Does Will Byers from Stranger Things die?

"We're in the middle of a campaign!" This article or section is currently under construction, being reformatted, or undergoing a vast revision. Table of Contents Show Abduction by the Monster Trapped in the Upside Down 1983 - 1984 Visions of the Upside Down Possession by the Mind Flayer Defeating the Mind Flayer The Snow Ball Childhood Denied A Threat to the Mind Flayer Farewell & moving out of Hawkins Life in California Spring Break Return to Hawkins What happened to Will Byers in Stranger Things? Does Will Byers survive? Who is Will Byers boyfriend?

This page chronicles the history of William "Will" Byers, a major character in Stranger Things.

Background

Born May 22, 1971, Will is the son of Joyce and Lonnie Byers, and the younger brother of Jonathan Byers. As a child, Will was quite compassionate of others, giving a crying little girl in the sandbox at the playground his Tonka Truck, despite him knowing his mother couldn't afford to buy another one for him. He was also very sensitive, having nightmares from scary movies and his mother's impersonation of a witch when he was five. Will was extremely close to his mother and brother, but not to his father. Lonnie would say that he was queer due to Will's sensitivity and interests, while also calling him a 'fag'. Because of this, Jonathan became a much larger role model for him than their father. Around this time, Jonathan introduced Will to "real music", bestowing a mixtape that included the Clash song 'Should I Stay or Should I Go', a song Will became quite fond of. Ultimately, Joyce and Lonnie divorced, resulting in Lonnie moving out. Joyce, Jonathan, and Will remained at their home in Hawkins, Indiana, along with the family dog, Chester.

The day their father left, Jonathan and Will spend the rest of the day building a fort for Will called "Castle Byers". They followed Will's drawing of it as their blueprint. It took a long time to build due to Will's incapability to hammer the nails, missing every time. Despite rain beginning to fall, the brothers didn't care and proceeded to build the fort. They later had gotten sick for a week afterward.

Will and Jonathan listen to a mixtape.

Around 1976, Will started kindergarten, attending the same class with Mike Wheeler. Mike didn't know anyone and was lonely until he noticed Will alone on the swings. Mike walked up to him and asked if he wanted to be his friend, to which Will agreed. He eventually met Lucas Sinclair, due to him living close to Mike.

In March of 1979 was also when Will celebrated his 8th birthday. Though he received many Star Wars toys from his friends, he was especially happy to be given a 120 crayon set by his mother. He used every crayon in the box and eventually drew a large, original spaceship he called a "Rainbow Ship". Joyce took it with her to her job at Melvald's, proudly proclaiming that her son drew it to everyone who came into the store, much to Will's embarrassment. In fourth grade, around 1980, Dustin moved into the neighborhood and soon joined the friend group.

Will and his friends would often gather at Mike's house to play Dungeons & Dragons; this hobby was developed as early as 1979. On one occasion while playing the game, the party had escaped into the sewers, where there were insects. The group was still on Level One. Will cast Fog Cloud and saved the whole party. The four boys had a great relationship with their science teacher Mr. Clarke, and they were members of the AV Club he ran. They would take part in the annual science fair, winning first place almost every year. On one occasion when the boys biked together, Will fell off his bike and broke his finger and cried. In 1982, Joyce brought him tickets to see the horror film The Poltergeist after changing her mind to let him see it.

1983

Abduction by the Monster

November 6

Will and Dustin race home

On the evening of November 6, Will, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas played Dungeons & Dragons in Mike's basement. Mike, acting as Dungeon Master, summoned a Demogorgon, which ultimately defeated Will's character. While they looked for missing dice, Mike's mother insisted it was time for Mike's friends to leave. Will rode his bike home alongside Lucas and Dustin. Lucas turned down another street while Dustin and Will continued riding forward. Dustin suggested that the two race, and the winner would win a comic. Will took off ahead of Dustin and shouted that he wanted his X-Men #134.

