Stranger Things Finally Reveals The Truth About The Upside Down

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Be warned, this contains spoilers for the final part of Stranger Things season 5! After years of mystery, Stranger Things has finally revealed the true nature of the Upside Down. For a long time, fans believed it was a separate, parallel world. However, the ending of season 5 shows that its origins are far more complex and dangerous than anyone imagined.

The first part of Stranger Things season 5 strongly suggests that the Upside Down is enclosed by a massive wall, with Hawkins Lab positioned right in the middle. As Dustin and his friends investigate the lab’s connection to this wall, they uncover important information about the Upside Down – its origins, its purpose, and what it actually is.

Stranger Things Season 5 Reveals The Upside Down Is A Wormhole

Image via Netflix

While Dustin shares some insight into the Upside Down and how it connects to the exotic matter above Hawkins Lab, he breaks down everything for the Party in Stranger Things season 5’s “The Bridge.” It turns out that the Upside Down is actually a wormhole, serving as an “interdimensional bridge” connecting the real world and the world Vecna has been hiding in, which Dustin refers to as “the Abyss.”

The Upside Down is powered by a strange, unstable substance that keeps it connected to our world. In the fifth season of Stranger Things, Vecna is trying to destroy that connection and merge the two worlds, using Holly and the others to do it. When Holly attempts to escape the Abyss, it appears she’s falling through the sky of the Upside Down, but she’s actually falling through a wormhole.

The Upside Down’s Origins Involving Vecna & Eleven Explained

Throughout the series, the alternate dimension in Stranger Things has been shrouded in mystery. However, season 4 finally explained where the Upside Down came from and its connection to both Vecna and Eleven. It turns out that after Eleven confronted Henry at Hawkins Lab in 1979, she unintentionally sent him to a different world – a dark place now known as the Upside Down, and the home of creatures like the Mind Flayer and Demogorgons.

Season 4 of Stranger Things established that the Upside Down is frozen in time, specifically on November 6, 1983 – the day Eleven first connected with a Demogorgon using her powers. However, the full story behind the Upside Down’s origins, as revealed in season 5’s “The Bridge,” is far more complex.

Henry became Vecna while trapped in a terrifying dimension called the Abyss. Dr. Brenner was using Eleven to locate him, and when she connected with the Demogorgon, she unintentionally created the Upside Down – a gateway between our world and the Abyss. The Upside Down is a distorted reflection of our own world, but it’s only one piece of what links Hawkins to the realm Henry now calls home.

How Vecna & The Mind Flayer Used The Upside Down To Target Hawkins

Similar to the connection between Hawkins and the Upside Down, the Abyss has weaknesses that link it to our world. These openings allowed Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and their creatures to escape the Abyss, travel through the connection, and enter Hawkins – or other places in the real world – through various tears and gateways.

The real source of the monsters in Stranger Things isn’t the Upside Down itself, but a darker place called the Abyss. The Upside Down is simply the route they take to reach Hawkins. The Mind Flayer, Demogorgons, and other creatures all originate in the Abyss – and it’s where Henry Creel transformed into Vecna after Eleven exiled him in 1983.

Can The Upside Down Wormhole Be Destroyed?

Image via Netflix

As the final season of Stranger Things comes to a close, the main question is whether the group can close the gate to the Upside Down, effectively destroying it and the dangerous realm it holds. By the end of season 5, the team is on a last, desperate mission to defeat Vecna and save their friends. Before they can finally go home, they also intend to plant a bomb in the Upside Down to ensure it’s gone for good.

If the dark matter is destroyed, the wormhole – which Dustin calls an “interdimensional bridge” – would close, eliminating the Upside Down and the Abyss. Even if the gates and openings between Hawkins and the Upside Down are closed, Vecna’s connections in the Abyss could still cause a global catastrophe if the planned bombing succeeds.

Kali believes it’s best if she and Eleven remain in the Upside Down when the portal closes. She fears that Eleven’s powers will always attract dangerous people like Dr. Kay and Brenner, who would try to misuse them. Kali also thinks that if Eleven destroys the portal as a final act, it would be a poetic end, considering Eleven unintentionally created the Upside Down in the first place.

How The Upside Down Connects To Dimension X

Okay, so before we got all the big Upside Down reveals in Stranger Things Season 5, the stage play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, actually filled in a lot of the backstory. It turns out what they’ve been calling the Abyss is really Dimension X, and it’s where young Henry first stumbled into things – long before Eleven sent him packing in 1978. The play makes it clear this wasn’t a sudden fall into darkness for him; he had a history with that place, even as a kid.

The play Stranger Things: The First Shadow introduces a young Henry Creel who crosses paths with a Soviet spy. This spy has stolen crucial equipment from a top-secret government project exploring other dimensions and connected to the Brenner family. This same equipment, hinted at in a cave scene from Stranger Things season 5’s “Escape from Camazotz,” ultimately sends Henry to Dimension X.

Henry’s first encounter with the Mind Flayer is a pivotal moment that dramatically changes his life. Although he returns to his own world, this experience – and his time in Dimension X – fundamentally alters his personality and behavior, as shown in season 4 of Stranger Things. This transformation also unlocks his psychokinetic powers, setting in motion the events surrounding Project Indigo, Eleven, and ultimately, the creation of the Upside Down wormhole.

The final season of Stranger Things is now streaming on Netflix! Volumes 1 and 2 are available now, and the very last episode will be released on December 31, 2025.

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2025-12-26 04:39