What Is the Upside Down? STRANGER THINGS 5, VOLUME 2 Finally Explains All

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This article reveals major plot details from the second part of Stranger Things Season 5, including the full explanation of the Upside Down. If you haven’t watched it and want to avoid spoilers, please don’t read further! Check out our spoiler-free review instead.

What Is the Upside Down? We Learn The Upside Down Is Actually a Wormhole on Stranger Things

“This whole time, everything we have ever assumed about the Upside Down has been dead wrong.”

This revelation applies to both the characters in Hawkins and the show’s audience. In the final part of Stranger Things season 5, Dustin discovers the true nature of the Upside Down. It’s not another dimension or world, but rather a wormhole – a connection between two points in time and space. One end of this wormhole leads to our world, while the other leads to the original home of creatures like the demogorgons and the Mind Flayer. Years before the events of the show, Eleven banished One to this place, previously known as Dimension X, but now called the Abyss by Dustin – a realm beyond the Upside Down itself.

How Was the Upside Down Created on Stranger Things?

In the world of Stranger Things, the Upside Down didn’t exist until November 6, 1983 – the day Will Byers disappeared. On that night, Eleven accidentally connected with another dimension while searching for Henry Creel (a task Dr. Martin Brenner had unknowingly assigned her). This connection, created when her mind reached that other place, opened a gateway between our world and what would become known as the Abyss. Dustin, inspired by a location in their Dungeons & Dragons game, gave it that name, describing the realm as a place of “pure chaos and evil.” Interestingly, the Stranger Things stage play, The First Shadow, originally referred to this dimension as Dimension X.

Vecna Has Used The Upside Down to Travel Between the Abyss and The Real World

Okay, so digging into Stranger Things 4, I was really struck by the revelation about the Upside Down. It turns out that moment Eleven first created it is essentially frozen in time – a pretty unsettling thought! What’s even more fascinating is that the Upside Down isn’t just a copy of our world, but a twisted blend of our reality and this other, darker dimension they call the Abyss. Vecna, and all his creepy creatures – the Demogorgons, Mind Flayer, and the rest – have been using this place as a backdoor to get into our world. And that’s not just a plot device; it’s why Vecna was able to stay hidden from Eleven and Hopper after season four. He retreated back to the Abyss to recover, and it’s a place where even Eleven’s powers can’t reach him. It’s a brilliant explanation for how he’s managed to survive and rebuild.

The Upside Down Is an Unstable Wormhole That Could Easily Collapse on Stranger Things

The Upside Down is a very fragile dimension. It likely would have completely collapsed if someone hadn’t acted quickly after Eleven opened the gate. Dr. Brenner managed to keep it from falling apart by using a special energy source to strengthen its boundaries following the events of the first season of Stranger Things. While Eleven created the initial connection, Dr. Brenner is the reason the gate remained open for as long as it did on the show. Basically, science saved the day!

Dr. Brenner kept this information from everyone. In the final episode of Stranger Things 5, when Nancy fired at the strange material Brenner was working with in the Upside Down version of the lab, she almost collapsed the entire connection between worlds. The Upside Down barely held together, even as a massive hole formed, pulling Steve’s car and other objects into a void. Essentially, beyond the Upside Down is nothingness—a place of complete oblivion.

What Happens if the Upside Down Collapses and the Wormhole Is Destroyed on Stranger Things?

If the connection between our world and the Upside Down breaks, everything within it will be destroyed. Although the Upside Down is a frightening and dangerous place, it’s still necessary for the story of Stranger Things because Vecna hasn’t been defeated yet. The characters need the portal to reach Vecna, so the Upside Down needs to remain stable. Essentially, it’s a barrier between life and oblivion, and it was being maintained by science until Nancy disrupted its power source. Hopefully, it holds together long enough for Vecna to be defeated.

Hawkins’ group currently needs the Upside Down as a way to travel, but they don’t want it to exist permanently. They plan to destroy it completely after (hopefully) defeating Vecna and rescuing the twelve children he’s captured. This is the only way to prevent monsters from ever returning to our world. Kali believes one more sacrifice is necessary to break the cycle of danger: she and Eleven must stay behind in the Upside Down when it’s destroyed, effectively ending Eleven’s ability to open portals.

Stranger Things 5 Successfully Explained the Upside Down to Us

The latest episodes of Stranger Things 5 completely changed our understanding of the Upside Down. While it revealed everything we previously believed was incorrect, it finally explained the truth in a clear way. Knowing what the Upside Down actually is makes it clear why it needs to be eliminated – it’s not just another dimension, but a dangerous connection to something far worse.

The final season of Stranger Things is now available on Netflix. Volumes 1 and 2 are streaming now, and the concluding part, titled either Volume 3 or Stranger Things 5: The Finale, will be released on December 31st at 5 PM Pacific Time / 8 PM Eastern Time.

Mikey Walsh writes for TopMob and prefers to avoid hills. You can find him on Bluesky at @burgermike, and he’s always interested in discussions about ranking the Targaryen kings.

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2025-12-26 09:04