One of the lingering questions Stranger Things fans having coming out of the Season 5 finale relates to the series’ famous monsters, the demogorgons. Or, perhaps put more accurately, the lack of them.
In the final battle (Season 5 Episode 8, The Rightside Up), which Stranger Things has built up to for nine years and five seasons, our heroes battle against Vecna and the Mind Flayer, but not the demogorgons, the demodogs, or the bats we’ve seen previously. Where were they? Surely Vecna and the Mind Flayer would have had a better time of things if they’d had their pals help them out against Eleven, Steve, and the others. Were they sleeping on the job? A revolt, perhaps?
In an interview with TheWrap, Stranger Things co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer offered a detailed explanation, which involves a few factors. One, Vecna was caught unawares. He did not expect a sneak attack in The Abyss, so was not prepared for what was coming. Related, he had the Mind Flayer helping him out, so why would he need any more help? (This was, obviously, a bad decision.)
Meanwhile, all those demo monsters aren’t just hanging around Vecna at any given moment, the Duffer brothers said. There are not a lot of them in The Abyss.
And then we get to what I think is probably the most important reason, which has to do with what Stranger Things had done earlier in the season. The Duffers were mindful of what they called “demo fatigue,” having had a dramatic fight against the demogorgons at the end of Season 5, Volume 1, when Will’s powers awaken and he kills a handful of the things with his mind.
