It's the end of an era for Netflix juggernaut Stranger Things as the show introduces us to its final season. That's what it has been doing since Thanksgiving, and after a Christmas batch of episodes, it will now wrap it all up with a New Year's Eve series finale that will undoubtedly be unmissable.
Volume 2 was the same, as it revealed major secrets about the origins of the Upside Down, Eleven's powers, and the truth about Vecna's plans. It also spotlighted a lot of character growth too, producing some powerful moments along the way. But it also seemingly featured the surprise death of a character nobody saw coming.
Don't worry: Steve, Dustin, Eleven, Mike, Max, Will, Lucas, Joyce, Hopper or Karen didn't die! But it sounds like one of the longest-standing characters might have.
Fans now convinced that the Mind Flayer's body is Vecna's new home
Remember when Holly Wheeler woke up in a place that wasn't the Upside Down? Remember how it looked like a spiky cave, which she retreated from only to find out that it was indeed a giant claw-shaped cave situated in another dimension entirely? Well, it turns out that it might not be a cave after all. It might actually be the Mind Flayer. Take a look for yourself.
The claw-like structure has 12 long extended "fingers" shooting into the air, which fans are actually convinced are the Mind Flayer's limbs. You see the creature is seemingly inspired by a spider, which means that if it were dead per se, it would curl up on its back in the same way that a dead spider might.
So, does that mean that the Mind Flayer is actually dead? The jury is out on that one, but fans - many of whom didn't even notice this during their first watch of season 5 part 2 - are sure that this is the body of the former big bad of Stranger Things. If that is the case, what actually happened to it?
The Mind Flayer was officially introduced in the show's second season after the Duffer Brothers storylined the show's lore off the back of season 1's success. It was the creature that had seemingly sent a Demogorgon into the real world to attack and take Will Byers, forming a connection with the boy at that moment. It wasn't a good connection either, as the creature - shaped like a shadowy spider - used Will to spy for him, ultimately having him build tunnels with his mind to allow the Upside Down to seep into Hawkins.
Although the shadow monster was temporatily defeated when Eleven closed the Gate to the Upside Down in season 2, it returned in season 3 when a new Gate was opened. But it wasn't shadowy this time as it took on the form of a large fleshy spider instead. When the new Gate was closed, its makeshift body died then and there as the connection to the hive mind had been shut off again. But, as far as we know, the real Mind Flayer - the shadow monster - should still be alive.
With season 4 introducing Vecna as the new Big Bad, the Mind Flayer hasn't been seen or heard from again - at least not in the present. See, Vecna revealed that when we was sent to the new dimension (a.k.a. Dimension X) by Eleven in 1979, he found a shadowy cloud that he morphed into the Mind Flayer. But, as season 5 volume 2 revealed (along with the play The First Shadow), the particles - which are an extension of the Mind Flayer and the hive mind - existed long before that.
Why the Mind Flayer's 'death' might not be final
Vecna is in the midst of carrying out his master plan, which he intends to complete in the Stranger Things series finale. That involves the 12 children he has taken, including Holly and Derek. But, as the Mind Flayer has 12 tentacles and they are seemingly inside his "dead" body, could they be the key to powering this new physical form for the creature? That would allow both of its forms to come together, as it looks both shadowy and tangible.
What makes us think that it could still be alive? One word: Heartbeat? When Holly broke free and saw Vecna powering the apparent cave, above him there was a giant heart - and it was beating. While it's possible that this could just symbolize the heart of the hive mind, the running theory is that this is indeed the Mind Flayer's body and that Vecna's plans will ultimately bring it to life - making it the final big bad of the series.
Furthermore, now that we know Henry encountered the particles much earlier than he claimed to (and the experience has left him frightened to enter the cave that Max and Holly retreated into), it's really quite possible that he has been flayed - and that the Mind Flayer has been the one pulling the strings all along. Perhaps its plan was to always find a tangible body that could leave his dimension and wreak havoc on the real world - and that fleshy husk in season 3 wouldn't have lasted forever.
The Duffer Brothers have promised that the question marks surrounding who the true big bad of Stranger Things truly is will be answered in the series finale. That means we should at least expect a reference to the Mind Flayer. But if fans' theories turn out to be true, that body could soon find itself coming to life in a very scary fashion.
One way or another: It's going to be an incredible series finale!
Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 is now streaming on Netflix. The series finale arrives on December 31, 2026.