🔗 Share this article

During the bulk of the concluding season of the popular Netflix show, the young Holly Wheeler and Max are held captive inside a mental fortress built from the memories of Henry Creel. Their quest for an escape route in episode 6 leads them to experience a traumatic incident from Henry's childhood—a discovery that potentially carries the secret to his downfall once and for all.

Editor's Note: This article contains major spoilers for the second part of the final season.

The Discovery in the Tunnel

When she finds Max in the mental landscape known as Camazotz, it becomes clear she is hiding out in a grotto that Henry avoids at all costs. An accidental discovery a viewing device found in Henry's old home helps Holly understand that the true terror lies not within the cave. By aligning her view to the cut-out, she and Max tumble into a subterranean passage.

There, they witness a child version of Henry find an man who is hurt and scared. Attempting assistance, the man panics and shoots, striking Henry in the hand. To protect himself, Henry strikes the man down with a rock. "Did this make Henry evil?" Holly questions through tears. Essentially, yes, but the trauma went deeper than a fight for life.

In keeping with mysteries this season, the full story behind the mine shaft incident was first explored the stage play the prequel play.

An Interdimensional Incident and Secret Science

*The First Shadow* opens with the legendary naval test, which reportedly teleported a warship into a plane dubbed the Abyss. Demogorgons assaulted it, and the sole survivor was the captain, who came back in a vegetative state with an entirely new blood.

That survivor's offspring, the future Dr. Brenner, attempted to recreate this experiment in Nevada. But a disloyal lab worker took experimental components to sell to the Soviets, who were eager to begin their own interdimensional projects. That traitor in the mine shaft is that employee.

The Briefcase's Contents

Given what is known about Brenner's work, the briefcase would assuredly have some of Captain Brenner's infected blood. In the scene, Henry is already bleeding. Exposure likely occurred upon contact with the blood, leading to the development of his psychic abilities—powers he would inadvertently transfer to the children in Hawkins Lab.

Alternatively, the box could have held strange particles that later made its way to the secret facility, where it helps stabilize the mirror dimension. *The First Shadow* reveals that Henry somehow wound up in the Abyss, reappearing hours later fundamentally changed. As a youth, he fights the whispers of a sinister presence, much like how the character Will was controlled by the entity in an earlier season.

Confronting Terror

The reason Henry avoids the cave linked to that memory demonstrates how utterly horrifying the incident was for him. While he controls the collective consciousness and attempts to pull the Abyss into Hawkins, a part of him remains. Vecna uses fear, and the show is setting up a final confrontation between Vecna and Will, who has deliberately faced his own deepest fears to become stronger.

Will's growth has neutralized a key tactic of Vecna. Crucially, Will now is aware of what Vecna himself fears, which could provide a critical advantage in the ultimate battle that awaits.