Duffer Brothers Almost Gave Vecna Redemption Arc in Finale
The creators of Stranger Things considered letting their main villain switch sides in the final season, but decided the character had crossed too many lines to deserve salvation.
The showrunners behind Stranger Things came dangerously close to giving Vecna a last-minute redemption story. Ross and Matt Duffer recently revealed they wrestled with the idea of having Jamie Campbell Bower's character turn against the Mind Flayer before deciding he'd gone too far down a dark path.
The brothers drew heavy inspiration from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for their finale's structure. But they also considered borrowing from Return of the Jedi's playbook with a villain-to-hero transformation.
Why Henry Creel Couldn't Be Saved
"We did discuss with the writers' room if he could have a Billy moment where he turns against the Mind Flayer [in a] Darth Vader-type situation," Ross Duffer told Netflix Tudum. "But the more we talked about it with the writers and with Jamie, he's gone so far at this point to get here, he has to justify everything he's done. And the only way to justify that is to go, 'I chose this, and I believe in this still.'"
Sharp-eyed viewers might have sensed this internal debate during Vecna's final conversation with Will Byers. The scene lingers just long enough to make audiences wonder if Henry Creel might actually change course.
Leaving Room for Interpretation
The Duffers deliberately kept things ambiguous about Henry's true motivations. They wanted fans to debate whether young Henry originally chose his path or if the Mind Flayer controlled him from the start.
"Even though he is shaken by seeing this memory, he's too far gone at this point to turn against the Mind Flayer," Ross Duffer explained. "But we wanted to leave it up to the audience whether young Henry chose this or whether the Mind Flayer controlled him from beginning to end. But in terms of where Henry goes, it doesn't matter because he chooses the side of the Mind Flayer at the end of the day."
The decision to kill off Henry proved correct regardless of fan opinions about other finale choices. Besides, Joyce Byers would have looked pretty foolish carrying that ax around for nothing.