Warning: Includes MASSIVE SPOILERS for Stranger Things, Season 5, Part 1!
After three extremely long years, Stranger Things Season 5 has finally debuted…or at least part of it. In a way to draw out the excitement (and money) for the final season, Netflix is opting to release the final season of their hit series in three batches over the three busiest holidays of the year. The first four episodes dropped the day before Thanksgiving, with the next three set for Christmas 2025 and the extended series finale set for New Year’s Eve.
The first four episodes of Season 5 had some massive twists, revealing key details about characters and bringing back long-forgotten characters and plot points from Season 2. These new and recurring additions might provide the key to how the series’ characters will ultimately defeat Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), the big bad of the franchise. The clues might have been hiding in plain sight as far back as 2017, and it all connects to the rules of Dungeons & Dragons.
11+8+1=20 Theory Explained
Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is one of the main characters of Stranger Things. The young telekinetic girl is inspired by characters like Carrie in Stephen King’s novel of the same name, and Jean Grey of the X-Men. As noted by her code name, Eleven is just one of many superpowered children. She was one of many test subjects of young children at Hawkins National Laboratory.
One of Eleven’s fellow test subjects was Kali Prasad (Linnea Berthelsen), whose ID number was 8 and whom Eleven met up with in Season 2. Eight can create visual hallucinations in people. Eight debuted in the Season 2 episode “Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister”, an outlier in the series, and is considered by many to be the worst episode of Stranger Things. Because of this, it seemed like Kali and her storyline were going to be forgotten. Yet fittingly, eight years later, The Duffer Brothers have brought Kali back, and seemingly could have big things planned for her in the series’ ultimate finale.
Notably, if Eleven and Eight were to combine their abilities, they would be pretty powerful. Their names even add up to 19, one digit shy of Dungeons & Dragons D20. A D20 is a twenty-sided die that is commonly associated with Dungeons & Dragons. Back on July 15, 2022, shortly after Stranger Things Season 4 concluded, Reddit user CremeDeLeCrem420 seems to have first posited the D20 theory, saying:
“Pretty damn sure that Eleven, Kali and Henry Creel are gonna team up to destroy the mind flayer or whatever controls the upside down in season 5. The Duffer Brothers literally told us in the D&D match at the beginning of Part 4, Volume One, when Dustin’s 11 Roll failed and Erica rolled a Natural 20. I haven’t seen this posted anywhere yet, lemme know what ya think.”
If the player rolls a 20 (often called a “Nat(ural) 20” as it has no modifiers), the action the dice was rolled for is an immediate success. It is the best dice throw in the game and is often associated with “winning”, be it a small action or a significant moment.
Now, Henry Creel is the human name of Vecna, the primary villain of Stranger Things and reportedly the mastermind behind everything that has transpired since the series’ first season. With Henry Creel now out, who would be the one to create the missing numerical “1” in the D20 theory’s equation? The latest telekinetic, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp).
How Will Byers Completes the Theory
Stranger Things Season 5, episode 4, “Chapter Four: Sorcerer,” made the shocking reveal that Will himself had powers. Will uses his powers to take control of a Demogorgon. How did Will get these powers? Since Will was the first person flayed by Vecna in the Upside Down in Stranger Things Season 1, he gained some of Vecna’s abilities. However, unlike Eleven, Eight, or Vecna, Will’s powers are not naturally occurring to him and are also proximity-based. The Duffer brothers told Cosmopolitan, “If he’s not close to the hive mind, he’s not able to access or tap it.” Will can also only control objects connected to the Hive Mind, hence why he can control a Demogorgon, but he would not have the ability to move objects with his mind or create visions in anyone’s head.
Yet Will, being the first person Vecna played, is the new number one. This has led to a new spin on the 11+8+1=20 fan theory, where Will takes Henry’s place as the new number one. That would mean the key to defeating Vecna will be in combining the abilities of Eleven, Eight, and now Will (One), which, when combined, would make 20. Now, whether that is a Nat 20 is debatable, or if that is a 20 with modifiers, but that numerical addition would make for a fitting connection back to Dungeons & Dragons, the game that kicked off Stranger Things in the first five minutes all the way back in 2016.
- Release Date
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2016 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
- Writers
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Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock