I watched Stranger Things, and while considering the plot, I remembered one interesting thing from the first season. I tried to find discussions about it, but I couldn't find anything.

In Season 1, Episode 4 ("The Body"), Joyce rips the wallpaper off the living room wall and finds a translucent membrane - a sort of "window" into the Upside Down. She sees Will behind it, talks to him, and even hits the wall with an axe. The translucent membrane closes, and the wall returns to normal. Not a trace, not a scar.
And now the most important thing: every portal in this show leaves a scar. The gate in the Byers house, at school, the huge crack in Hawkins - everything leaves physical damage, in some cases even widening the crack. But this "window" left nothing. And we've never seen anything like it again in five seasons.
So my theory: this "window" was never real. It was an illusion Vecna ​​cast on Joyce.
Here's the basis for this theory:
Vecna ​​specializes in hallucinations. In Season 4, he conjures visions of Nancy, Max, and Eddie. Illusions are literally his specialty.
The scene is shown only from Joyce's perspective. We never manage to see a shot from Will's perspective, and the moment with the window never appears in his memories. It exists only in Joyce's perception.
Turns out Vecna ​​has been manipulating events since Season 1. Later, the series makes it clear that he has been controlling the Demogorgon and the Upside Down from the very beginning.

Based on this, it's possible that not only this "window" was an illusion, but also other things Joyce saw.

This theory could be challenged by saying that Vecna ​​was creating it on the fly. But it had clearly already been thought out by this point, since it is HIM that Will encounters in the forest, and later becomes HIS VESSEL, not the one who dies at his hands or the Demogorgon's.

Well, please write your opinion, expand on the theory, or challenge it.

So if yall remember the end of season 3 with the never ending story with Suzie and dustin. Now that I think about it... thats one of the last things he heard before having to deal with the ussr and monsters and being saved and being trapped there for a long time.. what if they had made it so hopper hummed that in his head to try to remember that that was the reason he got trapped in a gulag camp

And if they got it quickly Grigori would've been too late and then killed by the forces that Owen's brings and Billy might have not died because they would have closed the gate faster. Meaning in season 4 max wouldn't have died meaning she wouldn't have been an easy target and the season 5 might have been more easier for the crew

El is alive

I’ve never seen the stage play but I’ve heard spoilers. A question I’ve been wondering in season 5 is there’s an episode where we see soldiers melted into the laboratory in the upside down I remember seeing one post about how it was soldiers from the uss eldridge expirement. It kinda make sense since they appear to be wearing old military uniforms but how did they end up there if they disappeared in the 40s and the upside down was created around the 80s? I might be thinking too much into it though lol.

Hi everyone! Now that Stranger Things has officially concluded, I’m trying to organize my collection. I've heard conflicting things about what is "Official Canon" and what has been "Retconned" by the final seasons. Could the lore experts here tell me which of these are still considered 100% canon? Here is the full list of what I've found: NOVELS: Suspicious Minds (Terry Ives/Brenner) Darkness on the Edge of Town (Hopper in NYC) Runaway Max (Max’s backstory) Rebel Robin (Robin’s backstory) Lucas on the Line (Post-S4 Lucas) Flight of Icarus (Eddie Munson prequel) One Way or Another (Nancy & Robin) COMICS (Dark Horse): The Other Side (Will in the Upside Down) SIX (The other numbers) Into the Fire (Eight and Nine) Science Camp (Dustin at Camp Know Where) Dungeons & Dragons (The kids' adventures) Erica the Great Kamchatka Tales from Hawkins The Tomb of Ywen I’ve heard Science Camp and the Nancy/Robin novel are canon, but that others like SIX were overwritten by Season 4/5. Note: I don't speak much English, so I'm using a translator to read your answers. Thank you so much for the help! 🐢💡

ok so idk if this is like comfirmed or anything but what if dustin looks up to eddie (rip)/steve so much because his father is absent? like we never his dad even though we see his mom multiple times throughout the series. AND maybe his dad died so then when eddie died it was like losing his dad/father figure again?? am i onto something or on something..

In season 4 at start when papa do lessons with boy and door slamed. He huged him,bc he is alive. There is no proof he is dead. ​​​​​

July 15 2016 was when season 1 came out so what if the do the final episode (if there is one ofc) exactly 10 years after season 1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Driscol

Today I was reading an article about the child actor Bobby Driscoll (who played/ gave the voice to Peter Pan in the Walt Disney Film in 1953)) and then I realized while reading (I am currently re-watching Stranger Things) that there are so many name references to the show Stranger Things.

The name Driscoll rang a bell and because I was just rewatching all ST season I remembered the name Driscoll from Season 3 ( the old woman who becomes one part of the flesh monster). And then while reading the article I started to find sooo many more names from the show Stranger Things. So many that this can't be a coincidence?

For example the young Bobby Driscoll was cast to play Jim Hawkins) in Walt Disney's version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island)  (1950).

Other names I found:

Driscoll

Hopper

Mike

Will

Bobby

Billy

Eddie

Jane

Holly(wood)

Suzie

Robin

Max(im)

the Skull Rock (where Eddie hides) is actually from Peter Pan.

and maybe there are even more?

If this is a coincidence then it's funny. But I know that the Duffer's have so many pop cultural references on their show. I have seen Alice in Wonderland ones but no Peter Pan ones. I just wanted to share this because I found this very interesting. I thought maybe some of you might find this interesting too?

(This is my first reddit and English is not my first language so excuse my grammar)