While riding on Mirkwood, Will noticed his the light on his bike going out. When it came back, Will was frightened by the sight of a humanoid monster crossing his path. Panicking, he rode his bike off the road and crashed to the ground. He rushed to his house looking for his family, but there was no one home. When he rushed to the phone to call for help, he saw the front door being telekinetically unlocked by an invisible force. This caused Will to retreat where he ran to the shed and loaded a rifle to protect himself, but was stunned when the Demogorgon appeared behind him. The light bulb of the shed glowed brightly before Will decided to shoot the Demogorgon. But as he did, he vanished into an alternate dimension with the Monster.[1]

Trapped in the Upside Down

November 6-12

After figuring out that the Demogorgon was still alive, Will attempted to find his brother and mother. On returning to his home however, he realized he wasn't actually in the real world. Memories of the D&D campaigns reminded him that splitting the party can have terrible consequences. He began exploring the place and wandered out in Mirkwood to look for a way out. He came across Eleven but before he could reach her out, she disappeared. Desperate to contact his friends, Will checked on his supercom only to hear his mother's voice. However, before he could respond the Demogorgon found him.[2]

Will communicates with his mother via the Christmas lights

In the Upside Down, Will evaded the Demogorgon for a week, showing his great ingenuity, ability to hide, and creativity. Somehow, Will figured out that his presence in the Upside Down could affect electrical devices in his home dimension, and Will began attempting to communicate with his mother. He first tried using the landline at his house, with very limited success. On several further occasions he attempted to communicate, manipulating the electricity in the Byers household.

An exhausted Will rests in Castle Byers

Eventually weakened from hunger and thirst, in addition to the Upside Down's toxic air, he collapsed in the Upside Down's Castle Byers. The test subject Eleven managed to find him there after entering a deeper psychic state, where they briefly communicated. Will told Eleven to hurry, as he was only becoming weaker and more vulnerable.

As Will sang one of his favorite songs, the Demogorgon found him, destroying his wooden fort. Will was taken to the library and strung up in the strange biological webbing prevalent throughout the Upside Down, unconscious and alone with only corpses and skeletons for company.

A captured Will, with a tendril extending down his throat

Joyce and Chief Hopper entered the Upside Down via the Gate to search for Will. They eventually found him entangled in the web, attached to some kind of tendril extending down his throat and into his stomach; Hopper pulled it out before shooting and killing it. Joyce and Hopper managed to resuscitate Will after performing CPR and safely brought him back escaping the alternate dimension.

Back home

November 12

Will was immediately hospitalized in Hawkins General Hospital. As he woke up, his mother and brother happily and emotionally greeted him and comforted him, with Jonathan bringing a box of his things, including the mixtape of the Clash. Soon, Jonathan lets Mike, Lucas, and Dustin reunite with their best friend, and they all embrace him. They excitedly explain the chain of events that happened while Will was gone.

Will's friends visit him in the hospital

December

A month has passed, and Will was now back to normal and resumed his life with his friends. One night right before Christmas, the boys ran another campaign of Dungeons & Dragons, encountering the dreaded Thessalhydra—but this time, Will's character triumphed over the enemy. Jonathan picked up Will from the Wheelers' house and brought him home in his car. Will opens Jonathan's present from Nancy and Steve and is impressed by the new camera. Back at the Byers, Will feels the weight of his presents while Jonathan took pictures of him and Joyce preparing dinner. As they sit down to eat, Will confidently said one specific green present is an Atari since he felt Dustin's earlier and it was the same weight, while Joyce mockingly says he'll have to wait and see. At dinner, Will excused himself to wash his hands. This was not his true intention—in the bathroom, he threw up and washed away a slug-like creature down the sink. Before Will left the bathroom and returned to dinner, he momentarily saw the Upside Down flicker around him. He returned to his dinner, confirming to his mother everything is fine, and the family of three soon talked about Will's win in Dungeons & Dragons while they eat and the snow fell outside the Byers home.

1983 - 1984

There was some surprise in Hawkins after Will returned to normal life, since his death had been widely acknowledged within the town. A cover story was put out to explain Will's miraculous reappearance, which, according to Lucas, became accepted as public knowledge. It had appeared that Will had drowned at the quarry, due to the fake body that Hawkins Lab had planted there. The cover story explained that another child had drowned at the quarry, who was confused with the then-missing Will due to his "super decomposed" body, and that Chief Jim Hopper found Will alive in an abandoned cabin a few miles out of Hawkins.

