Byler is a fan-made ship between the characters Will Byers and Mike Wheeler from the Netflix number one series Stranger Things. Recently, with the hype building about the show’s finale and the release of Season Five, there has been a lot of speculation about Mike’s love interests.
Some argue that Mileven (a ship involving Mike Wheeler and Eleven aka “Jane Hopper”) is endgame, meaning that it will be the relationship Mike will stay in when the show ends. However, others argue that Byler is endgame instead. This article will explore Byler and everything supporting the argument that Byler is real and therefore will be endgame. So let’s get into this deep dive!
Starting off strong, in the first ever episode, “The Vanishing of Will Byers,” we see that the bond between Will and Mike is quite strong and more intimate than that with the other main group/Dungeons and Dragons party members. After almost finishing their D&D campaign, Mike gets distracted. Will and the other boys roll the dice without Mike knowing, resulting in a loss for Will since the Demogorgon (in this case, Mike) got him. When they leave and go home, Will is the only one who stays a little longer and tells Mike the real outcome of the campaign. This scene reveals that their relationship is based on trust.
One of the most important scenes ever to understand Byler and its foundations is the “Crazy Together” scene in Season Two Episode Two. In this scene, Will tells Mike about the Shadow Monster. Then, he tells Mike to not tell the others since “they wouldn’t understand.” This leads to Mike opening up to Will about Eleven and how he feels as if she’s out there somewhere–something he feels the others wouldn’t understand. This intimate conversation makes it even more evident that the trust they have in each other goes deep. And, yes, while Eleven is mentioned, this scene is centered around this reliance these characters feel towards each other.
That’s why, when Dustin asks Mike what he was doing in Eleven’s channel on the walkie talkie in Season Two, he just denies and deviates from sharing any intimate details: this is something he can only share with one person in particular- that person being Will.
They continue their earlier conversation as Mike says that he feels as if he is going crazy and Will responds that he feels that way too. Mike finally closes this sharing of emotions by saying that if they go crazy at least they’ll go crazy together, a statement that Will agrees to. This statement alone solidifies the fact that these two can’t see a future where they’re not together, because they’re the only ones that they can 100% rely on.
Fast forward to Season Three Episode Seven, when Mike tells Eleven that “they do say it makes you crazy.” Sure, he is evidently referring to love, but guess what? He can’t say that to Eleven. Because he doesn’t love her–if anything, he’s obsessed with her. And obsession is not the same as love. The clear proof of it is how he always refers to Eleven as his “Superman.” There has almost never been a moment where Mike refers or talks about Eleven without mentioning or centering the conversation on her powers.
In Season Four Episode Eight, Mike admits that he feels as if Eleven is growing away from him because Eleven has grown to be more independent and that Eleven doesn’t NEED him anymore. That’s an important key aspect of why Mike and Eleven are toxic for each other. Mike doesn’t want love, he wants to feel needed, but Eleven needs to be independent since all her life she has been told what to do: by Papa (or Dr. Brenner), Hopper, and Mike.
This is also exactly why Mike and Will are ideal for each other. Even though Mike feels the need to be needed, Will is the only one with whom this statement is not true because as we have established their relationship is not based on power dynamics, but trust. The years of friendship behind them overpower any kind of needy feeling from Mike.
But now, let’s go back to “Crazy Together.” Remember how Mike’s idea of love is that it “makes you go crazy?” Now guess what? He wants to go crazy with Will. He already agreed to go crazy with Will. As we look at Season Four Episode Eight, Mike confesses that he doesn’t feel needed anymore. Even though Will and Mike don’t have to feel needed by one another, Will validates Mike’s feelings by showing him the painting he made of the group, re-assuring Mike that he is the heart (and therefore leader) of the group, so he is in fact needed. It is Will’s words of encouragement that help Mike find strength again in times of doubt.
Season Five is the most evident piece we have of Byler being endgame. So, SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t seen Volume One of Season Five!
Robin is the only other KNOWN queer character in the show, who was introduced in Season Three as a possible love interest for Steve Harrington; however, later in this season, we have it revealed that Robin is lesbian. Will began struggling with his identity this same season after being neglected and called queer by Mike himself. This is a very important fact, considering that both of these characters never directly interacted for two full seasons (3 & 4).
Season Five introduces Robin to Will when he sees her spending time with her girlfriend Vickie at the hospital. This is the first time Will has ever seen two Queer people explicitly flirting (even though it is in a private environment), so it shocks him to see them being happy and Queer, especially since he struggles with identity and sexuality himself.
Robin does in fact notice this, and later in this volume she has a conversation about self-acceptance with Will after going on a long adventure with him and eventually discussing how she knew Vickie wanted to date her. She says that there were signals “like a brush on the knee, a bump on the elbow, a shared look. It all just kind of accrued like a snowball rolling down a hill.” But then, Robin says, “The snowball became an avalanche.” These moments, while very subtle, do happen in the show, but not just to Robin and Vickie.
The brush on the knee happens when Will and Mike sit next to one another in Season Four. The bump on the elbow happens while they’re walking down a HILL in Season Five. And the shared looks are there in almost every single season. These moments are in fact building up.
They are clearly seen as these characters (Will and Mike) are flirting when they’re about to enter the tunnels, and as Will pushes Mike away while being playful. Mike notices and just smiles. Then, in the tunnels, Robin notices what is happening and begins her speech about self-acceptance.
Robin speaks about Thammy Thompson, and how much love she had for her. One day, she explains, she got grounded and she had to clean her parent’s garage, where she found a home-made movie from when she was in fourth grade. She remembers seeing a tiny version of herself being so care-free and real that she knew right then that it was never about Thammy Thompson, but about herself and self-acceptance. She had to accept the fact that she was queer before she could love someone the right way, so that she could truly know who she liked.
However, this speech is what a lot of people misinterpret, me being guilty myself. The speech is not trying to say that Mike is Will’s Thammy Thompson, but rather that Will has to love himself before he loves someone else. Another piece of evidence showing that is not the intended message of the speech is when Will gains his powers.
When Will finally accepts himself and sees his own home-made movie, Mike IS there in contrast to Thammy Thompson not being there. Mike is a crucial and important part of Will’s character. Will’s movie depicts how he met Mike, with the latter being the one who approached Will and suggested they be friends. Will learns to love himself through Mike and his family. Opposed to Robin’s path of independence, which comes when she is older and learns to love herself. Remember how Mike has the need to feel needed? Will, while not needing him (because he accepts himself), provides this feeling to Mike, and he realizes right there and then as Will gains his powers how important Will is to him. Not because he saves him, because that would be the basis of another superman, but because he now sees how much he matters to Will. Not necessarily that he needs Mike, but how much Will cares about Mike.
Byler is endgame because it is the best possible closure for Will, Mike, and even Eleven. I want to close this by saying that whatever the outcome is, I feel happy that Will has grown as a character into who he is now. As a Queer person myself, I think that Will is one of the best representations of a gay male in the media today. I feel both seen and recognized by him, especially considering how big Stranger Things has become. Thank you for this Duffer Brothers. Truly.
