00:00They are my towers, and they are stronger than ever before.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the craziest easter eggs,
00:14callbacks, and foreshadowing in the second part of Stranger Things Final Season.
00:19Oh, and if it wasn't obvious, expect some heavy spoilers.
00:22What is that?
00:24Our exit.
00:26It doesn't look like an exit.
00:30Number 10, Back in the Tank.
00:34Will. Will, can you hear me? Will, wake up!
00:38Eleven submerging into the sensory deprivation tank to find Will again?
00:42Now that is full-circle storytelling.
00:44Sure, she's used the chamber plenty of times since Season 1, but this moment hits different.
00:49The circumstances mirror that desperate first search perfectly.
00:53Will trapped somewhere unreachable, Elle is the only hope, that eerie silence before she goes under.
01:00It's deliberate nostalgia done right, tugging at your heartstrings without feeling cheap.
01:11We've watched Elle grow from terrified lab experiment to powerful hero, yet here she is right back where it started, fighting for the boy who brought them all together.
01:20Even after all this time, seeing Elle try to bring Will home is just as thrilling.
01:27Elle, what's wrong?
01:28Elle, what's wrong?
01:31Is he alright?
01:32Yeah.
01:33Number 9, Clashing Over The Clash.
01:35I hate The Clash.
01:36Remember when The Clash's anthem helped rescue Will from the Upside Down way back when?
01:41Come on and let me know.
01:45Should I stay or should I go?
01:49That song has practically been Jonathan's emotional security blanket ever since.
01:53So when Nancy admits that she actually kind of hates the band, it cuts deep.
01:57I hate The Clash.
02:00Every time you put them on, I just try to disassociate from reality.
02:05I hate reading your articles.
02:09Just kidding.
02:09In actuality, it's beyond refreshing to see the young couple actually be honest with one another.
02:14And while Nancy's line may come off as mere comedy, it strikes a deeper chord given the band's connection to the series.
02:20She's admitting to more than just not jiving with the music.
02:23And for those who can read between the lines, it's a lovely moment of reconciliation for the two.
02:29Okay.
02:31I never read Slaughterhouse-Five.
02:34I just read the cliff notes and pretended I liked it.
02:36I never read Anna Karenina.
02:38Number 8.
02:398 is a loose cannon.
02:41Help me find him.
02:44Kill him.
02:45Then what?
02:46It ends.
02:478's backstory hits harder than a Demogorgon to the face.
02:51The grand reveal?
02:52Her blood was used to create more super-powered experiments.
02:55And while most of them failed, she has a theory that 11s would have a much higher success rate.
03:00Dr. K needed me.
03:03She needed my blood.
03:07And her need was endless.
03:14Her solution is noble if dark.
03:17The ultimate sacrifice.
03:19If she and Elle die, their bloodline ends.
03:22And so does the hope for any more telekinetic beings.
03:24All I knew was I needed to get out.
03:27And the only way out was death.
03:34But given how shady 8's been, it seems she may be a traitor in their midst.
03:39Willing to do anything to keep their blood from falling into the wrong hands.
03:42Even if it means spilling Elle's blood herself.
03:45We are definitely keeping our eyes on her.
03:48Number 7.
03:49Will was Vecna's puppet all along.
03:52Does it bring back...
03:55Memories?
04:01All roads lead back to Vecna.
04:03And tunnels too, apparently.
04:05His villainous monologue confirms a long-standing theory fans had assumed for years.
04:10While under the Mind Flayer's control in Season 2,
04:13it was Will who dug the massive network of tunnels beneath Hawkins.
04:16It explains a lot.
04:18Like how he was able to conjure up a map of the labyrinth.
04:20You think you are clever, don't you?
04:24But remember, I am the one.
04:30The one who invited you in.
04:34The only way he'd be able to do that is if he was the one who'd built them in the first place.
04:39It's almost funny.
04:40Joyce unknowingly used the villain's own surveillance system against them.
04:44You were my vessel.
04:47My spy.
04:50My builder.
04:53Builder.
04:56Number 6.
04:58Kamazotz.
04:59Literary classic or internet mystery?
05:01And you think in this secret location, we'll find what?
05:04Henry's traumatic memory?
05:05That.
05:06And a way out of Kamazotz.
05:08At least, that's my theory.
05:10Episode 6's title, Escape from Kamazotz, is a not-so-subtle nod to a nightmarish mind-control planet from a wrinkle in time.
05:18Seems on the nose, right?
05:20But here's where it gets weird.
05:22Kamazotz is also the last known sighting of real-life YouTuber Kenny Veach, who vanished in 2014 without a trace.
05:29He supposedly fell off the grid around Area 51 while searching for a mysterious M-cave, spawning all sorts of conspiracy theories in the aftermath.
05:37Was this an intentional reference or an eerie coincidence?
05:41The Duffers love layering obscure horror lore into their titles.
05:44Either way, it's definitely unsettling.
05:47We're near the secret location, and I've got eyes, and I still see absolutely nothing but more goddamn sand.
05:55Hold on!
