From Will’s disappearance to Vecna’s rise: What to remember before Stranger Things’ final season

SINGAPORE – With Stranger Things’ finale landing on Nov 27 in Singapore, The Straits Times’ executive artist Billy Ker fast-forwards through four seasons of lore from the Netflix hit series to bring you up to speed on the battle to save Hawkins from the clutches of Vecna.

Season 1 (2016): The Demogorgon Arc

In 1983, the quiet US town of Hawkins is thrust into chaos when a young boy goes missing, a girl with extraordinary powers escapes a secretive lab and a doorway to the terrifying world of the Upside Down is opened.

1. Will Byers’ disappearance

Following a game night with Mike, Dustin and Lucas, Will rides home, unaware that something monstrous lurks in the dark. He disappears without a trace and ends up in the eerie, distorted parallel dimension known as the Upside Down.

2. The mysterious Eleven

After escaping Hawkins Lab, a strange girl known only as Eleven crosses paths with the gang. They bond while searching for Will, and discover that she has psychokinetic abilities.

3. Searching the Upside Down

Desperate to find her missing son, Joyce Byers, along with Sheriff Jim Hopper, enters the Upside Down via a temporary rift opened by Eleven and find a terrified Will.

4. The Demogorgon’s defeat

Eleven faces off against the monster nicknamed the Demogorgon and seemingly sacrifices herself to save her friends and close the rift.

Season 2 (2017): The Mind Flayer Arc

One year has passed since Will’s ordeal, but he is still plagued by visions of the Upside Down when a new and looming threat, an entity known as the Mind Flayer, reveals itself.

1. Unwitting spy

Will becomes connected to the Upside Down’s collective consciousness and ends up being possessed by the Mind Flayer, turning him into a living spy in the human world.

2. New friend and foe

When step-siblings Max and Billy move to Hawkins, Max quickly finds her place among the gang. However, she is often mistreated by the violent older boy, who enjoyed bullying others as well.

3. Eleven is alive

Eleven is revealed to have survived and makes her way back to Hawkins, where she stays with Hopper and lies low. Meanwhile, the rift at Hawkins Lab grows, allowing more terrifying creatures to spill into the town.

4. Sealing the rift

During an exorcism-like session with Will, the boys realise the only way to break the Mind Flayer’s hold is to close the rift. Returning to Hawkins Lab, Eleven unleashes her powers to seal the portal, freeing Will from the creature’s control.

Season 3 (2019): The Starcourt Mall Arc

The Mind Flayer returns, having found a new host. A secret Russian base located under the Starcourt Mall plots to reopen the rift to the Upside Down.

1. The Russian base

The gang uncovers a Soviet facility beneath the new mall where Russians are trying to use a laser to open a new rift.

2. The new host

Billy becomes possessed by a fragment of the Mind Flayer. Under its control, he abducts residents of Hawkins, who are absorbed into the creature’s hive mind with their bodies fused together to form a towering, flesh-built monster in the human world.

3. Showdown at the mall

The gang goes up against the Mind Flayer. Billy finally breaks out of its control and sacrifices himself to save Max. With help from former investigative journalist Murray Bauman, Hopper and Joyce infiltrate the Russian base in an attempt to destroy the laser.

4. Hopper’s demise

Hopper is caught in the explosion and presumed dead. Heartbroken, Joyce and her sons – with a now-powerless Eleven under their wing – say goodbye to Hawkins and move to California.

Season 4 (2022): The Vecna Arc

A humanoid named Vecna is revealed to be behind the attacks on Hawkins from the beginning, and responsible for the creation of the Mind Flayer. His horrifying origin is tied closely to Eleven.

1. Hopper is alive

After receiving news that Hopper did not die, Joyce and Murray fly to Russia, where they successfully infiltrate the maximum-security Gulag and free him.

2. Henry Creel

Eleven regains her powers and unlocks repressed memories from her past at Hawkins Lab. She recalls a battle with Henry Creel, the first test subject who, like her, possesses extraordinary abilities. In the confrontation, she accidentally banishes him to the Upside Down, where he was transformed into the antagonist now known as Vecna.

3. Reign of terror

Vecna unleashes terror across Hawkins, possessing and killing residents from within the Upside Down. Each death tears open a new rift between worlds, threatening to merge the two realities. As the gang bands together to stop him, the mission turns tragic. Eddie Munson, the newest member of the group, sacrifices himself to save Dustin, while Max is left gravely injured.

4. Beginning of the end

Vecna achieves his goal, creating four massive, permanent rifts across Hawkins, causing an earthquake and allowing the Upside Down to physically begin merging with the town.

The gang

Eleven: A girl with psychokinetic abilities who escapes an experimental programme in Hawkins Lab.

Will Byers: The sensitive boy who was the first person to be lost in the Upside Down.

Mike Wheeler: The leader of the main group of friends. He forms a romantic bond with Eleven.

Dustin Henderson: The nerdy comic relief who holds the group together with his loyalty.

Lucas Sinclair: The pragmatic one who protects his friends at all costs.

Max Mayfield: The newcomer to the group with a troubled past. She becomes Lucas’ girlfriend.

Creatures of the Upside Down

Demogorgon: A predatory bipedal humanoid with a petal-shaped face and rows of sharp teeth. It is the first creature that emerged from the rift accidentally opened by Eleven.

The Mind Flayer: Also known as the Shadow Monster, the huge entity operates as a singular hive mind controlling all creatures in the Upside Down.

Vecna: Originally an experiment at Hawkins Lab, Henry Creel was accidentally banished to the Upside Down during a fight with Eleven. There, he mutated into the monstrous creature known as Vecna. He is revealed to be the mastermind behind the attacks on Hawkins and the main antagonist of the series. Henry uses the alias Peter Ballard while working as an orderly in Hawkins Lab.