Henry Creel = Brenner ’ s Assistant = 001 = Vecna
The reason Vecna , like Eleven , can open gates is because Vecna was once Eleven ’ s “ sibling .” In a sensory deprivation tank hallucination , Eleven learns Vecna ’ s entire story — how he moved to Hawkins with his family , the Creels ; how he developed psychic powers and hatred for his sinning parents ; how he killed his family , leaving only Victor ( played in his young form by Ozark actor Kevin L . Johnson and in his old , grizzled form by horror icon Robert Englund ); how he was then adopted by Brenner as 001 and trained ; how Brenner couldn ’ t control him and so chipped him , taking away his powers ; how he manipulated Eleven to remove the chip ; and how he then proceeded to kill everyone in the lab . Then Eleven — who in this future moment discovers that she in fact does not have the blood of her siblings on her hands — defeats Henry Creel , sending him to the Upside Down where he gets blasted by lightening and burnt to a crisp and , thus , becomes Vecna . That was 1979 . ( Unless she blasted him forward to 1986 ? Or does every gate lead to 1983 ? It ’ s all still unclear .)
So why is Vecna only now trying to re-open the gates ? What ’ s he up to ? As 001 , he explained to Eleven that he despised all forms of order and control . He also seems to have a vague anger at the hypocrisy of humans , and a desire for cosmic retribution . So , he ’ s opening the gate in order to make teenagers pay for their sins ?
It is , admittedly , kind of convoluted at this point .
But it does set up an inevitable rematch between Eleven and 001 , which brings us to the final insight of episode 7 ...
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