hear me out on a byler only episode (Cleradingate)
tldr at the end (leaks discussed)
I know everyone has seen this caption on one of the duffers post regarding the teaser
And I know that there's an ongoing theory that episode seven is going to be when byler happens, but what if ONLY byler happens?
What if we only follow will and mike the entire time (maybe they're seperated from the group)
Like okay I know its a long shot but it would be such an interesting narrative choice that they have made before with el's missing sister episode.
(I can not find the link for this anymore pls lmk if you can so I can add it--->) Especially since I know there was a leaker who gave us the titles of the episodes and got them ALL right except for episode seven. What did they say it would be named? The Cleric and The Paladin.
I have reason to believe that, it is STILL named that, but was changed only so it would not be obvious in the title teaser to 'The Bridge'
The following is a list of all the episodes that were named differently to that of the official title tease in stranger things history
I put the link for both of the youtube videos if anyone wants to double check buttt
As you can see they tend to lie or change (however you want to see it, basically they're sneaky) the titles based off of if it gives too much away.
I think the best example is telling the public S3E5 was going to be named 'The Source' because if it was 'The Flayed' it would be obvious that people were getting taken by the mind flayer as that was the big bad at the time of only season 1 and 2 being released.
If we can trust the leaker (and like I said they got every title right EXCEPT for seven) then honestly I think that the episode is still titled 'the cleric and the paladin' but only changed for the title tease, because like I said, that is WAYYY too on the nose for the GA.
Now my theory,
We know that the duffers have gone on record saying that will's "emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together." So it's safe to say that Will is extremely important thematically and plot wise to season 5. (This also proves my point that the duffers care about the cohesion between character arc pacing and the plot progression of the show, this is a link to that too btw)
Obviously a big part of will's 'emotional arc' is his sexuality, and a big part of that arc is his feelings for mike. This shows to me that it is NOT outside of the picture to include an episode that is centric to him, and by extension, centric to byler.
Them including clips from the literal FINALE but not episode seven seems to be a very deliberate choice. What if it's because the only content you can pull from it is will and mike, ANOTHER thing they have deliberately excluded from the teaser.
An episode that is solely to develop this relationship into its climax (a confession, kiss etc.) can show how serious the duffers are to focusing on a character they deem vital to the end.
Lets take the infamous 'The Lost Sister' episode for example. We know everyone hated it and its annoying they tried to make a backdoor pilot out of nowhere BUT it exists for a reason. In season two they could NOT have defeated the mind flayer without eleven, right? Makes sense.
But eleven could not have defeated the mind flayer without learning that her powers are stronger when she thinks of an emotion. This was taught to her in that standalone episode by her sister.
So WE KNOW that the duffers are willing to set aside an arc if it is vital to the ending, in season two eleven was, and now they are saying in season five, will is.
TLDR: Okay what does this all mean? We know:
- Episode 7 is already being speculated for when byler happens
- The duffers purposely change the real names of episodes for marketing
- They are willing to have standalone episodes
- Will and mike, and episode 7 are both absent from the teaser
- Will is central to tying the show together
I think that this shows possibility for a byler ONLY episode, in order to set the scene for the climax that will is undoubtedly a driving force in. What exactly will happen is up to interpretation, maybe its churchgate, flickergate, loverslakegate, anything in this post, or something completely different. Who knows?
