Another Stranger Things Day has come and gone. While fans were hopeful that this year we’d get a teaser trailer for the fifth season of the Netflix show, that wasn’t the case. But we did learn a few more things about the final season, like the fact that we’re getting eight episodes this year (one less than Season 4, which totaled nine between the two volumes) and the titles for each of them. Like in past seasons, the titles are vague enough not to give anything away, but I’ve got some fun theories about what I think we can expect from them.
The official social media accounts for Netflix’s best show shared the information in a fun video set to the title sequence and even reminded fans that this would be our last trip to Hawkins, Indiana. Just in case you’re too busy to watch the short video, here are the titles in order:
- Episode 1: “The Crawl”
- Episode 2: “The Vanishing Of ____”
- Episode 3: “The Turnbow Trap”
- Episode 4: “Sorcerer”
- Episode 5: “Shock Jock”
- Episode 6: “Escape From Camazotz”
- Episode 7: “The Bridge”
- Episode 8: “The Rightside Up”
We already knew the title of Episode 1 since it was unveiled last year’s Stranger Things Day, along with a teaser of the first scene. Some of the other titles have been circulating online from various gossip accounts in the fandom. Still, now that they’ve been confirmed, I can finally put my theories out there.
Could Holly Wheeler Be The One Who Vanishes In Episode 2 Because Of Vecna?
Holly Wheeler hasn’t played a critical role in any of the previous four seasons of Stranger Things, given her age. And yet, production recast the role for Season 5 with Nell Fisher (Evil Dead Rise). With the other two Wheeler kids deeply entrenched in the antics of the Upside Down, it only seems fitting that Holly also finds herself pulled in. And what better way to be pulled in than to go missing, just like Will did in the very first season?
Think about it: it doesn’t make sense for any of the main characters of Stranger Things to spend the entire of Season 5 stuck in the Upside Down. But it also doesn’t make sense for some random character to go missing, either. Holly is the perfect character because it’ll create real stakes for the kids to find her quickly. It might even lead to emotional sibling scenes between Mike and Nancy which we haven’t got much of in recent seasons.
Not to mention, Nancy did mention that the villain Vecna showed her a vision of his monsters coming for the entire Wheeler family. Maybe this is step one of his evil plan.
Episode 4 Is Going To Be All About Will
Last summer, the Duffer Brothers basically confirmed that Season 5 is going to be Will Byers's season. His disappearance was the catalyst for the show, and it's only fitting that he plays a major role in the hopeful destruction of Vecna and The Upside Down once and for all. We also know that Will’s character of choice when playing Dungeons and Dragons is a Wizard, which led to the nickname Will the Wise.
Wizards and Sorcerers aren’t exactly the same thing, but I think they share enough overlap that it would make sense for Episode 4: "The Sorcerer" to be a heavily Will-centered episode. Add that with the fact that yesterday’s Stranger Things Day festivities included Noah Schnapp saying goodbye to the iconic Castle Byers fort, and well, it’s clear we’re going to get a Will episode, and of all the titles, this one fits.
What Or Who Is Camazotz, And What Could It Mean For Episode 6
While most of the Stranger Things Season 5 titles are vague but straightforward, Episode 6’s “Escape From Camaztoz” gave me pause. A quick Google search of the world led me to an article about an anthropomorphic leaf-nosed bat that played a role in sacrificial rituals in Mayan culture.
Naturally, my mind started spinning, and I immediately thought of Eddie Munson, who fans have been claiming isn’t actually dead since Season 4 Volume 2 ended. One popular fan theory is that Eddie would come back in Season 5 as Kas the Bloody-Handed, a Dungeons and Dragons character who serves as Vecna’s right-hand man until he turns on him. It made a lot of sense, but so far, there have been no hints of the Vampire-like character appearing in the series.
However, this “Camaztoz” figure would also work as a way for Eddie to return. After all, he was killed by Demobats and presumably left in the Upside Down after the gang escaped through the gates. What better way for him to return than as an anthropomorphic bat alongside Vecna’s legion of demogorgons and demobats?
“Camaztoz” isn’t just some ancient Mayan bat, though; it’s also the name of the planet in A Wrinkle in Time that IT, the book’s brain-shaped antagonist, lives and rules over by controlling everyone on the planet. Given that the Stranger Things writers tweeted a photo of The Newbery Award-winning Classic novel back in April 2023, this might be the likely connection for Season 5.
I don’t think the characters will suddenly travel to a fictional planet, though stranger things have definitely happened. It’s more likely that this episode will tie into Vecna and his mind control. More specifically, I think Episode 6 could be the one where Max wakes up from her coma after finally escaping Vecna’s mind control.
After all, we know Max will appear in Season 5 in some capacity thanks to behind-the-scenes photos the Duffer Brothers have shared. It would make sense for her to awaken in a dramatic fashion, and historically, episode 6 is a high-stakes episode.
In addition to the official episode count and titles, the teaser video also confirmed when the fifth and final season will take place: the fall of 1987. It was a slight jump into the future but not as drastic as some fans had predicted. And while the video didn’t give us a direct release date, we do know that it’ll appear on the 2025 TV schedule at some point.
Until then, you can stream the first four seasons of Stranger Things now with an active Netflix subscription.
