Vecna has the upper hand on Will in Stranger Things 5Image via Netflix
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Jennie Richardson is a TV Features and Lists Writer for Collider, and a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing. In other words, she really loves stories.
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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things, Season 5, Vol. 1Every Stranger Things fan remembers watching this scene for the first time: in Season 4's "Dear Billy," Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) nearly kills Max (Sadie Sink). Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Steve (Joe Keery) blast Max's favorite song, Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill," and the music becomes her lifeline out of Vecna’s mental trap. As a montage of her happiest memories plays, the young teenager finds the strength to run from Vecna, and with Bush brilliantly scoring her escape, she makes it out alive.
For the last three years, this scene has been widely seen as Stranger Things' best, and rightfully so. It combines the show's chilling main supernatural plotline with a raw emotional core to create a truly impactful scene. But now with the release of Volume 1 of Season 5, Stranger Things has officially topped its best scene. The first volume of the show's final season ends with a deeply touching and exciting scene that gives Will (Noah Schnapp) the ultimate payoff to his character arc so far, and it's Stranger Things' greatest scene yet. What makes this moment hit even harder is that it isn’t just a bigger moment, but it ties the show’s emotional center directly to the story’s climax, something Stranger Things has been building toward since Episode 1.
'Stranger Things' Season 5, Volume 1 Ends With Will Front and Center
Volume 1 of Stranger Things Season 5 builds up to a confrontation between Vecna, soldiers sent by the government, and a number of the main characters. While the party tries to protect Vecna's intended victims from the Demogorgons, Vecna appears through a door to the Upside Down. Vecna then gives a classic villain's monologue where he tells Will that he intends to use the children as power vessels because they are "weak in body and mind" — just like Will. Vecna leaves with the children, successful for now, but his victory is short-lived. Three Demogorgons begin their attack on Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas, and Robin (Maya Hawke). But Will sees through the Demogorgons' eyes, and then, suddenly, he works through his internal struggles.
In that moment, Will thinks back to two major conversations that he had earlier in the episode. In a previous scene, Mike suggests that Will is like a sorcerer, who, unlike his wizard character in Dungeons & Dragons, actually has powers he could use to fight back against Vecna. Later, Robin opens up to Will about her past struggles with her sexuality after noticing his feelings for Mike. She tells him about her massive former crush on Tammy Thompson (Julia Reilly), and says that she felt insecure and afraid until she was reminded through old home videos how brave she was as a child. Robin found her bravery through accepting herself, and she urges Will to do the same.
Sure enough, as Demorgorgons attack his loved ones, Will recalls Robin's words in his head while looking back on happy moments from his childhood: becoming friends with Mike, playing D&D together, showing his drawings to mom, Joyce (Winona Ryder), and building Castle Byers with Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). Suddenly, all the Demogorgons freeze and then die – because Will has tapped into Vecna's hivemind and channeled his powers. The scene ends with Will wiping his bloody nose, and it's a perfect moment of payoff as it's finally revealed that Will has powers. It’s the first time the series lets Will’s inner world become the thing that actually changes the fight, and that shift is the real payoff.
In 'Stranger Things' Best Scene Yet, Will Uses Self-Acceptance to Channel His Powers
A grainy home video of Joyce Byers gasping and looking at 5-year-old Will Byers' drawing in Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1Image via Netflix
While Stranger Things is an ensemble show, it has always been about Will and his struggles. The show started with his disappearance, and since his return, he's been grappling with all the ways in which he's different. Will has struggled with his continued connection to Vecna, his desire to keep playing D&D with his friends even when they were all moving on, and his realization that he is gay. Will's arc has always been building up to an inevitable confrontation with Vecna, but it's also about accepting himself for who he is and allowing himself to believe that he's worthy of all forms of love. For this reason, it's fitting that Will taps into his powers by looking back on his moments of being loved and choosing to protect the people he loves.
Moments before Will taps into his powers, Vecna shames Will for being different and suggests that he's weak. He even tells him that "some minds, it turns out, simply do not belong in this world." This leads Will to look back on his worst moments, in which he felt broken and as if he didn't fit in with the people around him. The volume could have ended with a temporary defeat, but in this low moment, Will fights back by looking back on his best moments and kills multiple Demogorgons all by himself.
Stranger Things' horror and science fiction elements have always been strong on their own, but the show's most powerful scenes take these elements and use them to hit on a greater emotional beat. Max's scene of running away from Vecna was not just about saving herself from him, but also about choosing to fight for her life after struggling with depression and survivor's guilt.
Will's big scene in Season 5, Volume 1, is not just about him gaining powers and fighting back against Vecna; at that moment, Will accepts and even embraces himself for all that he is: that he is gay, that he has always been most passionate about D&D and drawing, and that he has this unique insight into Vecna's mind. Only after accepting himself is Will able to tap into Vecna's powers, and now that he has, he has become a force to be reckoned with. It’s the moment Stranger Things reminds us that its real power has never just been the monsters — it’s been the kids figuring out who they are, and Will finally gets to own that.
Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 is available to stream on Netflix. Volume 2 will be released on Netflix on December 25 at 8 pm EST.
Stranger Things
Like TV-14 Drama Mystery Horror Science Fiction Release Date 2016 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix Showrunner Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Directors Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz Writers Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
7 Images
Eleven looking into an opening of the Upside Down with pink light in Stranger Things season 1
Jim Hopper (David Harbour) grabbing Jonathan's (Charlie Heaton) shoulders in Stranger Things season 1©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Eleven with cables all over her head in Stranger Things season 4
Vecna looking towards Will in the trailer for Stranger Things season 5 (2025)
Max and Eleven in Stranger ThingsNetflix
Stranger Things season 2, episode 2 "Trick or Treat, Freak".MovieStillsDB
The Upside Down in Stranger Things season 5Courtesy of Netflix Close
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Millie Bobby Brown
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