Stranger Things Season 5 Vol. 2 Ending Explained: Vecna's Grand Plan And Upside Down Origins Finally Revealed

In Stranger Things Season 5 Vol. 1, Vecna came into Hawkins to kidnap the remaining children for his plan. Now that Stranger Things Season 5 Vol. 2 is out, the details of why he needs the children have

finally been revealed. Besides Vecna's mission, episodes 6 and 7, titled Escape from Camazotz and The Bridge, share some background information about the Upside Down and how it was created. We finally know what the Hawkins gang is planning to do to take Vecna down in the series finale in Vol. 3. Find out all about the ending of Vol. 2 below. Spoilers ahead!

Vecna's plan using 12 children

The reason why Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) has chosen 12 children from Hawkins, including Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) and Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly), is that he wants to remake the world by merging Hawkins into the Abyss, another world where he has taken their bodies too. To merge the worlds together, Vecna requires energy, and he will sap that from the young children to strengthen his power.

When he first captured Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and later Max (Sadie Sink), he was able to open four pathways between the Upside Down and Hawkins. With 12 children his power will be greater. According to Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), the date for this massive merger is November 6, the day that Will originally went missing four years ago.

What is the Upside Down?

Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) finds Dr Brenner's old notebook in the Hawkins lab in the Upside Down and makes a huge discovery. The Upside Down is an interdimensional bridge that rips through space-time and is held together by exotic matter. The wormhole connects Hawkins to the Abyss, and Henry, aka Vecna, plans to draw the worlds together into one. The Upside Down isn't just an alternate dimension; it is also a wormhole.

Interestingly, Dustin refers to the Abyss, the actual alternate dimension, after the name of the realm of chaos and evil in Dungeons & Dragons. This links back to several fan theories that the series finale will contain several Dungeons and Dragons metaphors, especially since creators Matt and Ross Duffer have introduced Will the Wise and Holly the Heroic as key players in this fight. Remember the giant wall in the Upside Down that the several members of the Hawkins gang wanted to blast through. Well, through Dustin we learn that the wall is entirely made up of exotic matter, a power source that holds the whole Upside Down together. If anything happens to the wall, it could destroy the wormhole and mean certain death for everyone.

Does Nancy choose Steve or Jonathan?

So far, neither. When Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) find this ball of exotic matter in the old Hawkins lab, she fires a shot into it that disrupts the energy. She and Jonathan are stuck in a room facing death and talk about a few key parts of their relationship, discussing why they've grown apart. They have a mutual breakup, and Nancy assures Jonathan that she only sees Steve (Joe Keery) as a friend.

Foreshadowing of Eleven's fate in Stranger Things 5

Now that the crew knows what Vecna is up to, they must find a way to stop it. After a lot of brainstorming by everyone, Steve comes up with Operation Beanstalk. He suggests that they wait until Vecna is about to merge the two worlds together use the radio tower at the WSQK station for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to enter into his mind. When she does this, the rest climb into the Abyss to rescue the children. To get Eleven closer to Vecna, the gang must travel to the Hawkins lab in the Upside Down and use the sensory deprivation tank there. Max and Eleven's sister Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) will help her battle against Vecna. Additionally, Dustin adds one more kicker. After their plan is executed, they should drop a bomb in the exotic matter with a timer and leave the Upside Down, demolishing everything inside, eliminating the bridge to Hawkins.

As Kali has explained to Eleven, Dr Kay (Linda Hamilton) kept Kali for her blood and wanted to recreate Dr Brenner's program at Hawkins Lab and create new children with powers like themselves. To stop the government and the military from trying to pursue and kidnap Eleven, the two sisters plan to stay behind in the Upside Down when the link is closed. They will sacrifice themselves for the good of the world. Now that the plans have been executed on both sides, what will happen in the series finale of Stranger Things when it is released on December 31 at 5 pm PT? We shall soon find out. In India, episode eight will air on January 1, 2026, at 6:30 am IST.