This suggests that the Upside Down in Stranger Things wasn't formed yet in 1979. That means the replication of Hawkins either occurred the day Eleven opened the gate in 1983, or Vecna used his powers to replicate Hawkins but stopped that day as his sights turned to Eleven.
Somehow, Eleven's moment of psychic contact with the Demogorgon also triggered a radical shift in the Upside Down's very nature. The realm transformed, from that point appearing as a perfect copy of the human world, frozen in the exact state as it existed on November 6, 1983.
A possible explanation for the Upside Down being stuck in 1983 could be that Eleven didn't actually create a gate when she blasted Vecna into the Upside Down in 1979. A gate implies two-way travel, but the crack in the wall in the Rainbow Room suggests it was more of a shove and less of an opening.
Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) figures out in part 1, season 4 of Stranger Things that when Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) disappeared on November 6th, 1983 and Eleven opened the Hawkins National Laboratory mothergate, the Upside Down became stuck in 1983.
The first known gate is the temporary one Eleven opened in 1979 that she sent Vecna through. Eleven opened the first permanent gate in 1983 after making physical contact with a Demogorgon/Vecna while in a deep psychic state.
We still don't know why Vecna waited seven years after being banished to the Upside Down before starting his murderous rampage.
The second discovery was that the Upside Down – previously thought to be a copy of the normal world where time ran in parallel – was stuck in the past. Specifically, time there had stopped moving forwards on November 6th 1983, the exact date that Will Byers went missing after Eleven opened a gate to the Upside Down.
The many-legged creature manipulates and controls people's minds, but Vecna may be even deadlier. Fans of Stranger Things claim that Vecna is stronger than the Mind Flayer. Some claim that Vecna, in fact, made the creature because he said in Season 4, “And I found the most extraordinary thing of all.
He was in the Upside Down, far out of reach of any regular human in Hawkins. But when Mike brought Eleven to his house, she saw a photo of Will and recognized him.
While the source of Vecna's powers is never explained, there are some Stranger Things hints leading to the theory that Hawkins had a big part in awakening them. Vecna is revealed in season 4 to be the base cause behind all of Hawkins' unfortunate happenings for the past three years.
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. There was a whole scene where he wandered the realm, saw various monsters and discovered the Mind Flayer.
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."
As implied above, the true story behind The Upside unfolded in Paris, not Manhattan like in the movie. How old was Philippe when the accident happened? Wealthy Corsican French businessman Philippe Pozzo di Borgo was 42 when he became a quadriplegic after a 1993 paragliding accident.
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.
Realizing something is amiss, Nancy locates her diary and sees that the last written entry was from November 6, 1983, the exact date that Will went missing. “I think the reason my guns aren't here is because they don't exist yet," says Nancy. “We're in the past.”
Joyce calls Karen Wheeler to ask if Will stayed the night, but Karen confirms Will left a little after 8:00 the night before.
We presumed that the Mind Flayer created Vecna to serve as his lieutenant, but the opposite is, in fact, true. Vecna, back when he was known as One, was actually the one who created the Mind Flayer.
We know Eleven was born in 1971, which means her mom got pregnant with her during the tests, sometime in 1970. A 1959 flashback in the mid-season 4 finale reveals a 12-year-old One (Jamie Campbell Bower). That puts One, a.k.a. Vecna, as 24 when Eleven was born.
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).
It seems that the reason why Vecna wasn't killing for the seven years after the Hawkins Lab massacre was because he was waiting to become more powerful as the Mind Flayer and Demogorgons took more victims, as he was likely weakened after being thrown into the dimension.
As the Duffer Brothers explained in an interview with Variety, the Massacre at Hawkins Lab was so traumatic for Eleven that she effectively blocked out all memories from 1979 and earlier. That's why her grammar was so limited again, and we saw in flashbacks that she had to be re-trained to use basic powers.
In season 4, Peter Ballard notes that Kali was no longer at the lab in 1979. Given Kali's powers, it seems pretty self-explanatory as to how she was able to escape the lab. She either made herself invisible or was able to escape after manipulating the minds and visions of the guards.
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.