Will's vision of the Mind Flayer.

Despite having only spent a week in the Upside Down, Will developed a psychic connection to the shadowy entity residing there. He began experiencing psychosomatic episodes similar to those related to post-traumatic stress disorder (as attested by Dr. Owens). However, the increasing frequency and intensity of these episodes led Joyce to realize they were something more than just flashbacks. At school, Will was not readily accepted by the rest of the students and became more of an outcast than before, being given the nickname "Zombie Boy", though bullies Troy and James had vanished.

1984

Visions of the Upside Down

October 29

On the evening of October 29, 1984, Joyce dropped Will at the Palace Arcade so that he would play games with Mike. Dustin and Lucas. After the Party discovered that an unknown person using the alias "MADMAX" had beaten Dustin's top scores on both Centipede and Dig Dug, Will began having an episode, being in an abandoned version of the arcade in the Upside Down. Concerned, Mike noticed, and was able to snap Will out of it by calling his name. He then led Will back inside.

October 30

In Mr. Clarke's class the next morning, the boys witnessed a new student, named Maxine "Max" Mayfield, arrive. Because of her name's similarity to the alias used at the arcade, Lucas and Dustin suspected she was "MADMAX," but Will didn't think because in his opinion, girls don't play video games. As they were spying on her, they noticed her drop something in a trashcan. After retrieving the note, they discovered it had “Stop spying on me creeps” written on it, indicating she knew they were watching her. Will was then approached by Principal Russell Coleman who told him his mom had arrived to pick up for a routine exam at Hawkins Lab. As Will was escorted by Principal Coleman, he noticed a lot of students looking at him as he walked past them before he met up with his mom at the front of the school.

October 31

Will has another vision at the Upside Down

The next day, the boys went to school dressed in their Ghostbusters costumes, only to discover that no one else had dressed up for Halloween. On Halloween night, Jonathan let Will go trick-or-treating with his friends on the condition that he'll pick him up at Mike's house around ten o'clock, making Will happy. As the boys were trick-or-treating with Will recording the events with Bob's video camera, Max jumped out and scared them with her Michael Myers costume and joined the boys in trick-or-treating as she had been previously invited by Lucas and Dustin. Mike, irritated that Max had joined them, told Will that she was ruining the best night of the year before going ahead, though Will did not seem to mind Max joining their Party. When Will was scared and bullied by a bunch of kids in Halloween costumes, he fell to ground, dropping his video camera, and experienced another episode in the Upside Down where he heard strange chirping sounds coming from directions before seeing a large shadow-like creature emerging from the sky and attempting to catch him. Before the creature was able to reach him, Mike lapsed Will out of the vision and took him back to his house, telling the others that they were done trick-or-treating for the night.

Will reveals his episode to Mike.

In the basement of the Wheeler's house, Will revealed to Mike that he felt he was trapped in between the real life and the Upside Down. He then described his vision to Mike and how the shadow creature seemed to be wanting him for something. He also requested Mike that he not tell anyone about the vision as he believed that no one else would understand which Mike promised to do. Mike then believed that Eleven would understand what Will was going through, revealing to Will how much he misses Eleven and how he feels like he is going crazy for feeling her presence everyday. Will and Mike then cheer each up, saying that if either one of them were crazy, then they would go crazy together.

Possession by the Mind Flayer

November 1

The next day, Will was taken to school by Bob and during a conversation between them, Bob, unaware of Will's vision of the shadow creature, revealed that he'd once been traumatized by an encounter with a clown named Mr. Baldo but overcame it by standing up to his fears, inspiring Will to do the same the next time he had another vision of the Upside Down and saw the shadow creature.

Will realizing Dart is from the Upside Down.

