#(“time travel” isn't a tfs spoiler just me theorizing)

[therainscene]

Ohohoho, the First Shadow spoilers trickling in certainly have me thinking thoughts.

Specifically, thoughts about my Mind Flayer origin theory.

Major TFS spoilers ahead. Bear in mind that I haven't seen the play for myself; I'm relying on opening night leaks, which may or may not be accurate. Do what you wish with that information.

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Looks like I got the powers part of my theory totally wrong, but that's fine, because that part wasn't really necessary for the theory to work.

The important question is whether or not the black cloud was created by El when she disintegrated Henry in the lab... and whether I got that right or wrong hinges on a particular detail I'm dying to learn more about.

[Source]

I need to know what he drew.

If he drew a formless cloud, then I guess the Mind Flayer really is just some evil extra-dimensional alien that always existed and has nothing to do with El. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But if he drew the spider monster. In 1959. When we know Henry wouldn't create it until at least 1979?

Then we've almost certainly got ourselves a predestination paradox -- the perfect vehicle for telling a story about the cycle of abuse. Let's recontextualize what S4 showed us:

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Young Henry gets trapped in Dimension X and is possessed by the Mind Flayer, granting him powers. Later, he draws the monster that possessed him.

Adult Henry, driven batshit fucking insane by his decades-long enthrallment to both the Mind Flayer and Dr. Brenner, slaughters the lab kids to absorb their powers and tries to encourage his favourite to join him in super-villainy.

She refuses. He tries to kill her.

Terrified and desperate, Eleven uses the powers she inherited from him to turn him into a mass of black particles and chucks the whole sorry lot into an alternate dimension.

Henry finds the cloud of black particles in Dimension X.

He immediately recognizes them for what they are, and realizes that he and the particles haven't just been sent back to Dimension X, but back in time.

The thing possessing him had been his older self all along.

He fashions the cloud into the monster he saw as a child -- becomes the predator he was always born to be -- and lies in wait, like a spider in its web, for the cycle to repeat.

#stranger things #the first shadow #time travel #(“time travel” isn't a tfs spoiler just me theorizing) #henry creel #el hopper #mind flayer #my analysis #tfs spoilers

[therainscene]

Any more theories regarding the play? Spare theories please...

Nothing too focused on the play itself, since I haven't watched it and likely won't be watching it until a recording is uploaded, but I do have a new Will theory brewing.

I've always been a hardcore Will has powers truther, because it would be such a perfect metaphor for his struggles with his sexuality. (Shoutout to @pinkeoni's classic coming of age horror story post)

But while the play certainly doesn't do anything to dissuade us of the idea Will could have powers, it also has me considering alternatives. If the Mind Flayer time loop theory is correct, then it's possible Will is caught up in it. Maybe his kidnapping in S1 is actually a consequence of whatever happens in S5, and his coming of age will be less about having powers and more about breaking out of the loop.

We'll see. I'm still rolling it around in my head.

#stranger things #the first shadow #will has powers #time travel #(“time travel” isn't a tfs spoiler just me theorizing) #byler #will byers #my analysis #ask #tfs spoilers