After five seasons, nine years and about 1,000 renditions of Running Up That Hill, Stranger Things is nearly at an end. Although Will vanished into the Upside Down within the first five minutes of the show, we still don’t have a definitive answer on what the Upside Down actually is.
Here’s the most convincing theory which Stranger Things viewers have on what the Upside Down really is. After the new trailer for volume two, I’m so sold.
The Upside Down is (maybe) a wormhole
Okay, so some Stranger Things viewers are convinced that the Upside Down isn’t really a whole other realm. It might just be a wormhole that connects Hawkins to a much stranger thing, called Dimension X.
Right back in season one, the characters kept discussing wormholes. The kids reached the conclusion that Eleven had opened up a wormhole to the Upside Down, and Will went through it. An increasing number of Stranger Things viewers now think that the characters stopped their theory too soon. They reckon that the whole of the Upside Down is actually a wormhole. It could be a very large, very elaborate path between Hawkins and a totally different dimension.
We’d always assumed the Upside Down carried on and on, and reflected the whole world in 1983. But maybe the weird fleshy wall we saw in season five is the edge.
A scene in the first part of season five hinted wormholes might be more important than we’d thought. We saw Mr Clark rehash the same lesson on wormholes he led in season one. Erica helpfully reminds us of what a wormhole is. She explains: “Wormholes are neat because they allow matter to travel between galaxies or dimensions without crossing the space between.”
Thanks queen x
(Image via Netflix)
Was this random bit of trivia for our future benefit? (Probably.)
This theory would explain Dustin’s mysterious comments in the trailer for volume two. He says: “Everything we have ever assumed about the Upside Down has been dead wrong.” I reckon that if the Upside Down was one giant wormhole, Dustin would be sufficiently shocked.
Wait, what even is Dimension X?
All this discussion about Dimension X probably makes no sense if you’ve only watched the Netflix show. But in the stage show Stranger Things: The First Shadow, we learn about it. Dimension X is a creepy alternative realm, where the Mind Flayer originated. Henry/One/Vecna accidentally teleported there when he was a kid, and that’s how he developed all his creepy supernatural powers.
In the flashbacks in season four, El made a gateway to a strange yellow dimension, and sent Henry/One/Vecna flying through it.
Vecna falling into Dimension X (Image via Netflix)
So, maybe the Upside Down is another (much bigger) gateway there.
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Featured image credit: Netflix
