Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4.The first volume of Stranger Things Season 4 hit Netflix on May 27 with a whole new threat invading Hawkins from another dimension. In the mid-season finale, we learned a lot of surprising and disturbing facts about the origin of the evil Vecna, Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) powers, and the architecture of the Upside Down.
However, there are still many questions up in the air to keep us hooked until July 1, when Season 4, Volume 2 is set to come out. Here are the 14 most pressing matters that we need the upcoming episodes to clear up.
1. What were the Russians’ plans for the Demogorgon?
The fourth season of Stranger Things has a lot of interwoven plots. The loosest thread of this storytelling quilt is easily Hopper’s (David Harbour) trials as a prisoner in the Soviet Union. Locked up in a gulag, he faces off against a Demogorgon that the Russians have been using to kill prisoners. But is this really all the Russians have in mind for such a terrifying otherworldly creature? Flimsy or not, Hopper’s subplot is still part of a larger whole that involves both the Cold War and a never-ending battle against the forces of the Upside Down. One has to wonder if the Soviet Union has other plans or even other Demogorgons in store…
2. What is the real origin and the full extent of the Upside Down?
In the last episode of Season 4, Volume 1, we learn that Vecna came into being after a young Eleven banished the murderous One (Jamie Campbell Bower) to the Upside Down after the Hawkins Lab Massacre of 1979. But did Eleven simply banish One into another dimension, or did she create this other world right then and there? Not much is known so far about the origins of the Upside Down. Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) has speculated that the universe has existed for thousands of years, but that is just a theory among many. There’s also the matter of how far the Upside Down stretches. We have only seen it as a twisted replica of Hawkins, but does it go beyond the town? Was it there before the Hawkins National Laboratory was installed or is it a result of the lab’s experiments?
3. Why did Vecna wait so long to attack?
Vecna began his killing career when he was still a human child called Henry Creel (Raphael Luce) in 1959. After killing his family he was taken in by Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) who installed a chip on his head that stopped him from using his powers. For twenty years, the world was free of Vecna’s horrors, but it all changed back in 1979. And then it changed again in 1986. There’s a seven-year interval between Eleven banishing One to the Upside Down and Vecna’s first interdimensional murder. Considering that Vecna has the psychic ability to cross over dimensions and open portals to our world all by himself, why didn’t he start killing again sooner? Maybe he was training or looking for ways to cross from one universe to another, or maybe he needed Eleven and the Demogorgon to weaken the barrier between worlds. Or, perhaps, Vecna’s personal strength isn’t the only thing that comes into play here.
4. What is Vecna’s role in the Upside Down hierarchy?
Early in the season, Dustin theorizes that, while the Demogorgons were the Mind-Flayer’s foot soldiers, Vecna is his five-star general. Though Dustin is usually in the right about these things, as he himself points out repeatedly, it sure looks like Vecna is acting on his own behalf. Apart from the resulting gates, none of the murders so far seem to be connected to the Mind-Flayer’s world domination plans. But this is not to say that Dustin doesn’t have a point. Whether Vecna is a solo agent or part of a larger army is something that remains to be determined.
5. Will Nancy and Steve make their way out of the Upside Down?
After getting trapped in the Upside Down, Robin (Maya Hawke) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn) are saved by Dustin, Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), and Erica (Priah Ferguson). Steve (Joe Keery) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) are also supposed to escape, but just as Nancy is about to cross the gate, Vecna takes over her mind. The other kids are left watching in horror through the portal as Steve shakes her and tries to bring her back to the real world. Will the former (and, perhaps, future) lovers manage to escape the Upside Down? Or will they be trapped once more? In the teaser for Season 4, Volume 2 that comes right after Episode 7, we see Robin, Steve, Nancy, Dustin, and Eddie together in the Upside Down. Is it possible that there’s a more complex rescue operation on the way?
6. Will Mike, Will, and Jonathan reach the Nina Project before Lieutenant-Colonel Sullivan?
Not everyone believes in Eleven’s power to put an end to what is going on at Hawkins. Lieutenant-Colonel Sullivan (Sherman Augustus) believes her to be the cause of everything that has happened in the town and is determined to stop her, either by imprisoning or by killing her. After a long torture session with one of Dr. Owens’ (Paul Reiser) agents, it is implied that Sullivan has discovered the location of the Nina Project’s underground facility. If this is indeed what happened, he’s probably on his way there. The problem is he’s not the only one looking for Nina. Well aware that there is someone out to hurt Eleven, Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and Argyle (Eduardo Franco) are also on their way to warn her, having located the facility with the help of Dustin’s genius girlfriend, Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo). Eleven’s safety depends on who will win this race.
