Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things 4 to follow.
Season four of Stranger Things finally wrapped up the other day, once again concluding a chapter of our heroes’ never-ending war against the Upside Down. Though the ending was a contentious point for some fans, it inarguably established the highest stakes that the Hawkins gang have ever encountered; the Upside Down’s merging with their hometown.
The merging occurred as a result of Vecna finally managing to kill Max, if only for ten minutes before Eleven intervened to stabilize her. Given the love that Sadie Sink’s character has garnered over the course of this season especially, one would think that her murder ranks high on the list of Vecna’s most loathed atrocities, but according to Reddit, the villain’s biggest crime is his hypocrisy.
A user on r/StrangerThings believed that Vecna’s hypocritical mindset was blatant to the point of satire, noting how he took a liking to the Upside Down for being “unspoiled by man,” immediately before he, a man, proceeded to spoil it.
Some users attributed Vecna’s inability to see the hypocrisy as a result of believing that he’s above other humans, even comparing his psychology to that of real-world serial killers Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy.
Another user added to Vecna’s list of hypocritical offenses by pointing out the demographic that he targets; children. We found out earlier in the show that Vecna despised adults for creating the rules of this world but then goes on to attack people who suffer from those very same rules.
His hypocrisy may be frustrating, but Vecna’s list of transgressions goes far beyond that, with “world-ending aspirations” perhaps ranking near the top. We may be waiting a while to see if his plans are ultimately foiled or not, but in the meantime, you can watch the climax of the gang’s first meeting with Vecna now that the final episodes of season four of Stranger Things are available to stream on Netflix.
