🔗 Share this article

For much of the fifth and final season of the popular Netflix show, the young Holly Wheeler and Max find themselves trapped in a realm of memories built from the recollections of the villain Henry. Their quest for freedom in the pivotal sixth episode forces them to relive a defining event from Henry's early years—a moment that potentially carries the means to overcome him once and for all.

Spoiler Warning: This article details significant events for the second part of the final season.

A Journey Into the Tunnel

After locating Max in the psychic realm known as Camazotz, it becomes clear she is hiding out in a cave that Henry strangely fears. By leaving the lens cap on a telescope pilfered from Henry's old home lets Holly see that the danger lies beyond the cave. By aligning her view to the cut-out, she and Max tumble into a subterranean passage.

They watch a child version of Henry find an injured and paranoid man. As the boy offers aid, the man panics and shoots, striking Henry in the hand. Fighting for his life, Henry kills the man with a rock. "Was this the turning point?" Holly wonders aloud. Essentially, yes, but the act involved more than a fight for life.

In keeping with mysteries this season, the truth about the events in the tunnel was first explored the theatrical production Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

An Interdimensional Incident and Secret Science

*The First Shadow* opens with the 1943 event, which allegedly sent a warship into a realm known as the Abyss. The ship was attacked, and the only one to return was the captain, who returned in a catatonic condition with an altered blood type.

This man's son, the future Dr. Brenner, attempted to recreate this dimensional breach in the Nevada desert. But a disloyal lab worker pilfered lab samples to sell to the Russian agents, who were eager to begin their own interdimensional projects. That traitor in the tunnel was that very thief.

The Briefcase's Contents

Given what is understood of Brenner's work, the briefcase almost certainly contained some of the altered blood. At that moment, Henry is already bleeding. Exposure likely occurred upon handling the contents, causing the origin of his telekinetic gifts—powers he would inadvertently transfer to the children Brenner would experiment on.

A second theory, the container could have held dark matter that was destined to travel to the secret facility, where it acts to anchor the Upside Down. The stage play explains that young Henry somehow wound up in the Abyss, returning after half a day with a new blood type and personality. As a youth, he battles the control of a malevolent force, reminiscent of how Will was controlled by the entity in the past.

The Power of Fear

The reason Henry avoids the cave of that cave demonstrates how profoundly traumatic the encounter was for him. Even as he commands the army of monsters and attempts to pull the Abyss into Hawkins, a fragment of his psyche lingers. Fear is his tool, and the narrative points to a climactic battle between the monster and Will, who has overcome his own deepest fears to become stronger.

Will's growth has neutralized a key tactic of Vecna. Furthermore, Will now understands what the monster's own weakness, potentially giving him a key upper hand in the endgame conflict that awaits.