(Credits: Netflix)

Stranger Things couldn’t wait any longer to take Netflix viewers back to the beginning in its fifth and final season, and that’s exactly what it did with the release of the first five minutes of the premiere episode.

Just when the stars from the hit Netflix series were busy leaving the world star-struck with their red-carpet appearances for the Stranger Things world premiere, Netflix transported viewers to 1983 Hawkins, to that very day when Will Byers disappeared during the virtual watch party.

It’s not like the fans haven’t been there before. We all have been. But the entire time, we had been on the other end, and Stranger Things finally unveiled what really happened to Will in the Upside Down. The first five minutes are from the debut episode titled ‘The Crawl,’ which begins somewhere deep in the sinister world of the shadow realm.

The sneak peek shows Will in a state of complete distress, alone, shivering, and petrified in the Upside Down version of Byers Castle when he wakes up startled by the sound of a creeping menace. A shadow lurks just outside his makeshift fort, and before you know it, a Demogorgon thrusts in, fanning its flap-like gaping mouth.

Then the goose chase begins, forcing little Will to run through the forest for survival. Although he manages to outpace the first-season villain for a few seconds, climbing up a tree, the brief silence is more like the calm before the storm, as soon enough, the Demogorgon leaps right in, causing the series protagonist to take a jump towards another hanging branch. Unfortunately, it sends him tumbling down the branches, eventually leaving the Demogorgon to drag him to Vecna’s lair.

Right there, Vecna emerges from the cryptic shadow with his gruesome figure, exacting his powers to wrap Will in the vines. The scene is unsettling to say the least. “At long last, we can begin,” Vecna says, in his heavy voice, before extending one of the vines and snaking it straight into Will’s mouth. But just as Will begins to bawl his eyes out, gasping for air, and struggling for survival, Vecna continues, “You and I, we’re going to do such beautiful things together.” Then the screen cuts to black, and the “Stranger Things 5” logo appears on the screen.

Every Stranger Things season may have begun with a prelude into the normal world of the Hawkins gang. But season five is going headfirst into mayhem. “We usually set up their normal life and how they’re going about school, and then we introduce the supernatural element. But in this case, this season is sprinting from the start,” co-creator Ross Duffer told Tudum previously.

“Nothing in Hawkins is normal anymore… their movement is restricted, and there are Big Brother cameras everywhere. So not only are they active – their everyday, normal lives are anything but,” Matt Duffer explained. In the fifth and final instalment, viewers will get to explore the Upside Down in full exposure as the lore returns from the Duffer brothers’ 25-page mythology document for the debut season.

“The last remaining questions that are answered in that document, we’ve punted a couple of those to have some big reveals in season five. And that’s really going to affect what season five is about,” Ross Duffer added. While the battle for survival will peak in the final ride, the question remains: will the Hawkins gang be able to end Vecna once and for all?

To know, don’t forget to tune into the first four episodes releasing on November 26th, followed by three episodes on Christmas, and The Finale on New Year’s Eve.