Some things aren't lining up. Stranger Things fans are calling out continuity errors in season 5: 'Makes no sense' Some things aren't lining up. By Emlyn Travis :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/EmlynTravisauthorphotocba6765b433b4f93b9398d18053153b1.jpg) Emlyn Travis is a news writer at . She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME. EW's editorial guidelines December 1, 2025 7:00 p.m. ET :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/NoahSchnappStrangerThings1128256c9663be6b79427e9a37e19afd23e984.jpg) Noah Schnapp as Will Byers on 'Stranger Things'.

Some things aren't lining up.

Stranger Things fans are calling out continuity errors in season 5: 'Makes no sense'

Some things aren't lining up.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and *NME*.

EW's editorial guidelines

December 1, 2025 7:00 p.m. ET

Noah Schnapp as Will Byers on 'Stranger Things'. Credit:

Courtesy of Netflix

**Warning: this article contains spoilers for *Stranger Things* season 5. ****

*Stranger Things* fans are calling out a series of continuity errors in season 5.

Following the release of Volume 1 on Nov. 26, fans of the hit Netflix series took to social media to point out multiple discrepancies between the flashbacks that Will (Noah Schnapp) experiences in the fourth episode and past history. They also noted that Will's age when he was taken to the Upside Down has changed.

The fourth episode of season 5, titled "Sorcerer," sees Will come into his own supernatural powers after reflecting on key memories from his life: showing his mom Joyce (Winona Ryder) his artwork, meeting Mike (Finn Wolfhard) at school, and building Castle Byers with older brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton).

Jonathan and Will building Castle Byers on 'Stranger Things'.

In the episode, younger Will and Jonathan can be seen happily constructing Castle Byers together on a clear, crisp day. However, fans quickly noted that wasn't how Jonathan described their experience building it back in season 2.

"Jonathan once said that when he and Will built Castle Byers, it was pouring rain and they both got so soaked they ended up sick for a whole week," one fan wrote. "And it also makes no sense for them to act so normal when it's literally the day their father left the house 🤷‍♀️ 👀." **

Another fan added, "Has no one else realized the error in wills flashback when him & jon are building castle byers & its sunny and all pretty but in his talk to s2 possessed will he literally said they stayed up all NIGHT and it was pouring rain & they were sick for like a week after... plothole 🤨"

Jonathan tells the story in the season 2 episode, "The Mind Flayer," noting that the siblings built it on the night that their dad Lonnie (Ross Partridge) left for good.

"We stayed up all night building Castle Byers… just the way you drew it. And it took so long because you were so bad at hammering. You'd miss the nail every time," Heaton's character says in the episode. "And then it started raining, but we stayed out there anyway. We were both sick for like a week after that. But we just had to finish it, didn't we? We just had to."

Meet the actress playing young Joyce Byers in 'Stranger Things': 'Not AI Winona' Ryder

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It's not the only continuity error fans are highlighting, either. They're also calling out a separate scene in the season 5 episode "The Turnbow Trap" in which Joyce (Winona Ryder) mentions that Will was 11 years old when he was first taken to the Upside Down. However, a missing persons poster featured on the show has Will's age listed as 12 years old at the time of his abduction.

"Joyce says will is 11 but wasn't he 12 when he was taken to the upside down?" one fan asked.

A second added, "birthdaygate is insane because he was 12, not 11."

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The term "Birthdaygate" stems from an *even earlier *continuity error involving Will, because the poor kid simply cannot catch a break. The second episode of season 4 takes place on Will's birthday, March 22, and yet there is no mention of it in the entire episode, leading many fans to assume that Will's friends and family had all forgotten it.

The Duffer brothers later apologized for the date crossover. "The honest response is, clearly like the characters in the show, we also forgot about Will's birthday," Matt Duffer told *Variety* in June 2022. "So the debate now is whether we adjust Will's birthday or we just let it be really sad."

Ross Duffer noted at the time that they're considering retroactively changing Will's birthday to May 22 because it's "too mean" to imagine that everyone just forgot about him.

"It was obviously a mistake, and we're sorry," he added. "We apologize to the fans."

- Sci-Fi & Fantasy Shows

- Stranger Things

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Source: "EW Stranger"

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Source: Stranger

Published: December 02, 2025 at 02:48PM on Source: SHOWBIZ MAG

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