At school, Dustin arrived late to class and told Will, Mike, Lucas, and Max that they all had to meet in the AV Club after class as he had something to show them. Once they were at AV Club, Dustin showed a pollywog-like creature, named D'Artagnan, nicknamed "Dart" and explained how he found him in his trash. When Will held Dart, he, like Max and Lucas, was disgusted on how slimy Dart before he handed the creature to Mike. As Will listened to Dustin discussing the types of amphibians Dart could possibly be, Will and his friends noticed that Dart was starting to have a strange growth. When Dart shrieked upon being inspected under a lamp, Dustin explained how Dart hates heat and proudly announces he just discover a new type of species. However, as Will watched Dustin hold Dart, he realized that Dart made a similar sound he heard last night before he encountered the shadow creature and how Dart was similar to what Will threw up last year, leading Will to conclude that Dart was from the Upside Down.

Once school was over, Will told Mike what he discovered about Dart and the two rushed to Mr. Clarke's room to stop Dustin, Lucas, and Max from showing Dart to Mr. Clarke. Will and Mike then had Dustin and Lucas speak to them in private, while locking Max outside of the AV Club room as they could not tell her about the Upside Down. Will then explained about the incident with the slug he vomited last year and the sounds he heard last night during Halloween. At this news, Will and his friends started to believe he had "true sight," the ability to see into the ethereal plane, due to his visions of the Upside Down possibly being real as Dart is from the Upside Down. Lucas proposed they take Dart to Hopper, but Dustin rejected the idea as he refused to believe Dart could be dangerous, despite coming from the Upside Down. When Dart started to screech demonically in Dustin's ghost trap, Dustin freed him and the boys became horrified and disgusted when Dart molts and sprouts two hind legs. Mike tries to attack Dart, but is stopped by Dustin, leading Dart escaped the room when Max unlocks and opens the door, prompting the group to split up to find Dart.

Will being taken over by the Mind Flayer.

Eventually, Will managed to find Dart in a bathroom and contacted his friends to reach his location. Will reached over to Dart, trying to calm the creature and explain he wasn't going to hurt it. When Dart screeched at Will, he got scared and rushed out of the bathroom in fright. This caused Will to have another "episode" where he saw the shadow monster appearing in the school hallway, causing Will to flee as the monster pursued him. As Wil tried to flee from the shadow monster, he ended up running out of the school and out onto the P.E. field. However, upon remembering Bob's advice to confront his fears, Will stopped, faced the shadow monster as it emerged from the school, and angrily told the creature to go away. In response, the monster ignored him and imparted a part of itself within Will; despite his body being in Hawkins, he became "possessed" by the entity, allowing him to understand its motives and intentions. Will then was brought back into the real world where his mom and friends had tried to snap him out of his vision before he leaves the school with his mom.

After Joyce took him back home and pleaded him to reveal the truth, Will acknowledged that the shadow monster got him and that he felt it inside him.

November 2

When Hopper and Joyce asked him about the Shadow Monster, Will told them he could see and know whatever the shadow monster did, calling these visions "now-memories". In order to better understand these visions, Will began drawing them. At first, they appeared to be random scribbles, but after being assembled in the correct order, they depicted a strange maze-like pattern. Believing the drawing depicted vines, Hopper left to investigate the pumpkin patch.

As Will's connection with the Mind Flayer grew deeper, he started becoming more demoralized and scared. Mike came back to the Byers house and comforted him, assuring that they wouldn't let the shadow monster spy back on him.

November 3

After Hopper became trapped by the tendrils in the tunnels, Will's connection with the Mind Flayer allowed him to know of the impending danger. Having revealed this to Mike and Joyce, he drew Hopper's location within the tunnels. With help from Bob, the group figured out the location and left to rescue Hopper.

Will began convulsing as the tendrils burned

Will soon became overpowered by the Mind Flayer's influence, having become part of the hive mind. As a result, after Hopper was rescued from the tunnels and the soldiers arriving from Hawkins Lab burnt the tendrils, the connection caused Will to experience severe pain and he collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

November 4

Will, suffering from memory loss, was asked if he recognized Mike

Will was immediately taken to Hawkins Lab for inspection. Upon awaking, he suffered from memory loss as he recognized only Joyce and Mike, but didn't seem to recall Bob, Hopper or even Dr. Owens. After a test involving burning a tendril and observing Will's painful reaction, Dr. Owens confirmed that Will was connected to a hive intelligence with the other hosts. While Joyce became impatient and attempted to pass through the guards, Will told Mike that he may know how to stop the monster.

