Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1: Does Will have powers like Vecna and Eleven? His transformation, explained

*Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1. Readers' discretion is advised.*

Now that the end credits have rolled on Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1, Will Byers is not just the meek teen boy who was taken to the Upside Down in the Fall of 1983 from Hawkins, he is Will the 'Sorcerer'.

Eager Stranger Things fans, who have already binged Volume 1 of the final season, witnessed Will's jaw-dropping transformation in the final moments, when he stood up for his friends and controlled the demogorgons with his newly realized psychic powers. When three of his friends are ambushed by demogorgons, Will channels his powers and controls them using his mind powers and hand gestures.

This shocking twist invites a natural intrigue: Does Will have powers like Eleven and Vecna? The answer is no. Will does not have psychic powers but he was able to control the Demogorgons psionically because of his connection to Vecna and his hive mind.

In an interview with Netflix's Tudum, the Duffer Brothers explained this reveal from Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1 as:

‘What if Will were able to harness this connection and use it against our villains? If anyone [was] going to be the key to ending Vecna, it needed to be Will.”

More on Will's transformation in Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1 in our story.

Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1: Will realized his connection to Vecna

While our Hawkins gang split into groups and planned on taking Vecna from all sides, he opened multiple portals and unleashed demogorgons on Lucas, Mike and Robin in the Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1 finale. With Eleven and her psychic powers in the Upside Down, it looked like our protagonists would lose this fight. However, in the final moments, Will channeled his sorcerer's powers and controlled three demogorgons through his mind, saving Lucas, Mike and Robin all at once.

While Will does not have psychic powers like Eleven and Vecna, he was able to control the demogorgons through his connection with Vecna and his hive mind. Throughout Volume 1, Will had visions of Vecna's targets, including Holly and one of her classmates, Derek. As one of Vecna's first victims, he developed a connection to his hive mind and felt his emotions and actions. While he thought it was a weakness, he used it against Vecna in Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1.

In the Volume 1 finale, Vecna finally makes an appearance in the real world to lay out his master plan to Will. Vecna explains how Will became his first vessel and opened a door of possibilities for him. Now, he plans to take 12 children from this world and refashion it according to his liking. Like Will, these children will become his future vessels because they can be easily controlled. While Vecna managed to take the children to the Upside Down, Will realized that his connection to the hive mind also gives him the power to control demogorgons.

How did Will realize his powers in Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1?

Throughout Stranger Things, Will has long been seen as fragile, a character sidelined and stripped of a real voice. His awkward demeanour and weakness likely made him a perfect first vessel for Vecna (back in 1983) and the character has been plagued by that traumatic experience ever since.

While Stranger Things Season 4 teased Will's one-sided feelings for his friend Mike, he was likely not ready to accept his sexuality. However, after he sees Robin and her girlfriend making out in the hospital, he starts to explore his feelings. The former Scoops Ahoy employee even gave some good advice to Will and motivated him to 'find himself.'

In the final moments of Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1, Will finally has an epiphany when he leans back on his happy memories with Mike from their childhood and at Castle Byers. Robin's words, from their earlier conversation, ring in his head:

''I was looking for the answers in somebody else, but, I had all the answers.''

This is the moment when Will accepts himself and his feelings for Mike, which led to his transformation. It is only after Will accepts who he is that he unleashes this new power, which was always within him. The younger Byers was just not strong enough to understand them.

Now that the sci-fi saga has shifted gears and introduced a new superhero in town, the world will see Will Byers in action. While his 'sorcerer' powers were just a tease for now, Stranger Things Season 5 will further explore them in Parts 2 and 3.

Tune in to Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 on December 25 on Netflix.

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