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Vecna's Mindscape, or the Mind Lair,[1] is a visual representation of Vecna's mind, a psychic terrain apparently created by Vecna sometime between 1979 and 1986. The domain was cloaked in scarlet light and populated with versions of the Upside Down's vines; a fragmented version of the Creel House lay at its center. Via his 'curse' power, Vecna could make other conscious beings hallucinate and bring them into the mindscape. One embodiment of the Mind Flayer described the mindscape as "the hive mind's central command".[2]

On March 24, 1986, Max Mayfield entered the mindscape while afflicted with Vecna's curse, but managed to break out of the hallucination and escape to reality. On March 26, Nancy Wheeler was put into a trance by Vecna while trying to escape the Upside Down, she entered the mindscape and was terrorized by Vecna. The day after, the mindscape became a battleground in which Eleven and Vecna fought for the fate of Max, Hawkins and the world beyond.

History[]

1950s-1980s[]

At some point during the 1950s, a young Henry Creel was accidentally transported to Dimension X, where he was exposed to the influence of a shadowy entity, gaining special psychokinetic abilities in the process. These abilities allowed Henry access a void-like mental space which he called "the battlefield".

However, at an unknown stage in Henry's life after Dr. Brenner took him to live at Hawkins Lab, Henry's mental Void or "battlefield" appeared to be replaced by the "Mind Lair", with the battlefield possibly transforming to become the Mind Lair.[3][2]

1986 or earlier[]

S04E02 Vecna

Vecna in the attic

At some point, Vecna traveled to the Upside Down's version of the Creel House; in the attic, he could attach to vines connecting to various points in his back, lifting him into the air. When connected to the vines, Vecna entered a kind of meditative state through which he could access the Mind Lair.[4]

1986[]

Vecna, while immersed in his meditative state on March 23, 1986, psychically scoured Hawkins in search of new victims; he saw apparitions of Hawkins residents pop in and out across a version of his mindscape. Later that same day, Max Mayfield realised she was afflicted with Vecna's curse, and that Vecna would soon attempt to kill her.[5]

Max enters the Mindscape

Max enters the Mindscape

The next day, Max and her friends went to Roane Hill Cemetery, where Max read out a written farewell at the grave of her stepbrother, Billy Hargrove, believing she was doomed to join Billy in death. Upon finishing her read-out, Vecna's hallucinations kicked in once again; the world went dark, and Billy appeared from the shadows to torment Max. However, Max realized that this Billy was only an illusion; it was truly Vecna that lurked beneath. Max retreated from the cemetery, running towards a scarlet haze in the distance; suddenly, she found herself in the surreal expanses of Vecna's mind: a blood-red psychic terrain, with a fractured version of the Creel House at its center. At the fractured house, Vecna appeared to Max once again, pinning her to a pillar using vines; the death ritual was about to begin.[6]

Max levitating

Max rises above Billy's headstone

Vecna watches Max escape

Vecna watches as Max runs to the real world, to safety

Back in the real world, Max's friends panicked, trying to wake her from her trance. Dustin contacted Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley over his Supercom, who shared a theory that music could save Max. The group raced to play Max's favorite song over her Walkman and headphones, before watching in horror as she started to levitate above Billy's grave. Back inside Vecna's mindscape, Max's consciousness struggled to resist against Vecna, but upon hearing music, a mental window to reality appeared on the terrain's horizon. Through the window, Max saw her real body levitating above the cemetery, her friends panicking on the ground below. Bracing herself, Max pulled at a vine in Vecna's neck, causing him to writhe in pain and accidentally release her from the vines' grasp. As Max dashed towards the window, a disgruntled Vecna regained his composure. He sent fragments of the house flying at Max in a last-ditch attempt to stop her, but it was too late: she had returned to reality.[6]

Mind Lair S4E7 3

Nancy sees the Mind Lair's floating version of the Creel clock

A few days later, on March 26, Vecna decided to target Nancy Wheeler as she attempted to leave the Upside Down via the gate at Eddie's trailer. Momentarily falling through a black void, Nancy suddenly found herself at the bottom of an empty pool. She stood and re-oriented herself; she seemed to be back in the Upside Down, but to her horror, she saw the corpse of her long-deceased friend Barb lying against the pool wall. Climbing out of the pool, Nancy was now suddenly in Vecna's mindscape, standing atop the fractured Creel house. Nancy heard Vecna's voice resound all around her, taunting her. Nancy's surroundings transformed once again, and she witnessed Henry's memories as a child exploring his new home in Hawkins; Vecna showed her how he discovered his powers, the truth behind his family's death, and how Dr. Brenner intervened and took him to Hawkins Lab.[7][8]