Will used the photos of the tunnels and located a place that the Shadow Monster tried to hide from him. Dr. Owens and Hopper, being convinced, sent some soldiers to investigate the place.

Will being interrogated by Joyce, Hopper, Jonathan & Mike

When the soldiers entered the tunnels to scrutinize the location, Will apologized to Mike and Joyce as he revealed that the Mind Flayer had coerced him to send the soldiers into a trap. He also implored Joyce to go away as the Demodogs were reaching them. Mike tried to warn the scientists but it was too late as the Demodogs massacred the soldiers and started invading the lab. Taking Mike's advice, Joyce sedated Will as he pointed out that the Mind Flayer could be spying on them. With the help of Hopper, Joyce, Bob, Dr. Owens and Mike, Will was taken out of Hawkins Lab, in spite of the swarming Demodogs and returned home to the Byers' household.

After some discussion, the group planned to interrogate Will to find out the shadow monster's weakness as he was connected to it. To keep the Mind Flayer from finding their location, the Byers' shed was remodeled and Will was tied to a post in the middle of the shed where they attempted not only to bring Will's memories back, but also to find out how to defeat the monster.

However, despite Will being essentially part of the monster's army, he was able to communicate the instructions to foil the Mind Flayer's plans by covertly using Morse Code with his hand to spell: 'Close Gate', which referred to the portal at the lab.

Defeating the Mind Flayer

November 5

Soon after, the phone in the Byers' kitchen rang, alerting the Mind Flayer to their location. The Mind Flayer then sent several Demodogs to their location. The group sedated him once again, and after a brief fight with Demodogs that ended with Eleven's reappearance. Eleven revealed that she was well-aware of Will's condition and decides to close the Gate. As the group plans on how to close the Gate, Mike reveals that now Will is part of the Mind Flayer's hive mind, he will be killed. Joyce, remembering how Will always told the Mind Flayer likes cold temperatures, realizes that they need to burn the Mind Flayer out of Will in order to free him. So, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy decided to take Will to Hopper's cabin to free Will from the Mind Flayer's possession.

Will is forced by the Mind Flayer to choke Joyce

Reaching the cabin, they restrained Will to a cot and made his body uninhabitable by increasing his body temperature with several space heaters. Will broke free of his restraints and attempted to strangle Joyce, but was subdued by Nancy burning him with a fire iron. Unable to bear the pain, the portion of the Mind Flayer fled from Will's body and out into the sky. This alleviated Will of the monster's possession once and for all. As Will was hugged by his family, he watched all of the cabin's electricity glowing bright as Eleven closed the Gate, sealing the Mind Flayer for good.

The Snow Ball

November-December

Sometime after his recovery, Will was informed of Bob's death who had risked his life to get him and his friends to safety from the Demodogs' invasion at the lab. Though saddened to lose a father- figure, Will hung a picture of Bob Newby that he drew to honor his memory, due to Bob's valiant sacrifice to ensure everyone's safety at Hawkins Lab.

December 15

Will and his friends at the Snow Ball.

Will attends the Hawkins Middle School Snow Ball for the first time along with Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max, and El. At the Byers, he practices dancing with his mother, who dances old-timely while Jonathan laughs as he records it on the video recorder. At the Snow Ball, he, Lucas, Mike, and Max tease Dustin's new hairstyle when a slow-song starts playing, causing the student body to start slow-dancing. After Lucas shyly asks Max to dance, the three other boys stand alone until a girl comes over. She shyly asks "Zombie Boy" if he'd like to dance. Will is nervous, but Mike's urging causes him to say yes, much to her happiness. They are then seen awkwardly but happily dancing along with Max, Lucas, Mike, El, Nancy, and Dustin.

