(Credits: Netflix)

When we run into Will Byers in Stranger Things season five on Netflix, he’s no longer the vulnerable kid Vecna took in on November 6th all those years ago. He’s Will the Wise, who finally realises just how powerful he can be once he accepts his true self.

In the seventh episode of the fifth and final season of the hit Netflix series, it dawns upon Will that the only way to free his mind from the shackles of Vecna is to confront the secrets he has been holding close to his chest. And there’s one in specific that’s been tormenting him for a while and has Vecna prophesying a dark future if he isn’t true to himself and everyone around him.

Will begins his journey of self-acceptance in Stranger Things season five by initially turning only to his mother, until he realises it’s time for everyone to know the truth at the same time. After his friends and family join him, Will begins to tear up before finally letting out.

“I haven’t told any of you this because I don’t want you to see me differently. But the truth is, I am different. I don’t like girls. I mean, I do. Just not like you guys do. I had this crush on someone, even though I know they’re not like me,” Will admits.

Although there’s pin-drop silence all around, Robin’s loving approval is emotive from her knowing nod, and with that, Will Byers has finally come out and accepted himself. Joyce cuts through the silence with the assurance of a mother, and Jonathan leaps in to offer his support, with his friends following up in no time.

The nearly five-minute scene is a complete emotional rollercoaster that has inevitably had viewers reaching for the tissues. But more than everyone else, it was Noah Schnapp who couldn’t resist the tears.

In a conversation with Tudum, the actor said, “I was really nervous to see how [the Duffer Brothers] would write it, because it was obviously so important for me. And I remember when they sent out the script for episode seven for that scene. I read it alone in my room, and I was crying, and it really resonated with me.”

Speaking of the revelation, co-creator Ross Duffer further added, “Will and his coming-out scene was something that we’d been building to for a very long time. It’s important that he comes to terms with this. Once he’s able to do that, he’s heading into this final battle with a confidence and maturity that he hasn’t had before.” And indeed, they’re right because once Schnapp got his hands on the script, he could barely let go.

“I read it every morning, every night for the month leading up to it. And that allowed me on the day to just completely forget the script, completely forget about remembering my lines, and that just kind of poured out of me. And what I could focus on is just tapping into that feeling and that emotion,” the Stranger Things star explained.