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Throughout a large portion of the fifth and final season of the popular Netflix show, the young Holly Wheeler and Max are held captive within a psychic prison built from the recollections of Vecna. The search for an escape route in the pivotal sixth episode has them experience a life-altering moment from Henry's early years—an event that potentially carries the key to defeating him for good.

Heads Up: This discussion details significant events for *Stranger Things* season 5, volume 2.

A Journey Into the Tunnel

Upon meeting Max in the psychic realm known as Camazotz, it becomes clear she is hiding out in a grotto that Henry avoids at all costs. An accidental discovery a spyglass pilfered from Henry's old home allows Holly to realize that the source of fear lies outside of the cave. Matching her view with the shape, she and Max tumble into a deep mine shaft.

In this place, they observe a young, eight-year-old Henry come across an man who is hurt and scared. When Henry tries to help, the man reacts violently, wounding the boy in the hand. In a desperate act of self-defense, Henry kills the man with a rock. "Is this what corrupted him?" Holly asks tearfully. Essentially, yes, but the trauma involved more than a simple act of survival.

In keeping with mysteries of the final season, the full story behind the events in the tunnel is detailed in the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

The Philadelphia Experiment and A Spy's Mission

This backstory explains the infamous Philadelphia Experiment, which allegedly sent a vessel into a plane later called the Abyss. The ship was attacked, and the sole survivor was the captain, who came back in a vegetative state with an different blood composition.

The captain's son, a young Martin Brenner, wanted to repeat this phenomenon in Nevada. One of his scientists stole research materials to sell to the Russian agents, who were eager to begin their own interdimensional projects. This spy in the mine shaft is that employee.

So, What's in the Case?

Considering what is known about his research, the briefcase would assuredly have some of Captain Brenner's infected blood. In the scene, Henry is wounded and bleeding. He likely becomes contaminated upon handling the contents, which triggered the development of his psychic abilities—powers he would genetically impart to the test subjects Brenner would experiment on.

Another possibility, the case could have held dark matter that later made its way to Hawkins Laboratory, where it helps stabilize the mirror dimension. *The First Shadow* reveals that the boy somehow wound up in the Abyss, reappearing after half a day with a new blood type and personality. As a youth, he struggles with the control of a dark entity, reminiscent of how the character Will was influenced by the Mind Flayer in an earlier season.

Confronting Terror

Henry's enduring terror associated with the mine highlights how profoundly traumatic the event was for him. Even as he controls the collective consciousness and works to collapse the Abyss into Hawkins, a part of him still exists. Vecna uses fear, and the narrative points to a final confrontation between him and Will, who has deliberately faced his personal demons to gain strength.

This journey has taken a weapon from Vecna. Furthermore, Will now is aware of what Vecna himself fears, and this may grant a key upper hand in the endgame conflict ahead.