A new villain is in town but that does not mean that the one that came before it is already gone in the picture. In Stranger Things Season 4, Vecna starts menacing with Hawkins by targeting victims and killing each of them through some psychic ability. How is he connected to the Mind Flayer, though?
Warning! This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4! Read at your own risk!
Are Vecna And The Mind Flayer Connected In Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1?
Much to the surprise of the Hawkins gang in Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1, another villain has entered the picture when Chrissy Cunningham, their schoolmate, died a gruesome death and the people are pointing their fingers to Eddie who lives in the trailer where the body was found. They claim he is a satanic cult leader but they, of course, did not know any better.
When Max, Dustin, Steve, and Robin found Eddie, they made him narrate what happened and just as they suspected, it is another creature from the Upside Down that has been menacing Hawkins. They thought it was impossible given that Eleven already closed the gate but they found out that the villain is not the Mind Flayer: it resembles Vecna from the Dungeons & Dragons game that they play.
The Mind Flayer has been the main villain from the start, being the biggest threat to Hawkins that led to the infamous Battle at Starcourt or what others call it, the mall fire. While the Mind Flayer was seemingly defeated in Season 3, Dustin theorized that Vecna is a five-star general of the Mind Flayer while the Demogorgons were just foot soldiers.
Dustin made it make sense, actually, and he possibly decoded the connection of Vecna to the Mind Flayer.
Related: Theory: How Can Robin Save Nancy In Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1?
See, the Mind Flayer is a powerful being of the Upside Down and since the closure of the gates, he cannot get through Hawkins because he has no abilities to open a gate. However, surely, the Mind Flayer knows the inhabitants of the Upside Down, thus, Vecna comes into the picture.
Vecna didn’t appear in the first three seasons which is questionable considering his abilities but with the closure of the gates, the answer may be connected to the big bad Mind Flayer. It is possible that the Mind Flayer approached him because of his capacity to open small gates throughout Hawkins so that they could get through again.
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 Reveals True Connection of Vecna to the Mind Flayer
In Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2, the connection between Vecna and The Mind Flayer is finally revealed and it turns out it is the other way around. The Mind Flayer is not the boss, Vecna slash Henry slash One is.
When Eleven sent One to the Upside Down, he became a wanderer of the new place where he discovered creatures unknown like the demogorgons. It was later revealed that One came across the first form of the Mind Flayer, a cloud that looms in the skies.
From that cloud, One created the Mind Flayer and he wanted it since he was a child as seen in his drawings. The likelihood of the Mind Flayer to the Black Widows or Spiders that Henry fascinated on when he was a child is uncanny.
One created a being that could devour from within, a predator instead of a prey. All this time, it was Vecna behind the attacks of the Mind Flayer, it was his general, not the other way around as Dustin have thought.
Stranger Things Season 4 Volumes 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix.