Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 4 confirmed the grim reason why Vecna is abducting kids in Hawkins. Netflix's supernatural mystery series featured Vecna's terrifying comeback after seemingly being defeated in the Season 4 finale, and he had a different modus operandi this time around. The previous season showed Vecna targeting troubled teenagers (like Christy and Max) in Hawkins, and he chose them because they felt a strong sense of guilt or shame about a certain event in their lives that forever changed them.
While the Hawkins crew initially took Vecna down in Season 4, the Mind Flayer's five-star general returns with a vengeance in the show's final season. Aside from having a bone to pick with Eleven and the rest of the gang, Vecna has kids as his new batch of targets in Season 5, and the fact that they are far more vulnerable makes them easy prey.
Why Is Vecna Taking Kids and Holly In Stranger Things Season 5?
Stranger Things Season 5 mainly revolves around Vecna's efforts to abduct children to the Upside Down. Part of his plan is to transform into an imaginary friend named Mr. Henry Whatsit, a tophat-wearing, creepy man who lures kids at his family home in a dream-infused dimension where everything seems right.
After successfully taking Holly Wheeler (Mike and Nancy's youngest sister) in Episode 2, Vecna took three more kids the following night. While the Hawkins crew eventually saved Derek Turnbow from being abducted, Will Byers (who has a close connection to Vecna due to being the first one he abducted in Season 1) learned what Vecna is doing to the kids, with his victims being attached to a spire in the Upside Down. He also discovered that Vecna needs eight more kids, but the problem is that the military also took some of the kids from the town to "protect" them.
Part of the Hawkins crew, led by Joyce Byers, hatched a plan to save the kids. However, it ultimately failed when a group of Demogorgons arrived to spoil the party. Making matters worse, Vecna (who has a significant redesign in Stranger Things Season 5) resurfaced and killed every soldier on sight and nabbed Will in his grasp.
Vecna finally explained his true plan for the kids. As it turns out, he needs 12 children as the "perfect vessels" for reshaping the world in a way that suits him. Vecna chose the kids because they are "weak in body and mind," and they can be easily controlled. It was also his act of abducting a young Will Byers in Season 1 that made him realize what he could achieve by using kids as vessels.
Vecna: "Can you see the children? Do you know why? Why I chose them to reshape the world? It's because they are weak. Weak in body and mind. Easily broken. Easily reshaped. Controlled. The perfect vessels. And you... Will. You were the first. And you broke so easily. You showed me what was possible, what I could achieve."
Vecna also pointed out that some minds in the world (like the kids he abducted) do not belong on Earth, and they belong to him. In Episode 3, Vecna (as Mr. Whatsit) even told Holly Wheeler that he "saved" her first because she is "the brightest of them all:"
"I'm very glad I saved you first. You're the brightest of them all."
Vecna's line of dialogue about Holly being the brightest suggests that his targets in Season 5 are carefully chosen because he potentially wants them to serve a purpose in his grand endgame for the world. For example, he might've chosen Derek because he knows he is a tough kid, while the others may also have standout traits that he can take advantage of in his future takeover.
What Does Vecna Want To Actually Do With Vessels?
It's reasonable to assume that Vecna wants to control the kids in Stranger Things Season 5, similar to what the Mind Flayer did to Will in Season 2, Episode 4, "Will the Wise," (which is one of the important episodes to watch before Stranger Things Season 5), when he tricked the lab technicians by walking into a trap filled with mindless killing Demogorgons.
Transforming into a friendly figure like Mr. Whatsit, alongside the promise of saving them from the monsters, allows him to gain the kids' trust.
While their bodies are trapped inside the spire and physically instilling his influence on them, Vecna is essentially giving them everything they want while inside the mindscape. This is crucial because Vecna would eventually let them go (similar to what he did with Will) and essentially turn on the switch, allowing him to manipulate them in the real world and help him fulfill his plan of reshaping the world.
However, what Vecna doesn't know is that the Hawkins crew is already devising a plan to defeat him, and four key characters may be instrumental in his downfall: Eleven, Will, Max, and, unexpectedly, Holly.
At the end of Episode 4, Will's powers are finally unleashed after he killed Demogorgons with ease by mimicking what Vecna did to his victims in Season 4. It is unknown if Vecna is aware of Will's reckoning, but this could play a part in his defeat. Eleven's discovery of his sister, Kali, being trapped in the military base means that an eventual team-up between the pair is in the cards, which could prove deadly for Vecna.
Meanwhile, Max (who is trapped in Henry's mindscape following his encounter with him in Season 4) is already conspiring with Holly to take Vecna down. If this happens, then choosing Holly as his first target may prove to be Vecna's most fatal mistake because he might inadvertently allow the kid who will take him down inside his mind.
