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Why Henry Creel Won't Go Into The Cave in Stranger Things Season 5

273K views · Dec 1, 2025 · Film & Animation

Michael Jae

620K subscribers

Comments · 538

@MichaelJaeYT · 9 months ago · pinned
Do you think Patty Newby will appear in Volume 2? 👀
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@plasmat1KaL · 9 months ago (edited)
plot twist: The cave is just an entrance to Argyle's mind he's too scared to re-enter after what he saw in there
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@farid1406 · 9 months ago (edited)
A redemption arc would be indescribably cheesy and unearned.
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@killjoycola · 9 months ago
I'm just waiting for Joyce, hopper, and everyone that went to high-school with Henry to realize it's vecna..Joyce acts like she has no clue that Henry is vecna
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@Liam-fx3ir · 9 months ago
People are saying they don’t like season 5 because it isn’t “mysterious” enough anymore. They said the same thing about season 4. First of all, there is still a good bit of mystery and problem solving, but second, I think people are missing the narrative. This is a coming of age story. The mystery opens up over time, just like how kids learn more and more about the scary parts of the real world; when they’re young it’s incomprehensible, as they get older they learn more and more of the extent of the evil, but as they get even older they realize they aren’t powerless to fight it.
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@MissMammaKitty · 9 months ago (edited)
I think that Henry Creel is actually the same as Billy was. He's just a vessel. His "memory" is actually just a fantasy that he had about being in a normal highschool and in a play and that's why Joyce and Hopper and the rest aren't like "oh I remember Henry Creel from highschool"- because that reality never happened. I think he's trapped by the mindflayer like Billy was and I think he actually loves music which is why he was the lead in the musical and why music is a recurring theme as an escape. Notice also that the background song is "life could be a dream"- because he is dreaming of a reality that could have been had he not be taken by the mindflayer. I think Henry will actually be shown to be a victim. He probably got lost as a boy scout exploring and found the mindflayer accidentally in that cave. He wasn't ever evil but just like Billy, was taken by it (the same as how Billy was taken into that car garage area).
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@IdkEqual-k9z · 9 months ago
Not to be a downer or anything but why in the world would the duffers drop important info about Vecna and have it only be in a play that premiered once in London. if it dropped on Netflix that would be a different story, but it didn’t. In my personal opinion that wasn’t the best move
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@Slimetecc · 9 months ago (edited)
My Vecna+OG Crew theory. 1. The First Shadow literally proves Henry, Joyce, Hopper, Ted Wheeler, Lonnie, Bob, etc. all crossed paths as teens In the official stage play set in 1959, all these characters appear together: • Henry Creel • Joyce Maldonado • Jim Hopper • Ted Wheeler • Lonnie Byers • Bob Newby So the adults in Stranger Things weren’t strangers in high school. They were in the same town, same school, same friend circle. This is already huge. ⸻ 2. Season 5 Episode 4 confirms this connection with the Oklahoma! flyer During Max’s weird time/memory jump, she sees a poster for “Oklahoma!” featuring: • Henry Creel • Young Joyce • Young Hopper This is not a random easter egg. This is the Duffers telling us these characters shared a past that matters to the main plot. ⸻ 3. Theory: Joyce, Hopper, Ted Wheeler, and the others were the ORIGINAL “Stranger Things crew” in 1959 Think about it: • The kids in the 80s investigate weird supernatural stuff • The teens in 1959 likely did the same Henry was already showing signs of his powers back then. It’s very possible the 1959 group: • witnessed early Upside Down activity • confronted Henry • discovered something important • were basically the first generation of monster hunters This mirrors the show’s theme of cycles. ⸻ 4. Something terrible happened — and Henry erased their memories Here’s the part that ties everything together: Vecna can canonically erase or rewrite memories. He’s done it to: • Max • Nancy • Fred • Chrissy • Eleven (her suppressed memories) So wiping the memories of a group of 1959 teens? Absolutely within his power. This could’ve been to: • hide his early failures • conceal how much they knew • erase witnesses • bury a weakness they discovered It explains EVERYTHING. ⸻ 5. This memory erase explains why the adults act strangely in the show Joyce Immediately believes supernatural events — like she unconsciously remembers something. Hopper Always says Hawkins “feels wrong.” Like trauma his mind buried. Ted Wheeler Emotionally blank, checked out — could be leftover psychic damage. Lonnie Byers Strangely disconnected from his own kids. These characters act like people with repressed, removed, or altered memories. ⸻ 6. Season 5 is clearly bringing the past back Max’s time-slip proves the show is starting to uncover: • old timelines • hidden memories • past versions of characters • connections to Henry • events no one remembers This feels intentional — the adults’ forgotten past is going to blow open. ⸻ 7. Why Vecna would hide all this Because the 1959 group likely: • discovered something dangerous to him • nearly stopped him • saw something he didn’t want revealed • or were connected to the origin of the Upside Down in a way the kids aren’t (yet) Vecna hiding his earliest failure makes perfect sense. ⸻ 8. This makes the show a generational cycle 1959 teens vs Henry → memory wiped 1980s teens vs Vecna → cycle repeats History repeats because the first generation forgot. just a fun theory of mine tho
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@NYmomAdrienne3915 · 9 months ago
The real Henry is in that cave is my guess and the mindflayer is inside the version that exists now. He may find his actual humanity in the cave and destroy his powers, wild guess. If he enters the cave he becomes a mere mortal and faces what he's done and has a redemption ark
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@vickylandry51 · 9 months ago
There are already hints that he is helping the kids in some fashion. He gave Holly music, which he already knows helps them greatly in this situation. When he told Will he was weak I believe he said that to try to awaken Wills dormant powers. I dont think he just randomly stumbled upon Will it was deliberate. Also, he was missing 12 hours I believe and there are 12 kids missing one for each hour
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@donnac.3273 · 9 months ago
The way I screamed 😱 when Will used his powers.  The neighbor knock on my door to ask if everything was ok.
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@dormin8920 · 8 months ago
So basically the cave is where henry hid his deepest and darkest memory (?) And that is the reason why he can't get in.
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