it DOES foreshadow an aspect of the final season. What might this mean for the story's plot moving forward? Is there any wild conclusions I can jump to based off of this? As always, the answer is YES!
If you remember my original flickergate theory (here), I guessed that WILL caused the light to flicker in s1 through his powers in s5.
BUT! what if it was caused by Mike's powers instead? (either way, I still think that Will is going to have power's/save the day, but that he might have just got them from his connection with the mindflayer/vecna/the upsidedown). But WHAT IF the Neverending Story references in s3 were a red herring, and LABYRINTH is the movie that s5 will be paying homage to. This might explain why the ST writers dropped the title of the first episode: Labyrtinth. Maybe this was a hint.
I still think that the light flickering in s1 will be the back drop of Mike and Will's confession in the upside-down in s5. (proof? bc i said so). Everything about my old theory still adds up, and i really want it to happen therefore it's still canon. Except now i'm thinking there's also a possibility that Mike might have powers.
The theories surrounding Karen possibly being Alice Creel
Mike being the party’s Dungeon Master, AKA the one who creates the story
The stalker-like shots centered around Mike being watched throughout the seasons.
Vecna waiting until Mike left Hawkins to start his plan ("the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west)
What if when Mike turned off the light in s1, it was to punctuate the the moment he:
A. accidentally wished for Vecna/the "demogorgan" to target Will. Mike parallels Sarah because he ALSO subconsciously made a wish in this moment. When Will says "the Demogorgon got him", the focus is largely on Mike's reaction, despite Will being the one to say it.
B. caused time to freeze on Nov 6. The reason why Mike parallels Sarah, is because he ALSO made a wish in this moment. After Will said "see you tomorrow" he subconsciously wished for time to freeze, which is what caused the garage light to flicker in s1. In the previous scene, he begged for his mom to let them have "20 more minutes", but wasn't able to convince her. He didn't get to finish the campaign or give Will his letter, which is why he subconsciously froze time on Nov 6, right as Will left.
---my original flickergate theory could still happen in it's entirety depending on if the flicker itself VS. turning off the light indicates the activation of Mike's powers. If the flicker itself is the indicator, as opposed to when Mike turned off the light, then when/if the light flickers again in s5 (during the confession), it would have to be played off as PURLEY symbolic/"coincidental".
The light might also flicker as a result of them getting their memories back, leaving/entering the upsidedown (via time travel), or happen within the confines of a replicated memory.---
In any case, I'm still pretty confident that the s5 confession will parallel the "it was a 7" scene, and that the two flickers will mirror each other, eventually creating a bookend.
I'm curious to know anyone else's thoughts on this! I genuinely can't tell anymore if this is a halfway decent/plausible theory or not, so let me know on a scale from 1-10 how unhinged this is. Objectively, i know that i'm reading way too deep into this silly lil Netflix show/80's movie, but when I come up with theories i'm treating it more like a creative writing exercise then anything grounded in reality lol.
Either way, since all this Labyrinthgate speculation is starting to get a little too (unrealistically) elaborate and specific, i'm going to move on from it now and transition to my Stranger Things time travel predictions next ;D cause i actually think those are pretty plausible tbh.
