One of the lingering questions Stranger Things fans having coming out of the Season 5 finale relates to the series’ famous monsters, the demogorgons. Or, perhaps put more accurately, the lack of them.

It felt like a punishing endurance test, coming to a head countless times … and yet it’s not over. Where the Upside Down is concerned, it’s never over

After building up momentum in Volume 1, Stranger Things Season 5 came to a screeching halt in Volume 2. The second part of the final season of Netflix’s mega-hit sci-fi series spent far too much time stalling the action with grueling, cheesy heart-to-hearts, riddled with awkward dialogue, all nuance and subtext be damned.

Stranger Things Season 5 made some big retcons to the series lore up until that point. We break down the biggest ones.

The story continues, and this hint is dropped at the beginning of Season 5 Episode 5, where Joyce is talking to Will. She now assures him that she believes him, and now she wants him to use his newfound abilities that cracked open the demogorgons' bones in Season 5 Episode 4 to use against Vecna.