🔗 Share this article

For much of the fifth and final season of the popular Netflix show, the young Holly Wheeler and Max Mayfield are held captive within a psychic prison built from the memories of Vecna. Their quest for freedom in the pivotal sixth episode has them relive a traumatic incident from Henry's early years—an event that could contain the means to overcome him for good.

Spoiler Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the second part of the final season.

Unearthing the Secrets of the Mine Shaft

When she finds Max in the psychic realm dubbed Camazotz, it becomes clear she is sheltering in a grotto that Henry is terrified of. By leaving the lens cap on a spyglass found in Henry's old home allows Holly to realize that the source of fear lies not within the cave. When she lines up her view with the shape, she and Max tumble into a subterranean passage.

They watch a child version of Henry encounter an man who is hurt and scared. When Henry tries to help, the man fires a gun, wounding the boy in the hand. Fighting for his life, Henry strikes the man down with a rock. "Did this make Henry evil?" Holly questions through tears. The answer is affirmative, but the trauma wasn't just a fight for life.

In keeping with mysteries this season, the truth about the events in the tunnel is detailed in the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

A Naval Mystery and Stolen Research

*The First Shadow* opens with the legendary naval test, which reportedly teleported a vessel into a realm later called the Abyss. Demogorgons assaulted it, and the only one to return was the ship's commander, who emerged in a vegetative state with an different blood composition.

That survivor's offspring, the future Dr. Brenner, wanted to repeat this phenomenon in remote Nevada. However, a treacherous employee pilfered lab samples to sell to the Soviets, who were desperate to launch their own interdimensional projects. This spy in the cavern was that very thief.

So, What's in the Case?

Based on what is revealed about his research, the container most likely held vials of the altered blood. As shown, Henry is bleeding from his hand. He likely becomes contaminated upon opening the case, leading to the origin of his telekinetic gifts—abilities he would later pass on to the kids in Hawkins Lab.

A second theory, the case could have held exotic matter that later made its way to the secret facility, where it maintains the stability of the mirror dimension. *The First Shadow* reveals that the boy ended up in the Abyss, returning hours later with a new blood type and personality. From then on, he fights the control of a sinister presence, reminiscent of how Will was controlled by the Mind Flayer in season 2.

A Weaponized Emotion

His lasting fear linked to that memory highlights how profoundly traumatic the incident was for him. While he orchestrates the army of monsters and attempts to pull the Abyss into Hawkins, a fragment of his psyche remains. The villain weaponizes terror, and the series is building toward a climactic battle between Vecna and Will, who has deliberately faced his greatest terrors to become stronger.

His confrontation has effectively disarmed Vecna. More importantly, Will now knows what Vecna himself fears, potentially giving him a key upper hand in the endgame conflict that awaits.