Will Byers gets his powers in season 5, during episode 4 of Stranger Things, when he finally taps into the Upside Down and unleashes dormant psychic abilities linked to Vecna’s hive mind.

Quick Scoop: When Does Will Get Powers?

In the first four seasons, Will mostly acts as a “sensor” for the Upside Down—he feels Vecna’s presence, gets chills on his neck, and seizes when creatures are nearby, but he doesn’t actually fight with powers. The real shift happens in season 5, episode 4, during a battle in the Military Access Control Zone (MAC‑Z), when demogorgons attack and Vecna confronts him.

At that moment, Vecna reveals he chose Will originally because he was the weakest and easiest to shape, which pushes Will to finally reject being a pawn and take control of his own fate. Driven by that emotional turning point, Will taps into the hive mind and stops multiple demogorgons, effectively “switching on” his powers on-screen for the first time.

What Kind of Powers Does Will Get?

Will’s abilities in season 5 are not the same as Eleven’s; he doesn’t have innate telekinesis in the classic sense. Instead, the Duffer brothers have explained that Will channels Vecna’s powers via the hive mind, almost like puppeteering the Upside Down creatures when he’s close enough to that psychic network.

Because of this, his powers are “borrowed,” not natural: he only has them because he was taken into the Upside Down and hooked into the hive mind back in season 1, and if that abduction hadn’t happened, these abilities “never would’ve happened.” Practically, that means he can sense Vecna’s forces, control some of the same monsters, and turn the hive’s connection—which once victimized him—into a weapon to protect his friends.

TL;DR: Will gets his powers in Stranger Things season 5, episode 4, when he finally connects to and then controls the Upside Down hive mind during the MAC‑Z demogorgon fight, channeling Vecna’s abilities rather than awakening his own natural powers.

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