Stranger Things fans have once again focused on continuity errors, this time in the recently released first volume of the series’ fifth and final season.
Viewers quickly noticed a discrepancy regarding Will Byers’ childhood memory in episode 4, Wizard.
In the scene, Will (Noah Schnapp) flashes back to a clear, sunny day when he and his brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) built Castle Byers. But the moment doesn’t match how Jonathan described that day in Season 2. The mind flayer.
At the time, Jonathan said: “We stayed up all night building Castle Byers…exactly the way you drew it. And it took so long because you were so bad at hammering. You missed the nail every time.” He also recalled that it started raining and they both got sick but refused to stop.
“We just had to finish it, didn’t we? We just had to finish it.”
Fans have pointed out that the two versions of events don’t match, although some note that the difference could be attributed to how trauma distorts memory, especially since it happened shortly after their father left.
The flashback isn’t the only continuity slip viewers have detected. In episode 6, The Turnbow TrapJoyce (Winona Ryder) says Will was 11 when he was taken to the Upside Down, despite missing posters stating he was 12.
This echoes a previous oversight from Season 4, when the show failed to acknowledge Will’s birthday. At the time, creators Matt and Ross Duffer admitted the mistake, telling Variety“It was obviously a mistake, and we’re sorry. We apologize to the fans.”
They joked about the possibility of doing a “George Lucas” fix in the future, although that didn’t happen.
Volume 2 of the final season arrives on December 25.
