Stranger Things has always played with Dungeons & Dragons symbolism, but Season 5 Volume 1 is the first time the series fully leans into the deeper mythology behind its most infamous villain. Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) return is not simply a physical comeback. The monster who reappears resembles the later stages of his evolution in classic tabletop lore. Season 5 mirrors what happens when a lich in Dungeons & Dragons survives destruction and begins to ascend, and it subtly echoes the structure of the trilogy that made Vecna a legend: Vecna Lives, Vecna Reborn, and Die Vecna Die.
