The opener for the final season of Stranger Things delves into the show’s longest-running mystery and rewrites its history. According to Screenrant, the first five minutes of the premiere take fans back to 1983, providing further insight into Will (played by Noah Schnapp (Hubie Halloween, The Peanuts Movie) and the terrifying truth behind his time in the Upside Down during the first season.

Reported by Screenrant, the premiere shows a flashback of a younger Will hiding in the charred remains of his beloved Castle Byers and singing. He then fought a valiant but futile fight with the demorgogran in which he was knocked unconscious and dragged to a distorted version of the Hawkins library. This is where the mystery is revealed when Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Camelot) arrived and was hunting him for a specific purpose. We then see him force down a tentacle in Will’s mouth and injecting an unknown substance, while murmuring,’ at long last, we can begin, you and i, we are going to do such beautiful things together, William’.

Stated by Screenrant, this scene goes on to explain that Will was not a random victim, but was intentionally captured and altered as part of Vecna’s master plan from the start. Furthermore, this explains Will’s psychic connection to the Upside Down and that he was possibly a key puppet/spy for the mindflayer and Vecna back in the second season. The final battle is upping the stakes with all of Hawkins in danger, and Will will be the key to either their salvation or destruction.

The upcoming final season will be split into three volumes with the first scheduled for November 26, volume two on December 25, and the finale on December 31. While fans await, all currents seasons of Stranger Things are available to stream on Netflix. Additionally, an animated series of the franchise is currently in works as well.