Who is Mr. Whatsit in ‘Stranger Things’ season 5?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 5.

Stranger Things season 5, Volume 1 is now streaming on Netflix, and it wastes no time throwing viewers back into a fractured Hawkins, Ind.

As the core group is busy searching for an ominously absent Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), something strange is unfolding in town. Holly (Nell Fisher), the youngest kid in the Wheeler clan, is speaking with an “imaginary friend” named Mr. Whatsit, who turns out to not be so imaginary after all.

So, who is Mr. Whatsit? And how does he connect to Vecna? Read on as Entertainment Weekly answers those questions and more.

Who is Mr. Whatsit in Stranger Things season 5?

“The Crawl,” the season 5 premiere, finds Holly gushing about her new imaginary friend, Mr. Whatsit. His name is a nod to A Wrinkle in Timethe classic Madeleine L’Engle fantasy novel in which a young girl is guided through a cosmic adventure by the kind and mysterious Mrs. Whatsit. Holly is seen reading the book in the early episodes.

Holly chats with her companion outside of her school, and we briefly catch a glimpse of him in an old-fashioned brown suit. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), who knows that “imaginary friends” aren’t to be trusted in a place like Hawkins, is concerned, but Holly assures him that Mr. Whatsit is just looking out for her.

“He’s only trying to help,” she insists. “He says there are monsters in Hawkins, and they like to eat kids like me.” And sure enough, one of those monsters soon shows up at her door.

How is Mr. Whatsit connected to Vecna?

It’s not Stranger Things‘ most surprising twist, but Mr. Whatsit is actually Vecna manifesting as Henry Creel, the telepath who, like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), was experimented upon by Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine). After being banished by Eleven to Dimension X, Henry transformed into the creature we know as Vecna.

Vecna uses this friendly guise to manipulate and lure the Hawkins kids, presenting himself as a protector while infiltrating their minds and drawing them into danger.

Holly is one of those kids, and the season’s second episode sees a Demogorgon whisking her off to the Upside Down after severely injuring her parents, Karen (Cara Buono) and Ted (Joe Chrest).

Though we know she’s being held captive in the Upside Down, Holly wakes to find herself in a cozy, well-lit home that viewers should recognize as the Creel house. There, she believes she’s safe from whatever it is terrorizing Hawkins.

While exploring the neighborhood around the home, which she dubs Camazotz (another Wrinkle in Time reference), Holly stumbles upon Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), who’s been in a coma since the season 4 finale.

This version of Max tells Holly that they are trapped inside Vecna’s memories — or, as she puts it, “Vecna’s prison.”

What does Mr. Whatsit/Vecna plan to do with the kids?

The connection Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has to the Upside Down’s hive mind allows him to see Mr. Whatsit/Vecna’s next moves. When he realizes that Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly) is the next victim, Will and the gang manage to save the boy from a Demogorgon sent to abduct him.

But the danger is far from over. By the end of “Sorcerer,” the final episode in Volume 1, Vecna ditches the Mr. Whatsit disguise completely, arriving in Hawkins in his monstrous (and bulked-up) form with a pack of Demogorgons, who kidnap his remaining targets, including Derek.

Before heading back to the Upside Down, Vecna lays out his grand plan to Will. He wants to reshape the world using 12 children he calls “perfect vessels,” as they can be molded and controlled to carry out his vision. Will’s abduction way back in season 1, we learn, showed Vecna what was possible.

Where can I watch Stranger Things?

Stranger Things 5 Volume 1 is available to stream on Netflix.

Volume 2 will arrive on Christmas Day. The series finale, “The Rightside Up,” premieres on New Year’s Eve and will play theatrically in over 500 locations across the U.S. and Canada.

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.