This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5
Will Byers steps back into the spotlight in ‘Stranger Things‘ season 5, and right from the opening scenes, you can feel that something huge is coming for him. The season begins by taking us back to 1983, reminding fans of the terrified boy trapped in the Upside Down and hinting that what happened to him back then still holds incredible weight.
Once the story returns to the present day, you can see Will falling back into the familiar patterns he had tried so hard to escape. The visions, the chills, the instinctive reactions, they all return the moment he steps closer to Hawkins. Fans have waited years for the show to address his connection to Vecna directly, and season 5 finally begins pulling all the old threads together.
Will’s Old Connection Was Never Really Gone
The first few episodes make it clear that Will never truly escaped Vecna. The season starts with a flashback showing Will in the Upside Down shortly after he vanished in 1983. And the moment confirms something fans have suspected for years: Vecna was there with him from the very beginning. It explains why Will kept feeling the Upside Down inside him long after season 1.
Related: Shawn Levy Breaks Down Why ‘Stranger Things’ Had To End With Perfect Season 5 Finale
As Volume 1 continues, Will finally admits what many long-time viewers already believed: his link to the Upside Down was never “severed.” The closer he gets to Hawkins, the stronger it grows. Eventually, it gets to the point where he can sense Vecna in ways no one else can. And because everything in the Upside Down, every vine, every Demogorgon, connects through the hive mind, Will starts picking up flashes of what Vecna sees.
That’s when Robin suggests that Will act like a signal receiver, picking up Vecna’s presence when he’s close enough. Mike goes a step further and calls Will a “sorcerer.” If Will can sense the hive mind, he might one day control it. It feels like one of those supportive Mike moments at first. But it turns out to be a major bit of foreshadowing.
Will Uses Vecna’s Powers In ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5
Everything explodes in the final moments of Volume 1’s last episode, “Sorcerer.” When three Demogorgons target Mike, Lucas, and Robin across Hawkins, Will steps in and does something nobody expects. His eyes turn white, just like Vecna’s, and he freezes the Demogorgons in place with telekinesis. Then he snaps their limbs in the exact same way Vecna once did to Max.
In case you missed it: ‘Stranger Things’ Recap: Everything You Must Remember Before Season 5
The moment feels unreal, but it gets even more intense when Will’s nose starts to bleed right after. Fans instantly recognize that as Eleven’s trademark side effect. It makes one thing painfully clear: Will didn’t suddenly discover hidden powers. He tapped into the connection Vecna created with him back in 1983. The strain brings back what Dr. Brenner’s test subjects went through, and maybe Will accessed the same kind of psychokinetic power Henry Creel once had.
Looking back, all of Will’s visions, his “now memories,” and the strange flashes from earlier episodes suddenly make sense. They weren’t random or symbolic; they were warnings of what he was capable of becoming once he stopped letting fear control him. By the end of Volume 1, Will finally understands that he can’t run from his connection to Vecna anymore.
A montage of his younger self pushes him to look inward for strength, just as Robin and Mike kept telling him. Once he stops fighting the fear, he unlocks the ability that lived inside his connection all along, allowing him to fight back in the most unexpected way. But this twist leaves huge questions hanging over the rest of the season.
If Will can channel Vecna’s power, does that mean Vecna can reach him through that same bond? Or will Will learn to control the hive mind better than Vecna ever imagined? His new role puts him right in the middle of the final battle, not just as a target but as someone who could change the outcome.
