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During the bulk of season 5 of *Stranger Things*, the young Holly Wheeler and Max are held captive inside a mental fortress constructed from the past of Vecna. Their mission for freedom in episode 6 forces them to witness again a defining event from Henry's childhood—a discovery that potentially carries the secret to his downfall permanently.

Editor's Note: This article reveals crucial plot points for *Stranger Things* season 5, volume 2.

The Discovery in the Mine Shaft

When she finds Max in the psychic realm dubbed Camazotz, it becomes clear she is taking refuge in a cave that Henry strangely fears. By leaving the lens cap on a telescope found in Henry's old home lets Holly see that the source of fear lies not within the cave. When she lines up her view to the cut-out, she and Max suddenly fall into a subterranean passage.

In this place, they observe a young, eight-year-old Henry come across an injured and paranoid man. When Henry tries to help, the man reacts violently, hitting him in the hand. Fighting for his life, Henry strikes the man down with a rock. "Was this the turning point?" Holly wonders aloud. Essentially, yes, but the trauma went deeper than a fight for life.

In keeping with mysteries of the final season, the significance of the mine shaft incident is detailed in the live show The First Shadow.

The Philadelphia Experiment and Secret Science

The play reveals the 1943 event, which allegedly sent a warship into a dimension later called the Abyss. Demogorgons assaulted it, and the lone returnee was the captain, who returned in a vegetative state with an altered blood type.

The captain's son, a young Martin Brenner, attempted to recreate this phenomenon in the Nevada desert. One of his scientists stole research materials to hand over to the Russian agents, who were keen to start their own interdimensional projects. That traitor in the tunnel is that employee.

So, What's in the Case?

Based on what is understood of his research, the briefcase almost certainly contained vials of the unique blood type. In the scene, Henry is wounded and bleeding. He likely becomes contaminated upon opening the case, causing the awakening of his powers—traits he would genetically impart to the children Brenner would experiment on.

Alternatively, the container could have held strange particles that eventually found its way to the Hawkins lab, where it maintains the stability of the parallel world. The prequel shows that young Henry ended up in the Abyss, returning hours later as a different person. From then on, he battles the control of a dark entity, similar to how Will Byers was influenced by the entity in season 2.

The Power of Fear

The reason Henry avoids the cave associated with the mine shows how deeply scarring the event was for him. Even as he commands the army of monsters and seeks to merge the Abyss into Hawkins, a fragment of his psyche still exists. Vecna uses fear, and the show is setting up a climactic battle between him and Will, who has confronted his greatest terrors to gain strength.

This journey has effectively disarmed Vecna. Crucially, Will now understands what the monster's own weakness, which could provide a critical advantage in the endgame conflict ahead.