7. What are Dr. Brenner’s true intentions?
Seriously, what is up with Dr. Brenner? We have seen him do and say unspeakable things to Eleven, and the whole experimenting on children in a secret laboratory thing doesn’t exactly scream good guy. However, over the course of this season, Dr. Brenner is shown in a kinder light that emphasizes his Papa side, even if we still see him electrocuting kids. Is it possible that he truly has only Eleven’s and humanity’s best interests at heart?
8. Will Eddie and the Hellfire Club survive Jason’s militia as well as Vecna?
Dustin and Lucas have had a long experience fighting interdimensional monsters, even if they did rely heavily on Eleven’s powers. Much like Eddie, the two have also learned how to survive school bullying and are no strangers to mean jocks. However, the satanic panic that has taken over Hawkins is a different thing entirely. Shocked by Chrissy’s (Grace Van Dien) and Patrick’s (Myles Truitt) deaths, and incensed by news conflating D&D with satanic worship, basketball star Jason (Mason Dye) has convinced the people of Hawkins that Eddie and his Hellfire Club have been using tabletop RPG as a facade to summon demons. Now, there’s a pitchfork-and-torch-holding mob going around town, looking for some Satan worshippers to maim or even kill. How will Eddie, Lucas, and Dustin (and Mike, when he gets back) deal with this threat?
9. Will Eddie be able to prove his innocence?
Eddie was present at two of the three crime scenes so far, thus, it’s not just because he’s a weirdo that he becomes the primary suspect of the murders of Chrissy, Fred (Logan Riley Bruner), and Patrick. Will he be able to clear his name when Vecna is defeated? It all depends on how far the knowledge of the Upside Down will spread after the upcoming showdown and on whether the police will believe any of it.
10. How will the Jonathan-Nancy-Steve love triangle end?
Nancy and Steve haven’t really been a thing ever since Season 2 of Stranger Things. Shortly after their breakup, Nancy and Jonathan got together and have been going strong for a whole season and a few episodes. However, things aren’t as rosy as they used to be in Young Love Land. Now living in different states, Nancy and Jonathan have been drifting apart, and Jonathan has come up with at least two different excuses to avoid seeing his girlfriend during Spring Break. To make matters worse, he’s also planning on going to a local college instead of attending Emerson with Nancy, and he hasn’t even told her about it. Meanwhile, Steve is right there at Hawkins, single, hot, and acting all heroic, and the powers-that-be are certainly setting the mood for him and Nancy to fall into each other’s arms.
11. Are Mike and Eleven done for?
Another couple that has started the season on unsure footing is Mike and Eleven. The former middle school sweethearts are finding it hard to keep their relationship strong in this new stage of life. Apart from the distance, Eleven has lied to Mike about being bullied in school, while Mike has a hard time telling his girlfriend that he loves her. The last straw is when Mike calls Eleven a superhero, making her believe that he’s only interested in her because of her powers that she has recently lost. Before going to Nevada with Dr. Owens, Eleven leaves Mike a note signed not with "love," but with "from El," emulating his letters to her. Will the two kids manage to get over this road bump in their relationship?
12. What will become of Joyce and Hopper?
The show’s oldest will-they-won’t-they lost fans after Season 3 saw Hopper devolving from a grumpy stoic with a heart of gold into a borderline abusive macho man. Now, in Season 4, his and Joyce’s (Winona Ryder) storyline seems a bit disconnected from the overarching plot. Still, Joyce flew all the way to the Russian far East, with Murray in tow, to save Hopper’s life. Perhaps the two will finally come together and make their true feelings known to each other.
14. Will Robin get her happy ending?
Ever since the ending of Season 1, Stranger Things has gotten some flak from LGBTQIA+ fans that feel the show offers little to nothing in terms of representation. Robin coming out as gay in Season 3 was a step forward in terms of diversity, but perhaps it's time to give her and fans something more. Right in the first episode of Season 4, Robin reveals to Steve that she is in love with a girl that plays in the school band with her. However, being a young gay girl in a small town in 1986, she is afraid of confessing her feelings to her intended. Does this mean there’s a new romance coming to the show? The fact that Robin’s crush is played by Anne with an E’s Amybeth McNulty sure suggests that she could have a larger role in Volume 2.
15. What is Will’s painting about?
Last, but not least, Will spends a lot of time working on a painting for Mike. Alas, when he tries to show it to his friend, Mike is way more interested in catching up with Eleven. Romance isn’t the only thing that suffers from distance: friendships can also be affected. And Mike and Will sure had a hard time reconnecting over the course of Season 4. Will’s painting is traveling alongside its painter from California to Utah and, now, to Nevada. As he and Mike grow close once again or drift apart more than ever, the question of what Will has chosen to express through his art remains.