"Vecna seems to be actually intrigued by Nancy being able to figure him out, to be able to get this close to the truth... I think this is more Vecna's narcissistic traits that pull him to Nancy, why he wants to give her this information."
She narrowly evaded death each time, but it could eventually catch up to her. By targeting Nancy, Vecna would demonstrate that he's more frightening, intelligent and powerful than anyone initially assumed. She's easily the character who knows the most about him and understands fragments of how his mind works.
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.
Nancy later led the team back into the Upside Down with the purpose of killing Vecna as Max, Lucas, and Erica lured him in, and Nancy, Robin, and Steve managed to burn Vecna, with Nancy shooting him several times, and though they weakened the creature, he's still alive.
Instead of escaping Vecna's Mind Lair by hearing her favorite song, Nancy is actually released by Vecna himself. Her freedom comes with a price: He gives her a vision of his plans for Hawkins and tells her to pass that message on to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).
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).
She Doesn't Have a Great Aim
After the Hawkins team develops a plan to defeat Vecna, Nancy is in charge to blow his head up with a shotgun. However, either she didn't have a great aim or she was trying to play it safe because she didn't hit him in the face even once, and that may be the reason why Vecna is still alive.
The new season has presented viewers with a new antagonist that has the characters fearful for the fate of Hawkins – and their lives. Dustin (played by Gaten Matarazzo) named the villain Vecna after noticing similarities between his powers and those of a character in the game Dungeons and Dragons.
One explanation for why time in the Upside Down is frozen, rather than flowing ahead to 1986 like in the real world, could be the impact of Eleven opening that first gate. The outburst of power she used and the deep emotions that were running through her were enough to shock the Upside Down into time standing still.
However, Nancy is freed by Vecna within the first five minutes of volume 2, with instructions for her to tell Eleven what he has planned for Hawkins. Nancy wakes up to see Steve and is never affected by the curse again, despite Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) escaping Vecna only to again be attacked by him later on.
I saw a means to realize my potential, to transcend my human form, to become the predator I was always born to be. Vecna reached out to the Mind Flayer, seemingly using his powers to reshape it into the spider-legged monster he had doodled as a child.
Instead of fleeing again, as he did in previous instances of danger, this time Eddie stands his ground and fights. It's his last heroic act. Though Eddie manages to occupy the Demobats until the battle is over, he succumbs to his wounds. He dies in Dustin's arms in the Upside Down, and his body is never recovered.
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.
Inside Vecna's realm, he preyed on Nancy's guilt over Barb's death. But Nancy didn't only see horrifying images from her past — she also saw glimpses of Vecna's past, which is how she learned he's Henry Creel.
At the end of Stranger Things season 4, volume 1, Vecna reveals his true identity only to Nancy, but the reason for him doing so remains unclear.
However, within the red smoke of Vecna's Mind Lair, it wasn't the song itself that saved her, but the memories it conjured up. What broke through to Max was the happy, loving memories of her friends, particularly Lucas and Eleven, and these were what truly allowed her to break free of Vecna's grasp and escape.
Millie Bobby Brown spoke about this in an interview with Variety in 2022. When the actress was asked if the Duffer Brothers explained that Eleven creates the Upside Down when she interacts with 001, she said, "They did tell me. She does. She opens the rift."
Then, the origins of the hive mind became clear. Volume 2 brought the revelation that Vecna was actually in charge of the Upside Down and had been since Eleven banished him there in 1979.
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.
The episode then cuts to Vecna in 1980s Upside Down, zooming in on his arm, where a tentacle slides away to uncover 001 tattooed on his wrist. So Vecna is 001, who is also Victor Creel's son.
He's the infamous Number One, but had his powers blocked and worked as an aide in the Hawkins National Lab. He befriended Eleven at the lab and not knowing Vecna was evil, Eleven restored his powers resulting in the massacre and his expulsion to the Upside Down.
Wheeler is Vecna's sister are pretty slim. While it's possible on a theoretical level, it would just be a really weird plot twist, even for Stranger Things. However, it's still odd that Mrs. Wheeler was the only side character with a poster.
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.
The theory that Vecna is actually Billy Hargrove may come with an interesting twist, which suggests that Vecna isn't Billy per se, but rather a monster imitating Billy in order to torment Max and Stranger Things season 4's characters.