December 25

On Christmas Day, Will and his family welcomed Mike, Lucas, Dustin, El, and Hopper who came over to celebrate Christmas with them. Will and Jonathan presented Eleven her present from all of the boys which was a walkie-talkie from Radio Shack that the gang had all saved their money for. Will and Jonathan then revealed that they had collected several Christmas specials in VCR form to help make Eleven's first Christmas celebration extra-special. The gang then took turns in explaining the plot of each VCR special to Eleven, with Will explaining the story of A Christmas Carol. Dustin then began to insist that there was a creature outside in the snow, referencing Dart, which left Eleven confused. Eventually, Will and his friends decided to go out into the woods to find the creature. Shortly after, the gang found the creature which turned out to be a rabbit caught in a trap. After freeing the rabbit from the trap, Will and his friends decided to take it back to his house so they can help tend to his injuries. Once they got back to the house, Will and his friends watched his mom attended to the rabbit and shortly after, they all sat down to watch the Christmas specials together.[3]

1985

The Summer

June 28

Will having a familiar sense.

On the evening of June 28, 1985, Will, Lucas, and Max were waiting for Mike at the Starcourt Mall. When he finally arrived, the Party headed toward Scoops Ahoy where Steve helped them sneak into the cinema through the back doors to view an early screening of Day of the Dead. During the film, there was a sudden power outage across Hawkins, resulting in the entire mall losing power. While the power returned shortly after, Will felt a strange sensation at the back of his neck. Sensing something was wrong, Mike inquired if Will was alright, to which he responded that he was fine.

June 29

The next day, Will and the other party members hosted a surprise for Dustin celebrating his return from Camp Know Where. When Dustin unveiled Cerebro, a radio he created to contact his girlfriend Suzie, the Party departed from the Henderson residence and set out to find a suitable location to construct the device. On their way there, Mike and El lied about having to meet a curfew, leaving the rest of the Party to assemble the device. As Will continued on with the others, the strange sensation he felt the previous night returned. When Dustin’s numerous attempts to contact Suzie were futile, Will left for home along with Max and Lucas.

Childhood Denied

June 30

In the Wheeler basement the following day, Will was setting up a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. However, Mike and Lucas were too preoccupied with Mike’s relationship problem concerning his lie to El. When Lucas suggested that Mike buy El a gift to make it up to her, Will went with them to the Starcourt Mall where they scoured the stores for a suitable present. Unfortunately, their search yielded no results.

Will's childhood interests being brushed off by his friends.

Will tried to get them to stop their search by suggesting to play Dungeons & Dragons, only for Mike and Lucas to refuse. As the boys were preparing to leave, they unexpectedly met El and Max at the mall’s entrance. Will witnessed El confront, and subsequently break up with, Mike. Once El and Max boarded on the bus, Will asked if his friends want to play D&D, which again was declined as Mike and Lucas were heartbroken by their girlfriends breaking up with them.

That evening, while Mike and Lucas were discussing their break-ups, Will was not interested, only wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons and urging the others to forget about the incident. Unbeknownst to the boys, El witnessed their conversation while spying on them in the Void.

July 1

Will sad and angry of his friends growing up.

Will woke the others the next morning, urging them to play a D&D campaign, and proclaimed that it would be a day without girls. When they did not take the campaign seriously, Will became upset and stormed out. Mike followed him outside where he tried to make Will understand, stating they were growing up and they could not spend the rest of their lives playing games in the basement. This had the opposite effect, causing Will to leave and seek the shelter of Castle Byers. Realizing that the dynamic of their Party was changing, he partially destroyed the fort in frustration. Suddenly, the same sensation he had felt the night at the mall and the day after returned. When Mike and Lucas caught up to him in order to apologize, Will, now aware of what the feeling meant, announced the Mind Flayer had returned.