Vecna and Eleven at Snow Ball

Eleven fights Vecna inside Max's memory

The next day, Max made herself vulnerable to Vecna's influence as a part of a plan to attack Vecna, turning off her cassette player while inside the attic of the Creel house. With Lucas watching over her, she began hallucinating again, and Vecna stalked her through her mind once more. For a moment, Max hid in her memory of the 1984 Snow Ball at Hawkins Middle, but Vecna eventually broke through and cornered her. Vecna started the gate-death ritual, only to be interrupted by Eleven, who had found her way inside the same memory. Eleven and Vecna became engaged in conflict, using their powers to throw objects at each other. Vecna managed to incapacitate both Eleven and Max, taking them into his mindscape and using vines to bind them to the fractured house.[9]

Vecna taunts Eleven

Vecna taunts Eleven

Back in normal-world Hawkins, the teens' plans were derailed when Jason Carver arrived at the Creel house to investigate, distracting Lucas. Meanwhile, Vecna prepared to kill Max, attaching her unconscious mental avatar to a pillar with his vines. Eleven spoke up in a last-ditch attempt to save Max; she tried and failed to empathise with Henry, with Vecna quickly turning his attention back to Max, leaving Eleven in a state of despair. Moments later, she heard the voice of her boyfriend Mike break through from the real world. Mike, standing at Eleven's side as she floated in the makeshift isolation tank, encouraged her to keep fighting. Inspired to re-kindle her concentration, Eleven used her powers to slowly make the vines restraining her unravel.[9]

Vecna pushed back

Vecna is pushed away by Eleven

Back in the Creel attic, Lucas had ended up restrained and choked by Jason; unable to move, he watched in fear as Max started to rise above the floor. In a fit of rage, Lucas took Jason by surprise and smashed his face into a window, knocking him unconscious. Lucas turned back to face Max, but was horrified to watch as Vecna broke her limbs, one by one. Upon finally being released from the vines, Eleven unleashed her full power, pushing Vecna up against a pillar before he could finish killing Max, causing Max to drop from the air in reality.[9]

Nancy attacks Vecna

Nancy attacks

Meanwhile, Nancy, Steve and Robin reached the Upside Down's version of the attic. There, they finally witnessed Vecna in the flesh, his body eerily suspended above the floorboards. Steve threw a Molotov cocktail, setting Vecna ablaze; Robin then threw another, and Nancy shot at him with a shotgun. Instantly after being set on fire, the vines disconnected from his back, breaking Vecna's concentration and causing the mindscape to dissolve around Eleven. Vecna had no time to gather his bearings, and was too weakened to fight back. Nancy's last gunshot sent Vecna flying through the boarded window, his body crashing to the hard ground below. The trio rushed outside to make sure of his death, but found he had disappeared.[9]

Description[]

Max in the Mindscape 02

The pools of fluid

Vecna's mindscape was enveloped in distinctive crimson fog and mist. Thunder and lightning raged in the skies above, visually recalling the storms that accompanied the presence of the Mind Flayer. The ground consisted of hardened black sludge, and was pocketed with scattered pools and puddles of unknown fluid; black widows could occasionally be seen scuttling across the surface. Organic black structures with a spire-like appearance and versions of the Upside Down's vines were prevalent throughout the realm. A deconstructed and fragmented version of the Creel House lay at the realm's center.

Known visitors[]

Behind the scenes[]

The Stranger Things writers and production team have given the location various nicknames, including the "Mind Lair" and the "Mindscape". The location is not given a formal name within the narrative itself.

Concept artist Michael Maher, Jr. explored a wide range of designs for Vecna's Mind Lair. He received the following brief from the Duffer Brothers:

The brothers were keen on it being a forest mixed with shards of the house that appear in fragments. It’s the eerie, scary mind of a madman with broken memories.

Production designer Chris Trujillo and his team crafted the set for the fragmented version of the Creel House, which was later extended with VFX. Trujillo’s designs were inspired by German painter Caspar David Friedrich, whose bleak landscapes serve as a form of psychological “manifestation".[10]

Gallery[]

View Gallery For this subject's gallery, see Vecna's Mind Lair/Gallery.


Trivia[]

  • The Mind Lair shares a lot in common with the Void; the Mind Lair is a representation of Vecna's mind, while the Void is a representation of Eleven's. Vecna and Eleven's unique ability to craft and picture themselves in these mental locations seems to be tied up with their other psychokinetic abilities.
  • The Mind Lair is visually similar to the Hellscape and "Dimension X".
  • There are about as many VFX shots in the mind sequence of "Dear Billy" as in all of season 1.[4]

References

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