With the final episodes of Stranger Things season five on the horizon, fans are urgently speculating how the Hawkins gang can possibly seal the catastrophic rift between their world and the monstrous Upside Down. A newly released teaser for volume two, landing on Netflix on December 26, sets the stage for a last-ditch battle against Vecna, with the fate of Hawkins hanging in the balance.
The History of the Hawkins Gates
The original and largest breach, known as the Mothergate or the Rift, was created unintentionally on November 6, 1983. This pivotal event occurred when Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and fellow test subject Ten (Christian Ganiere) made psychic contact with a Demogorgon under the orders of Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine) at Hawkins Laboratory. This tear in reality allowed the malevolent Mind Flayer to infiltrate our world, causing electromagnetic disturbances and crop failures across the town.
It took a full year before Eleven and Ten managed to seal this primary gate using their combined psychic abilities. However, by that point, the damage was profound; the Upside Down's influence had already taken root and begun to spread uncontrollably. This historical precedent strongly suggests that the unique powers of Eleven and her fellow superhumans are the only known method for closing these interdimensional portals.
Different Gates and Temporary Rips
The Stranger Things universe has revealed several types of portals beyond the Mothergate. Season three featured a gate beneath the Starcourt Mall, while season four introduced the chilling 'curse gates' opened by Vecna at locations including Eddie Munson's trailer, Lovers' Lake, and the Creel House. Furthermore, creatures like the Demogorgon can rip temporary holes between dimensions to snatch victims, as seen with Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher). These smaller rips, however, seal almost instantly, indicating a lack of fine control over the larger, stable gates.
An earlier, crucial event was shown in season four: Eleven's first confrontation with One/Vecna in 1979 accidentally opened a temporary portal. She successfully banished him through it and the gate closed, trapping him in the Upside Down for years. This proves that gates opened during immense psychic battles can be shut, offering a glimmer of hope.
The Final Confrontation in Season Five
The teaser for the forthcoming finale hints at an unprecedented challenge. Eleven is seen recruiting her 'sister' Kali Prasad (Linnea Berthelsen) for help, implying a powerful psychic alliance is needed. Yet, with the rift now wider than ever and bleeding into Hawkins, past methods may not suffice. Characters including Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) and Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) are shown staring up at ominous new portals, suggesting Vecna's plan to merge the two worlds is accelerating.
Dustin's ominous line in the trailer—"This whole time, everything we've ever assumed about the Upside Down has been dead wrong"—promises a major expansion of the show's mythology. Furthermore, a curious hint from season five, volume one, where a soldier's urine sizzled against an Upside Down wall, suggests that a new, unconventional weakness may be discovered.
The ultimate goal of Vecna and the Mind Flayer is to create a permanent dark kingdom by using children as conduits for portals. To stop this, it may require more than just Eleven and Kali; the combined power of others like Will Byers, who retains a connection to the Upside Down, could be essential. The final battle to close the Mothergate once and for all begins when Stranger Things season 5, volume 2 is released on Netflix UK & Ireland on December 26.
