Stranger Things 5 volume 2 reveals how Will steals Vecna's powers and their limits

This post contains spoilers from Stranger Things 5 volume 2 from this point forward.

Going into Stranger Things 5, we knew that the final season was going to blow our minds, but when the final sequence of volume 1 hit, none of us could have expected the jaw-dropping moment that unfolded. Nothing could have prepared us for the revelation that Will has powers or could be used as a powerful tool in the battle to defeat Vecna. Seriously, we're still shocked!

Will saving all of his friends from being killed by demogorgons, using powers that are almost identical to Vecna's, was nothing short of an iconic moment for Stranger Things. We're used to seeing Eleven use her powers, but we haven't ever seen any of her Hawkins friends use supernatural abilities against forces from the Upside Down. But Will's powers aren't exactly like Eleven's.

After the reveal that Will had gained powers in Stranger Things season 5 episode 4, the Duffer Brothers shared some details about his abilities. However, Will himself shares the parameters of his powers, how he's able to even have powers in the first place, and what the limitations are for them that could impact their final battle. Let's get into the explanation!

How Will steals his powers from Vecna and the hive mind

Although it appears as though Will has fully come into his own Vecna-like powers in the volume 1 conclusion, his powers aren't innate like Eleven's. He can't access them whenever he wants like she can, or even Eight and Henry. In order for Will to harness the powers, he needs to be in the proximity of something that appears to be particularly important to the endgame moving forward.

As Will explains, he doesn't have powers. He's stealing them from Vecna, and in order to steal powers from Vecna, Will needs to be close to the hive mind. In season 5 episode 4, when Vecna came out of the portal to confront Will, he was able to tap into the hive mind and access Vecna's powers. While it would benefit the group for Will to have these powers all the time, they have limits.

In volume 2, the group theorized and experimented on ways that they could fabricate the hive mind for Will to tap into it, not only to have powers but to see through the perspective of others connected to the hive mind. They use one of the dead demogorgons and shock electricity into it for Will to access the hive mind from afar. That strategy works, but isn't especially sustainable.

If Will wants to be able to use his sorcerer powers in the series finale to help take down Vecna, he will need to be close to the hive mind and tap into it, which shouldn't be too big of an issue since the team has entered the Upside Down and is headed to the Abyss. There's no doubt that Will will be lucrative player in the final battle and work alongside Eleven with their combined powers.

What's unclear going into the series finale is whether the limits to Will's power will persist after they have killed Vecna. Let's say that they kill Vecna. Do Will's power's die with the dissolution of the hive mind, or will the powers be transferred to Will permanently? There are still so many questions left to be answered in the series finale of Stranger Things, coming to Netflix on New Year's Eve.

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