A Threat to the Mind Flayer

July 2

Once the Party had assembled in the basement, Will proposed that the part of the Mind Flayer that had possessed him the year prior was still in their world and had attached itself to a new host. When El relayed all that she had seen, they began to suspect that the new host may be Billy. While spying on Billy at the Hawkins Community Pool, they came up with a plan to trap him in the sauna to confirm his status as a host. Lucas tried to apologize to Will for what had happened in Mike's basement but Will told him to forget about it as they should be more focused on Billy and the Mind Flayer.

Once the pool had closed and Billy was alone, the group enacted their plan, luring him into the sauna. Once he was trapped, the group looked on as Billy became more and more unstable due to the increasing heat and the Mind Flayer’s influence. When Billy was fully under the entity’s control, he escaped the sauna. In the ensuing battle, El threw Billy through the wall, allowing his escape.

July 3

The following day, Will, Lucas, Mike, El, and Max gathered in the Wheeler basement; they discovered that Hopper and Joyce were heading to Illinois through El’s abilities. When Nancy and Jonathan arrived and explained Doris Driscoll had exhibited behavior identical to Will’s when he had been possessed by the Mind Flayer at the same time as Billy’s sauna test, they concluded that Doris had also become "Flayed"-- a host to the Mind Flayer -- and suspected there were potentially several more. This led to the realization that Heather Holloway, a lifeguard from the pool, and her parents had also become hosts.

Learning that the Flayed are consuming chemicals, Will reveals this behavior is something new.

At the Holloway residence, they found that the inhabitants had consumed several household chemicals. Will, knowing he never consumed any chemicals when he was possessed by the Mind Flayer last year, revealed that this behavior of the Flayed was something new. Will even listened to Mike's theory that the Flayed could be making a new substance with the chemicals they consume after recounting a science lesson with Mr. Clarke. When they investigated further, they surmised that Heather’s parents had been attacked, tied up, and taken to an unknown location where they were flayed. Will then proposed that they use Driscoll to find the source--the location where the flaying was taking place, in order to stop the Mind Flayer.

At the hospital, Will and the others were forced to stay behind in the waiting room while Nancy and Jonathan went to see Doris. During their wait, the lights suddenly began flickering, which, along with Will sensing the Mind Flayer, alerted the Party that Nancy and Jonathan were in danger. They caught up with the couple just in time for El to save Nancy from a gruesome monster by throwing it out the window. Outside, they witnessed the creature escape through a grate into the sewers.

July 4

At the cabin, Will and the others waited for El to locate the Flayed. When El announced she had found Billy situated in his room, everyone agreed it was a trap. However, El made the decision to return to Billy in the Void and through his memories, discovered Brimborn Steel Works to be the Mind Flayer’s lair. In doing so, however, she allowed the Mind Flayer to learn their location as well.

Seeing that the Mind Flayer was headed toward the cabin, the group prepared for battle. In the assault, the Mind Flayer grabbed El by the leg with one of his tentacles. After being freed from the creature’s grasp, El severed the Mind Flayer’s head in half, temporarily incapacitating him and allowing the group to escape.

The group went to Bradley's Big Buy to dress El’s wound and gather supplies. When Mike was contacted by Dustin, the group traveled to the mall where they arrived just in time to save the Scoops Troop from Russian soldiers. When El collapsed, it was revealed a piece of the Mind Flayer was still stuck under her skin. Using her powers, El managed to remove the piece. Just then, Hopper arrived along with Joyce and Murray.

Battle against the Mind Flayer

Once everyone was briefed on the situation, the group came up with a plan: Hopper, Murray, and Joyce would infiltrate the Russian bunker to shut down the Key and close the Gate with the aid of Dustin and Erica, who would be driven to Cerebro by Steve and Robin. Nancy, Jonathan, and the remaining Party members would seek shelter at Murray’s warehouse in Illinois.

In the Starcourt parking lot, Nancy discovered that the car wouldn’t start due to the car missing its ignition cable. With Billy blockading the mall’s parking lot, the group was forced to retreat back into the mall. While trying to get in touch with the Scoops Troop for emergency transportation, they realized they could use the ignition cable from the car El had thrown before.

