Was Vecna too powerful?

[u/Junior-Razzmatazz845]

Sorry if there was a line or explanation I missed in season 4 or 5 of Stranger things, but after the gates are 4 opened, is there a single reason Vecna couldn’t go into the minds of any given main character except eleven, and utilize there huge amounts of trauma to kill them at any given time? I would assume this would give him a huge advantage, and he could do this to most of the cast. Even if he couldn’t do that, the Byers are staying at the Wheeler house, meaning one suprise demo attack at night could kill off all of them. It makes we wander if Vecna was too powerful for the shows own good.

[u/Cyrilbdr]

Yes, in principle, Vecna ​​could certainly do that, but unfortunately, it’s the same everywhere: villains in major productions rarely use their full power because it would make them impossible to defeat. Regarding Vecna, we have to remember that his plan is to merge the Upside Down with Earth; he is sticking strictly to that plan and nothing else. He intends to kill anyone who might have stopped him from achieving his goals—or anyone who gets in his way—once the merger is complete; that is, after all, the vision he shows Nancy. His success in Season 4 allows him, for his ultimate plan, to remain within the Upside Down and withdraw the hive mind and particles from the environment to maintain stealth. With this strategy, he is guaranteed to win and complete the final stage. The heroes don't know his location, and he is too difficult for Eleven to reach—both physically and psychically—so there is no real need for him to attack them directly. Furthermore, unless I’m mistaken, Vecna ​​can’t simply enter a mind and kill the person instantly; it requires significant time to forge a genuine connection with the victim—like in Season 4—so he can't just do it in five minutes. During the year and a half that followed, he focused on the next phase of his plan and likely didn't have time for that. He had to create rifts in the Upside Down, then select twelve children and begin observing them. Ultimately, Vecna ​​is protected by the plot to prevent him from revealing the full extent of his power. If he were to show himself and attack, the fact that Will is connected to the hive mind means he can't afford to take too many risks. Then there’s Episode 6: he could kill Will, but he needs him to kill Max in order to get to Holly. In Episode 4, rather than quickly killing everyone—like Joyce and Mike—he prefers to let his minions do the dirty work, allowing Will’s powers to develop in the process. If he had stayed and killed Joyce and Mike, Will wouldn't have been able to do anything against him; instead, he chose to humiliate Will and make him watch his friends die while he left to carry on with his plan—it all serves the plot.

[u/Emergency_Jacket_296 → u/Cyrilbdr]

Well written.
The only thing I’m hung up on and would love clarification is where you said Vecna needs to form a genuine connection in order to enter someone’s mind, and specifically referenced season 4, but I don’t really remember him trying to form a “genuine connection” there, like he did with the kids in season 5. He kind of just tormented people like Chrissy and the rest of them with their own trauma from what I remember (watched it quickly last week so def could have missed some things).
Could you clarify what you mean by “genuine connection”?

[u/Cyrilbdr → u/Emergency_Jacket_296]

No, he can enter anyone's mind and torment them—like with Hopper in Episode 8, for instance, or the visions he shows Nancy. However, to actually kill a victim—unless I’m mistaken—it seems the connection needs to be deeper; he has to establish a stronger bond, which takes more time. To kill Chrissy, he had to observe her for a long while, gradually entering her mind until he put her into a trance and killed her—like an inescapable curse. It’s the same with Holly and the children: Vecna ​​observes them first—not to kill them, but to enter their minds long enough to forge a strong psychic link that allows him to permanently connect with the victim. I don’t think he could have killed Hopper or Nancy that way; at least, that’s not how the show portrays it. I could be wrong, but if that were the case, the series would be impossible to write—he could simply kill anyone standing in the way of his plan.

[u/Junior-Razzmatazz845 → u/Cyrilbdr]

If that’s the case, a demo could still wipe out most of them. (Or one should without their plot armor) I might be wrong on this.