The second volume of the fifth season of the popular Netflix series "Stranger Things" has finally revealed one of the season's biggest mysteries — where the main villain Vecna disappeared to along with the kidnapped children, including Holly Wheeler.

For a month, viewers wondered where exactly the antagonist was hiding after the events of the fourth episode "The Sorcerer". As it turned out, the heroes were wrong to look for the children in the Upside Down — they ended up in a completely different location.

The Abyss — A New Dimension of Horror

According to Dustin, the children are actually in a place he called "The Abyss" — a completely different world that connects to Hawkins through the Upside Down as a kind of bridge. This is where the Mind Flayer, demogorgons, and other monsters come from.

In the seventh episode "The Bridge", Holly manages to briefly escape from Vecna's lair and penetrate through a portal back into the Upside Down, but the villain quickly brings her back to him.

Vecna's Grand Plan Revealed

Thanks to Will's ability to connect to the hive mind, viewers finally learn about Vecna's true intentions. The main antagonist uses the kidnapped children to give them supernatural abilities similar to Will's, and then plans to amplify these powers.

Under the guise of Mr. Something-or-other, Vecna explains to the children that they will work together, using their "hidden abilities" to "push out the darkness". In reality, the children become the very darkness that is meant to push out the light — the heroes from Hawkins and the real world.

Critics Note the Complexity of the Plot

Reviewers note that the series has become so convoluted due to mythology accumulated over nearly a decade that about 40% of screen time is spent explaining what's happening. In one episode, Maya Hawke's character is forced to stop the action and very slowly, with props, explain the plot, "as if talking to children".

Despite the complexity, critics acknowledge that the series is "stunning frame by frame" thanks to well-staged action scenes, effective nostalgia, and emotions "no less than operatic level".

The final episode of the fifth season of "Stranger Things" will be released on December 31 and is expected to resolve the fates of 17 characters while simultaneously concluding the battle with Vecna and saving the world.