Immediately after retrieving the component, the Mind Flayer crashed through the glass roof into the center of the mall. After successfully evading the creature, Will, Lucas, Nancy, and Jonathan escaped through the front out to the car, where Billy was waiting. Just before Billy crashed into them with his Camaro, Steve arrived and crashed into Billy’s car, saving them. The group, now including Steve and Robin, drove away, distracting the Mind Flayer away from El, Mike, and Max in the process. When the Mind Flayer was alerted to their location through his connection with Billy and headed back toward the mall, they followed the entity. When they returned to the mall, Will and the others began pelting the Spider Monster with fireworks in an effort to save El. While the effort successfully impeded the creature, their supply of fireworks ran out. However, El was saved by Billy, who had been freed from the creature’s control. Soon after, the creature died following the destruction of the Key and closing of the Gate.

Following the arrival of military, Will and the others were escorted to the mall’s parking lot, where he tearfully reunited with his mother.

Farewell & moving out of Hawkins

October

In October, Will and his family, along with El, said goodbye to their friends before leaving Hawkins, moving to California. As Will put his D&D manuals and games in a donation box, Mike suggested to keep it if he ever wants to join another Party, but Will simply said, "Not possible", causing them to smile at one another. Mike suggested to Eleven that she and Will return to Hawkins for Christmas as he thought that it would be fun to open their presents together on Christmas Day. After packing everything, the group said goodbye to Will, Eleven, Jonathan, and Joyce, with Will crying silently as he hugged his best friends. With Jonathan driving, Will staring out the car window crying in silence as they (following Joyce and El in the moving van) left Hawkins.

1985-1986

A New Home

After moving out of Hawkins, Will and his family were helped by Dr. Owens in relocating to Lenora Hills, California so they could stay safe. Once they settled into their new home, Will, El, and Jonathan got enrolled in Lenora Hills High School with Jonathan becoming a senior while Will and El became freshmen. Though Jonathan made a new friend named Argyle while living in California, Will and Eleven had trouble making new friends where El became a target of bullying, leaving Will to try and support her. In addition, both Will and El kept in touch with Mike, but Will only received a few phone calls from Mike while El received lots of letters from him, making Will a little jealous as he had begun to develop feelings for his best friend.

1986

Life in California

March 21

Will and El at their new school in Lenora Hills, California.

On March 21, the last day before spring break, Will finished working on a painting that he had been working on for a while which he intended to give it to Mike, but never had allowed anyone to see the painting he had been working on. Then, Will joined Jonathan and El in riding to school with Argyle, taking a history project on Alan Turing with him. Once they arrived at their high school, Will and Eleven walked through the hallways of the school and arrived at their history class on time with their history projects.

Spring Break

March 22

Will, Jonathan, and El greeting Mike at the airport.

The next day, Will, Jonathan, El, and Argyle arrive at the Lenora Hills Airport to pick up Mike who would be visiting them for spring break. When El spotted Mike amidst a crowd of people exiting from his plane, Will was the second to greet him and intended to give his painting to Mike. However, upon noticing how flat their reunion was, Will changed his mind at the last second and told Mike the painting was just something he had been working when he noticed it in his hands. Will then watched some awkwardness develop between Mike and Argyle when the latter said the shirt Mike was wearing was "shitty knockoff", but told him that he would hook him with the "good threads" and heard a lot about his sister before they all decided to leave.

As they began leaving the airport, Will walked beside Mike and El where they planned to spend the whole day together by eating breakfast burritos and going to Rink-O-Mania while Will remained silent. However, when Mike asked El if any of her "friends" would be joining them, Will became shocked and confused over El having friends. When El stated she was "friends" with Stacy and Angela, Will discovered El had been lying to Mike for a while, but did not say anything as he and his friends left the airport.

March 23

On the run

March 24

March 25

March 26

March 27

Helping El fight Vecna

Return to Hawkins

March 29

The Beginning of the End

References

1. ↑ Stranger Things Season 1: "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
2. ↑ Stranger Things (comic series): "Issue 1"
3. ↑ Stranger Things Winter Special One-Shot

What happened to Will Byers in Stranger Things?

Does Will Byers survive?

Who is Will Byers boyfriend?