Everything to remember ahead of Stranger Things season five Volume 2

Almost a decade after it first premiered, Stranger Things is ready to come to an end.

All three episodes of Volume 2 are set to debut on Netflix in the UK and Ireland on December 26, followed by the two-hour finale on January 1.

Ahead of the highly anticipated episodes many Stranger Things, we’ve rounded up everything you need to remember from Volume 1, as well as important plot points.

*Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things Season Five, Volume One*

Hawkins Has Fallen — And There’s No Going Back

By the end of Season 4, Vecna succeeded in opening four gates simultaneously, triggering earthquakes that ripped Hawkins apart and allowed the Upside Down to begin merging with the real world.

Season 5 confirmed that this event wasn’t a contained catastrophe; it was the beginning of an invasion.

The town is now quarantined, heavily monitored by the government, and visibly corrupted by Upside Down growth.

Ash fills the air, structures decay unnaturally fast, and the supernatural threat is no longer hidden from the public.

Vecna Is the Architect of Everything

Vecna remains the series’ ultimate villain (for now), and his origin story is essential to understanding the stakes of Volume 2.

Revealed to be Henry Creel, also known as One, Vecna was Dr. Brenner’s first and most powerful test subject.

He didn’t merely serve the Mind Flayer; he shaped it, bending the Upside Down into a weapon fueled by trauma, rage, and control.

Though Eleven critically wounded Vecna at the end of Season 4, he escaped into the Upside Down.

Season 5 established that Vecna’s physical damage has not weakened his psychic influence, and if anything, the merging of worlds has amplified it.

Will Has Psychic Powers

The fact that Will Byers possesses psychic abilities akin to those of Vecna and Eleven, however, is the greatest surprise of Season 5, Volume 1.

By the end of Episode 4, Will is able to telekinetically slay the Demogorgons who have individually cornered many of his friends just before they are about to strike.

After using his abilities, Will also experiences a nosebleed, one of Eleven’s hallmark side effects.

While Eleven and Vecna’s powers come from within, Will is only able to access his when he’s in proximity to Vecna.

Mr Whatsit is Henry Creel AKA Vecna AKA 001

Holly’s (Nell Fisher) fictional buddy Mr. Whatsit, whose name was inspired by A Wrinkle in Time, turns out to be Henry Creel at the end of Episode 2.

Holly has been seeing him in her imagination all along, which explains why no one else is able to see him.

In Volume 1, Max, who is still in a coma but her mind trapped by Vecna, reaches Holly to warn her of her imaginary friend’s ulterior motives.

At the end of Volume 1, Max has instructed Holly to return to Henry Creel’s house and pretend everything is okay, which will surely become a plot point in Volume 2, on how the pair escape Venca’s mind.

Kali AKA 008 Is Back

In season 2, viewers discovered that Eleven has a sister named Kali (Linnea Berthelsen).

We discover that Kali’s telekinetic abilities differ slightly from Eleven’s, as she can induce hallucinations and persuade people to see and feel unreal things.

In a vision, while submerged, Eleven becomes aware the military has someone of strong powers, but assumes they have captured Vecna.

In a reveal, they’ve actually been harbouring 008, AKA Kali.

Where We Are Left At The End Of Volume 1

By the end of Season 5 Volume 1, Steve, Dustin, Nancy, and Jonathan are looking for information concerning the wall and Holly’s whereabouts in the Upside Down.

Reunited with Kali, Hopper and Eleven are at the Upside Down military base.

Topside, all the kids Vecna needs for his twelve pillars have been kidnapped, but Will has just rescued his mother and friends from the Demogorgons.

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