If you were wondering where the demogorgons and demobats were in the Stranger Things finale, you are not alone. That was one of the big questions coming out of the episode, "Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up," on New Year's Eve.
Now, we know why the Duffer brothers and the writers chose not to include the monsters of the Upside Down and Abyss in the big battle in the finale.
Thanks to the new documentary, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, fans learned that there was a discussion about including the demogorgons and demobats in the final battle against Vecna and the Mind Flayer.
In fact, one of the writers, Paul Dichter, said it would be "crazy' if they weren't included in that final sequence during a discussion with Matt and Ross Duffer and the other writers.
"There have to be some monsters in the Abyss," Paul said, which Matt replied, "I agree."
"There has to be a demogorgon, bat, or dog, like something," Paul continued. "It's crazy if there I think."
The conversation moves on to the Duffers talking about the scene with the demogorgons at the MAC-Z, where there are six demogorgons attacking, and it's this big action sequence.
Kate Trefry, one of the show's writers, shares that she feels that fans might be not so enthused for another big demogorgon scene after that scene at the MAC-Z.
"Yeah, I guess I maybe feel, or wonder, about demo fatigue," Kate said.
"Yeah, I mean that's fair," Matt replies.
We don't see the rest of the discussion about the lack of demogorgons and other monsters in the Abyss, but I'm sure that was not the only time it was considered. But, demo fatigue appears to be at least one of the reasons why there were no demogorgons in the Abyss.
The Duffer brothers already answered a question about the lack of demos protecting the Mind Flayer and Vecna in the Abyss in an interview with The Wrap. Here's what Matt revealed:
"Mainly it’s just that Vecna was not expecting this sneak attack on his home turf. Never in a million years could he even imagine that. They’re there somewhere. We obviously discussed having a demo battle on top of the Mind Flayer battle, but it felt more right to us that why does he need the demos when the Mind Flayer is this giant thing and can attack them? He doesn’t need his little ant army to attack, he’s going to take care of this himself."
I'm fine with both of these answers or explanations. Honestly, it makes more sense to me to bring the demogorgons, bats, and dogs back into the story, but we don't really lose anything by keeping the demogorgons out of this scene. Yes, it makes the final battle with Vecna a little bit easier, but as we learn, Vecna had no idea this was possible, or this was coming. It's a big sneak attack, so it makes sense why the demogorgons would not be near.
It would have been awesome to see Nancy (Natalia Dyer) light up the demogorgons one more time, but hey, it all worked out in the end.
Overall, I don't think that not including the demogorgons is as big of a deal as it's being made to be. Vecna has been shown to be incredibly overconfident in his abilities. He's been bested by kids a bunch of times, even though they never full got the upper hand until Eleven and Will team up inside of the belly of the beast, literally.
And, isn't that the folly of all these villains in mainstream stories? In The Lord of the Rings, Sauron thinks he's won, and he sends his full armies to wipe out Aragorn and the Men of the West once and for all. In Harry Potter, Voldemort thinks he is unstoppable. Vecna and the Mind Flayer are of the same ilk.
So, it's a bummer we didn't get an epic Demorgorgon moment in the finale, but I think it's safe to say that there were more than enough big moments in this one.