Spoilers for Stranger Things season 5, episode 7.
Max wakes in the hospital and reunites with Lucas, while Holly frees herself from the restraints holding her body in another realm. Holly reaches a rift and falls into the Upside Down, where Nancy's group sees her overhead, but Vecna pulls her back before they can help. Mr. Clarke, Erica and Murray locate Dustin's signal. Eleven opens a route beneath the military's metal plates, allowing the scattered groups to reunite.
Dustin explains that the Upside Down is a bridge between Hawkins and the Abyss, the home of the monsters and the place where the children are being held. Vecna intends to use them to draw the worlds together. The group plans to climb the radio tower as the realms approach, rescue the children, and have Eleven attack Vecna's mind with Kali and Max's help. Explosives will destroy the bridge after they escape.
Kali privately urges Eleven to remain behind when the Upside Down is destroyed, believing their deaths would prevent the military continuing its experiments. Will tells his friends and family that he is gay and explains his fear of losing them; they embrace him and support his decision to join the mission. In Camazotz, Holly's attempt to resist fails when the other children overpower her. The group drives through the military base into the Upside Down as Vecna gathers his vessels and begins.