Stranger Things season 4, part 1 ending explained: Did Eleven create [SPOILER]?

Stranger Things season 4, part 1 came to a jaw-dropping conclusion. What does it all mean for Eleven, Vecna and the Upside Down?

Stranger Things has returned with a vengeance. The beloved Netflix TV series made a comeback on the streaming service with its long-awaited season arriving (after a three-year hiatus) on Friday, kicking off a new chapter in Hawkins’ ongoing struggle with what lies beneath (or, well, underneath) it.

*** Contains MAJOR SPOILERS from all seven episodes of Stranger Things season 4, part 1 ***

The fourth season saw the arrival of the horrifying Vecna, a creature from the Upside Down capable of killing people in Hawkins from across dimensions. How he was pulling it off, we didn’t quite know, but we soon found out so much more about his connection to the real world, his connection to the Upside Down and his surprising connection to one of the show’s main characters.

The conclusion of Stranger Things season 4, part 1 left fans with a lot of questions. But the ones at the top of that list undoubtedly revolved around Vecna.

Who is Vecna in Stranger Things season 4, part 1?

As revealed in the seventh episode of Stranger Things season 4, part 1, Vecna is the son of Victor Creel. As we learned earlier in the season, Creel (Robert Englund) had been seemingly haunted by the vengeful spirit from the Upside Down in the 1950s, resulting in the deaths of his wife, daughter and son.

However, it was subsequently revealed that Vecna was indeed responsible for the attacks but that he did it from the real world. How did he do that? Well, because he was actually the son of Victor Creel, who exhibited telekinetic abilities. Isolated from his family and harboring an apparent hatred for them, he decided to use his abilities kill his mother and sister, make his father experience a strange vision and ultimately frame him for his family’s murder.

When he was overwhelmed by his powers, he woke up to discover that he had been taken in by Dr. Brenner, who experimented on him to test his abilities. This ultimately resulted in him becoming Number One. However, Brenner couldn’t control him and decided to use his abilities to make more gifted children, eventually resulting in the group of kids we meet in Stranger Things season 4 (including Eleven).

As for Number One, his powers were masked with a device and he remained on at the lab as the “friendly orderly” Eleven meets in her memories of her early days at the Hawkins lab in 1979. That is, until he manipulates her into removing the chip from his neck and kills everyone at the lab.

Did Eleven create the Upside Down?

When Number One couldn’t convince Eleven to join him, he tried to kill her too. What he didn’t expect was for her abilities to overwhelm his. But they did so much more than that, as El forced him to disintegrate into the wall (much like she did with the Demogorgon in season 1), opening what seems to be the first Gate to the Upside Down.

As One fell through those treacherous skies of the alternate dimension, his body was charred by the lightning bolts of the Upside Down, turning him into Vecna.

The origins of the Upside Down have always been a mystery, but season 4 teases both its beginnings and its apparent end. Time stopped in this dimension the day that the Demogorgon broke out and captured Will, but was it created just four years earlier by Eleven?

The questions remain unanswered but the likely explanation is that Eleven’s abilities gave her the powers to open a breach to the dark dimension. We knew this already in season 1, but her brush with the Demogorgon was not the first gate after all. No, that happened when she sent One there.

And now, One is using his own abilities to reach across into Eleven’s dimension. The question is: Will the two come face-to-face in a final battle to determine who is the strongest of Brenner’s “children”? And can El save Hawkins (and the world) from Vecna in the process?

Find out all you need to know about Stranger Things season 4, part 2 here.

What did you think of Stranger Things season 4, part 1? Are you excited for part 2? Let us know in the comments below!