Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5, volume 1Stranger Things season 5, volume 1, has been released, and fans have been left reeling after the events of episode four, titled “Sorcerer”. Many have also hailed the episode as being one of the best of the sci-fi series so far.

During episode 4 of Volume 1, significant revelations occurred, including Will Byers (played by Noah Schnapp) developing powers similar to those of the series’ main antagonist, Vecna (played by Jamie Campbell Bower), it was also revealed that a character from season 2, Eight/Kali (played by Linnea Berthelsen), was being held captive by the military and reunited with her sister Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).

Fan reactions to the shocking revelations have been spreading across social media, in particular on X, and everyone is saying the same thing – this has to be one of the best episodes of the series.

Fans aren’t the only ones hailing this shocking episode as Stranger Things’ best. It has been rated 9.8/10 on IMDb, which marks it the highest-rated episode so far.

Season 5 is currently rated 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, as creators, the Duffer Brothers, promise not to make the same mistakes other finales have made, including Game of Thrones, which has been hailed as one of the worst finales.

Image via Netflix

In an interview with Deadline, the Duffer Brothers confirmed that Volume 2 will delve deeper into what the Upside Down is and why Will was taken in Season 1, and again now, with Holly Wheeler (played by Nell Fisher) being taken similarly. Schnapp also compared his character Will’s connection to Vecna to that of the fictional characters Harry Potter and Voldemort:

“It was originally supposed to work in the same way that Eleven’s powers do because, as you read the scripts in Volume 2, it comes in a different way than hers. So making sure that the physicality of that shows, that it works differently.

For Will, we start to learn the parallels between Will and Vecna, and it almost felt very Harry Potter to me that I had to go back and re-watch the movies, because the Harry Potter-Voldemort relationship felt very close to Will and Vecna. So just kind of exploring those parallels and what that means.”

Despite the obvious praise for episode 4, it is one of the lowest-rated seasons so far on Rotten Tomatoes. It has had mixed feelings regarding the overall four episodes of Volume 1. Here’s hoping Volume 2 and the finale don’t let anyone down.

Volume 1 of Stranger Things season 5 is now available on Netflix. Volume 2 is set to release on December 25, with the series finale coming to Netflix on December 31.