Barb sits outside near the pool and the Demogorgon grabs her, and before she knows it, in episode 3 "Holly, Jolly," she's in the Upside Down. The Demogorgon then kills her brutally.
Using past traumas to break down his victims, Vecna brought Nancy to the pool where Barb was killed by the Demogorgon and revealed her mangled corpse. Vecna then taunted Nancy with her own feelings of guilt - that she was responsible for Barb's death and had forgotten about her.
The Demogorgon Tried (& Failed) To Use Barb
The slugs, the theory claimed, were a side-effect of the Mind Flayer's powers and possession – a moment that would eventually have an in-show explanation and provided more of the nightmare-inducing imagery that makes Stranger Things great.
She wound up injuring her hand while trying to shotgun a beer. While Barb was off tending to her wound, nobody seemed to care about her wellbeing. Even the usually loyal Nancy brushed her off by telling her to go home. Instead, the Demogorgon targeted Barb as she sat alone by the Harringtons' pool.
Alone by the pool, Barb is abducted by the Demogorgon and disappears. Episode 3 finds Barb waking up in the Upside Down, where she is attacked by the Demogorgon.
Vecna's first big credited kill was Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien). He followed that murder with canonically terrible driver Fred Benson (Logan Riley Bruner) and basketball star Patrick McKinney (Myles Truitt). But wait, there's more.
In episode 7, Vecna is revealed to be Henry Creel (played as a youngster by Raphael Luce), the son of Victor Creel (Robert Englund) and his wife Virginia (Tyner Rushing) shown in the 1950s flashbacks.
Nancy Cared About Steve More
Nancy chose to remain with Steve rather than accompanying Barb home, despite her friend having hurt herself. It could be argued that Nancy cared about her boyfriend more, as she disregarded the feelings of her friend. Barb promises to chaperone Nancy when they go to Steve's party.
Many fans didn't like how Nancy abandoned her best friend to hook up with Steve, which resulted in the Demogorgon ambushing and abducting her.
Purser also said that she didn't know that Barb would die at first. She explained, "there was this secrecy about Episode 7, which is the episode where [Chief Hopper] finds Barb's body.
The theory predicts that Vecna wants to regain his human form, and he will use Will to do so in Season 5. Knowing that Vecna singled out Will in Season 1, it's a reasonable theory, but it might go too far. After all, Vecna already has a human form, and he has vowed to eliminate humanity.
Sharing more about Eleven's real father Andrew Rich could be a great way to wrap up the story.
Trivia. The Demogorgon Dungeons & Dragons figure, used by Eleven to symbolize the Monster. The Demogorgon received its nickname from Eleven using the Demogorgon game piece from a Dungeons & Dragons set to show that Will was hiding from the creature in her vision of The Upside Down.
While intending to get his revenge on Eleven and Brenner, Vecna also goes after victims who have dealt with traumatizing experiences in the past (reminiscent of his childhood and his time at the Hawkins lab).
With this Vecna's soul turns to ash in front of Eleven. Max's dies in Lucas' arms, thus getting Vecna his fourth kill.
At his empire's height, Vecna was betrayed and destroyed by his most trusted lieutenant, a vampire called Kas the Bloody-Handed, using a magical sword that Vecna himself had crafted for him, now known as the Sword of Kas.
1. Is Nancy OK? Yes! Nancy (Natalia Dyer) is fine — at least, as fine as she can be after being traumatized by Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and almost strangled to death by his squelchy, squelchy tentacles. Instead of escaping Vecna's Mind Lair by hearing her favorite song, Nancy is actually released by Vecna himself.
As mentioned towards the end of Stranger Things season 4, Steve's breakup with Nancy definitely pushed him to change for the better. Gone were his toxic traits from the beginning of the show, and he has since matured emotionally, proving himself to be a more suitable partner for Nancy; possibly more than Jonathan.
When recounting what Vecna has shown her, Nancy specifically mentions a "giant creature with a gaping mouth," the implication of which can't be underestimated.
We meet Barb's parents
("I love KFC," says Steve. Of course he does.) It's clear that Nancy wants to tell Barb's parents that their daughter is dead, but she's sworn to secrecy by the shady government agency that caused her death.
Once they were up in his bedroom, Nancy asked Steve to give her some privacy which he proceeded to do so until Nancy changed her mind and undressed in front of him. They proceeded to have sex. They were unaware that Barb was being abducted by a ferocious monster. After having sex with Nancy, Steve fell fast asleep.
He went on to explain that the point of Barb's character was merely to illuminate how vulnerable everyone actually was to the Upside Down and the Demogorgon. Matarazzo continued: "That was what the character was, and I think that bringing her back would kind of defeat the purpose."
Next up, the viewers go on to theorise that One/Vecna is actually Eleven's dad. Yep, told you it was wild. The theory claims that Brenner wanted to create a child with stronger powers, so he waited until One was old enough to become a father.
Realizing he had tremendous psychic power, he haunted his family with visions before ultimately killing most of them. His father was framed for the murders and locked away in a mental hospital as a disturbed serial killer. Henry then found himself in the care of Brenner, who decided he wanted more kids like the boy.
Eleven has a memory during this episode and realizes that 001/Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower) wants her to join him on his evil journey, and she banished him to the Upside Down. 001 then transformed into Vecna, the horrifying Stranger Things villain.