Why Stranger Things Season 4 Did Not Address Will's Demogorgon Plot Hole

Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things season 4 volume 1

Stranger Things season 4 still hasn't addressed a key question: why did the Demogorgon take Will in the first place? One of the Netflix hit's oldest plot holes dates back to its pilot, but it seems increasingly unlikely that the show will address this issue. Now that the only Demogorgon active in Stranger Things is the one in Kamchatka and Vecna/One/Henry Creel is providing a more intelligent, human brand of Upside-Down villainy, the need to explain more about Demogorgons and their motives is slipping away. This means that Stranger Things may never fully explain why the first Demogorgon took Will.

Beginning back in 2016, Stranger Things is the brainchild of Hidden directors the Duffer Brothers, who hoped to fuse the family drama of 2013’s dark thriller Prisoners with the sci-fi horrors and action-adventure movies of their 80s childhood. The result was a series that combines body horror, teen romance, and twisty sci-fi mysteries in a small-town setting to become one of Netflix’s biggest streaming successes.

Stranger Things has been critically acclaimed thanks to a killer cast of adults and kids alike, as well as consistently compelling storytelling that – despite strong pacing and clever twists – does occasionally feature some annoying plot holes. Some of the most significant cropped up in Stranger Things season 3, which upped the action and scope of the show to an unprecedented extent. But well before its action-packed latest outings, Stranger Things boasted some smaller plot holes that were difficult to dismiss. Foremost among these is the conundrum: why did the Demogorgon take Will back in episode 1?

Vecna's Power Removes The Need To Explain Will's Demogorgon Plothole

So far in Stranger Things, no good reason has been given for the Demogorgon's targeting of Will, but season 4's main villain, Vecna, makes the question "why did the Demogorgon take Will" much less relevant. Vecna has been present in the background of Stranger Things the entire time, feeding on the trauma of people in the real world and turning them into portals to the Upside Down. And because Stranger Things season 4 revealed the Upside Down is a hive mind, any actions taken by Demogorgons, Demodogs, and even the Mind Flayer are necessarily linked. All of this adds up to the fact that an intelligent force like Vecna could reasonably be behind anything the other Upside Down creatures have done in Stranger Things seasons 1-3. This would handily explain why a seemingly-mindless Demogorgon would go to the trouble of stalking Will and unlocking doors, but it raises another equally unanswered question: why would Vecna target Will? It could have something to do with Will's hypothetical latent powers.

Can The Demogorgon Think?

From what viewers have seen in Stranger Things so far, the Demogorgon – scary as it is – is just an unthinking, unfeeling predator that lives to eat. The so-called Demodog that well-meaning Dustin raised in Stranger Things season 2 is proof the monster is relatively thoughtless and has basic motivations compared to later, more advanced monsters like the Mind Flayer and Vecna. It's unlikely that these beasts would escape the Upside Down, learn how to unlock doors, and hunt down Will without powerful help. Since the Mind Flayer controlled Billy and Will himself, viewers now know that Stranger Things’ monsters are capable of psychological manipulation and complex thought. The Demogorgon was likely controlled by a more sinister force – either Vecna or the wider hive mind – and one with real, terrible reasons for picking Will specifically.

Does Will Byers Have Powers?

Will's adventures in Stranger Things' Upside Down might have granted him powers or awoken latent abilities, which could help explain what made him a target in the first place. It’s clear that Eleven has special powers thanks to Hawkins Lab's numbered kid experiments, and the series has shown that Will was more capable of handling the Mind Flayer’s psychological torture than teen bully Billy, who quickly succumbed to its control despite attempting to resist the voices invading his head. This could mean that Will possesses powers under the surface that could surface later on. Given his side-lining in Stranger Things season 4, Will's powers are unlikely to feature yet, but this could be a great season 5 twist.

It’s possible the Demogorgon was just hungry and the Mind Flayer sought him out because he’d already been to the Upside-Down, but this being Stranger Things, a conspiracy seems more likely. What with Billy being older and theoretically more mature than Will, it seems unlikely the young teen would be better equipped to take on the Mind Flayer than the older Stranger Things villain Billy, yet Will was able to survive encounters with both the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer relatively unscathed. That's a feat even Eleven herself struggled to pull off, so the possibility that Will possesses some form of powers similar to those boasted by Eleven would make sense of how he survived and why both monsters sought to control his mind.

Is The Demorgon Hunting Will Linked To Hawkins Lab?

Eleven fighting the Demogorgon in a classroom in Stranger Things

In Stranger Things season 4, Hawkins Lab is back in a big way, and now that it's confirmed that Vecna is One, everything truly links back to the lab and Benner's experiments. Hawkins Lab was awfully eager to help out Will in Stranger Things season 2 when he was possessed by the Mind Flayer, but it might not be their first encounter with him. It’s possible that the Demogorgon simply escaped and picked Will as a snack at random, but his friends meeting and working with Stranger Things' Eleven feels too convenient for this to be the case. With the kids already living near one another and Eleven’s mother being the victim of MK Ultra-style brainwashing experiments, it’s not unlikely that Joyce would have unknowingly run afoul of Hawkins Lab before the show began. Maybe the shadowy, unaccountable government organization is responsible for whatever powers Will may possess in the same way that their experimentation led to Eleven’s psychic abilities. At the same time, Stranger Things season 4 makes it clear that as cruel and unethical as Brenner is, he's no ally of the Upside Down.

Stranger Things Season 4 Side-lined Both Will And The Demogorgon Anyway

While season 4 could have fixed this plot hole, both Will and the Demogorgon have taken a significant backseat in Stranger Things season 4 volume 1. This is nothing new in Will's case, but this season in particular sees him reduced to a background character that serves to offer occasional wisdom to Mike and help the rest of the gang locate the NINA Project. Likewise, the Demogorgon, while initially posed as a threat to Hopper in Russia, is very much removed from season 4's central story. Because both characters are peripheral to the story of Stranger Things season 4, the Will Demogorgon plot hole is very unlikely to be addressed in the two-part finale. That said, there's always a chance the question could be answered in a future season of Stranger Things.

More: Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 Release Date (How Many Episodes Are Left?)

Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 arrives on Netflix on July 1, 2022 at 3AM EST.

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