05:57Hold on!
06:00Number 5.
06:01The ring that says I don't.
06:03It'd be nice to get something right for once in the end.
06:07Here.
06:09Earlier in the season, Murray gave Jonathan some sagely relationship advice in the form of a Love Supreme cassette.
06:15We assumed it was just broadening his music taste.
06:19Nope.
06:19Jonathan secretly stashed Nancy's engagement ring inside that very cassette, and the metaphor runs deep.
06:26Nancy Wheeler, will you not marry me?
06:35The four-part musical masterpiece goes from sorrow to euphoria, mirroring Jonathan and Nancy's arc perfectly.
06:42They've weathered darkness together and reached beautiful highs,
06:45but Jonathan realizes their supreme love can't actually transcend their current divide.
06:50So, in a scene that should come with a box of tissues, he un-proposes to her, which she happily accepts.
06:56They love each other deeply, and whether Murray knew it or not,
07:00that cassette tape represents their relationship in more than a few ways.
07:03I accept your own proposal.
07:08I love you.
07:11I love you.
07:13Number 4.
07:15The Cold War was always about Dimension X.
07:19Everything that has happened here is because of that girl.
07:23Dr. K's desperate outburst in The Upside Down drops a massive bombshell.
07:27America wanted to weaponize Demogorgons against Russia.
07:30Suddenly, everything clicks into place.
07:33The Kamchatka prison wasn't random.
07:35The Soviets were desperately playing catch-up in a supernatural arms race.
07:39Starcorp Mall's secret base?
07:41Just another battle in the fight for interdimensional dominance.
07:44This single line reframes years of plot threads,
07:47revealing that Hawkins was ground zero for Cold War espionage on a cosmic scale.
07:52And if you had just done your job and found her,
07:54then I wouldn't have to repeat myself,
07:56and we'd have those monsters in Moscow where they'd be killing Soviets instead of Americans.
08:01While questions remain unanswered heading into the finale,
08:04one thing is crystal clear.
08:07Superpowers weren't enough.
08:08Both nations wanted literal monsters as weapons.
08:12Number 3.
08:13The First Shadow Comes to Light
08:14After a tantalizingly long time shrouded in mystery,
08:32Stranger Things finally unveiled how Henry began his path to Vecna.
08:36Well, actually, the answer isn't technically found on screen.
08:38It's on stage.
08:40On Broadway, to be exact.
08:41Stranger Things, The First Shadow is a stage prequel
08:44that's currently entertaining audiences for 8 shows a week in New York,
08:47and it's confirmed to be canon by the Duffers.
08:50The play reveals a lot more details about Henry's backstory,
08:53including how Brenner tracked him down and, well, how The First Shadow came to be.
08:57It's not real.
08:59You are The Shadow!
09:08I'm Henry Creel.
09:10While the series left enough in the dark
09:12to ensure we're all still eagerly awaiting the finale,
09:15this quick glimpse proves that the play may be required viewing after all.
09:18If you start to get upset,
09:21just take a deep breath
09:23and say to yourself,
09:26I'm Henry Creel.
09:29I'm normal.
09:30Do you recall in Season 1 when Mr. Clark casually explained alternate dimensions to the kids?
09:47Yeah, we didn't either.
09:48But that throwaway science lesson just became crucial.
09:52Dustin's breakthrough reveals that the Upside Down is just a wormhole connecting Hawkins to another dimension,
09:57a.k.a. the exact kind of theoretical physics Mr. Clark explained way back in the show's earliest days.
10:02Space between.
10:04Yes, exactly right.
10:06Again.
10:07And, uh,
10:08just think of all the places mankind could go.
10:12He was literally describing the series' entire cosmology before we even knew it mattered.
10:16Who knew one of the show's biggest questions was hiding in plain sight all this time?
10:21The Duffer brothers did.
10:22This place,
10:24the Upside Down,
10:25it isn't another dimension.
10:27It's not another world.
10:29It's a wormhole.
10:30Before we continue,
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10:441. The D&D Math That Changes Everything
10:49You ready?
10:53Freddy.
11:00Here's a wild theory, but try and stay with us.
11:0311, 8, and Vecna,
11:05who you could also call 1.
11:07Add them up and what do you get?
11:0820. The Critical Success Role in Dungeons & Dragons.
11:12Coincidence?
11:13The Duffer brothers do not do coincidences.
11:16What if defeating the Mind Flayer requires all three working together?
11:20It's the ultimate Nat 20 moment the show's been building towards since the beginning.
11:24Vecna might be the villain we know,
11:26but he's never been the real big bad.
11:28That has always been the Mind Flayer,
11:30pulling strings from the shadows.
11:32Combining all of the show's ideas into one epic fight
11:35is exactly how you stick the landing on a 10-year campaign.
11:39That is exactly how you stick the landing on a 10-year campaign.
11:41Did we miss any of your favorite callbacks?
11:59Let us know in the comments.
12:00I don't know in the comments.
12:02Please.
12:03Please.
12:04Please.
12:05Please.
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