- Henry was scared of entering the cave because when he was a kid, he got teleported to the Upside Down for the first time through that cave.
- This plot point comes into the picture through the Broadway play titled The First Shadow, on which Stranget Things is based.
- There is a good chance that in future episodes, this plot point could be explored as a flashback for Henry's origin story.
Netflix has given us some of the most interesting villains with its originals we have ever seen, and among them, Vecna easily has a spot in the top 5. He is menacing, powerful, and probably possesses every single quality one can think of a villain should have in a show like Stranger Things. However, no matter how powerful a villain is, there is always something that scares them, and Vecna is no different. In Stranger Things Season 5, we see that Henry, Vecna’s human form, is scared of a cave that Max used to hide from him. Now the question is, why is Henry scared of this cave? Let’s find out.
Henry Being Scared of the Cave Could Be a Plot Hint from The First Shadow
We are already aware of the fact that Stranger Things is based on a Broadway play titled “The First Shadow”. If we look at the said play, it features this very thing, Henry is scared for and it gives us the reason why the cave scares him. According to the play, Henry is scared because he had his first encounter with the Upside Down through this very cave when he was just 8 years old.
According to the play, a Russian spy stole some technology from Brenner’s lab and hid it in that very cave. Young Henry wandered in the cave and toyed with the hidden tech that briefly teleported him to the Upside Down. This accident became the beginning of his Vecna arc as it gave Henry his powers and established a connection between him and the Mindflayer.
However, This Theory Clashes with the Previously Set Premise of Stranger Things
Now this theory establishes a plot point that has not yet been explored by the series. Moreover, in Stranger Things Season 4, we see a flashback where Henry manipulates Eleven to remove a power-inhibiting chip from him, and once his powers are restored, he brutally murders every other test subject.
Eleven is enraged by this and, in a fit of anger, uses her powers with such intensity that she accidentally opens the first gate to the Upside Down and banishes him to the alternate dimension. If Stranger Things Season 5 brings us this plot point from the play, it will probably be shown to us as an origin story flashback for Henry and his first steps towards the path of ultimately becoming Vecna. So, let’s wait and see what happens as new episodes come our way on December 25, 2025.
