Netflix’s Stranger Things continues to captivate audiences, but Season 5 has also left fans buzzing over a handful of puzzling continuity errors. Since the release of Volume 1 on November 26, viewers have taken to social media to point out inconsistencies in Will Byers’ (Noah Schnapp) flashbacks, as well as discrepancies in his age during key events.

In Episode 4, titled “Sorcerer,” fans see Will exploring his newfound supernatural abilities while revisiting pivotal moments from his childhood—showing his artwork to his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder), meeting Mike (Finn Wolfhard) at school, and building the beloved Castle Byers with his older brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton).

However, fans quickly noticed that the sunny, carefree depiction of Castle Byers doesn’t match previous accounts. In the flashback, Will and Jonathan build the fort together on a crisp, clear day, laughing and enjoying themselves. Yet in Season 2, Jonathan recalls that the fort was constructed during a stormy night, leaving the brothers soaked and ill for a week.

One fan pointed out, “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. 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.”

In Season 2’s episode “The Mind Flayer,” Jonathan narrates the story that they built the Castly Byers on the night when their dad left:

“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. Then it started raining, but we stayed out there anyway. We were both sick for like a week after. But we just had to finish it, didn’t we? We just had to.”

While many called out the mistake, some fans thought it was not an error. “I explain this by the fact that they most likely started building the castle before Loni left, and on the day he finally left, Jonathan decided to finish it with Will so that he would have a safe place,” replied a fan.

Discrepancy in Will Byers Age

The Castle Byers inconsistency isn’t the only continuity issue catching fans’ attention. In Season 5’s “The Turnbow Trap,” Joyce mentions that Will was 11 when he first vanished into the Upside Down, but a missing persons poster shown on-screen lists his age as 12 at the time.

“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.”

The term “Birthdaygate” actually stems from an earlier oversight in Season 4. 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 have since apologized for the date crossover. Matt Duffer told Variety in June 2022:

“The honest response is, clearly like the characters in the show, we also forgot about Will’s birthday. So the debate now is whether we adjust Will’s birthday or just let it be really sad.”

Ross Duffer later shared that they considered moving Will’s birthday to May 22, reasoning that it would be “too mean” to imagine everyone forgetting him entirely. “It was obviously a mistake, and we’re sorry. We apologize to the fans,” he added.

As Stranger Things gears up for the rest of Season 5, these small continuity hiccups haven’t dampened enthusiasm. If anything, they’ve sparked lively fan debates, showing just how deeply invested viewers are in the world of Hawkins and in Will Byers’ complicated history.