*MAJOR SPOILERS from Stranger Things season 4 episodes 5-7 below!

It’s Stranger Things season 4 release day, and we couldn’t be more excited! Those very early hours of Friday morning were the ones we’ve all been waiting for. Eleven and the rest of the Hawkins gang is back, and now face a new challenge!

As most of you know by now, the nine episode season has been split into two parts. That’s why there’s only seven episodes in your Netflix accounts. The last two remaining episodes will be released on Friday, July 1.

A lot happened in volume 1. It feels like we need some time to recover, but we’re also too eager for more! And one of the questions we’re wondering is whether El gets her powers back in this first batch of episodes.

One more warning! Major spoilers for episodes 5-7 below.

By the end of volume 1, El doesn’t get her powers back fully. But we do have a moment where they return, which gives her and us hope that they’re still in there. At the end of episode 5, “The Nina Project,” our little heroine tries to run away from Sam Owens’ underground lab. As the guards reach for her, she has a sudden burst of energy that blasts them back. So her powers are still in there! But they haven’t returned fully.

In “The Dive,” which is the sixth episode, Dr. Brenner (aka Papa) explains to El that what she suffered at the Battle of Starcourt when defeating The Mind Flayer is similar to when someone has a stroke. The signals in the brain become scrambled. He thinks that’s what happened to her when she fought The Mind Flayer. And he thinks recovering the traumatic memories and re-experiencing them will help bring her full powers back.

By the time we reach the final scene of episode 7, we discover what exactly happened in the Rainbow Room. It wasn’t Eleven who killed all the other kids and Hawkins Lab guards. It was Peter Ballard, who works at the lab.

Aka One. Aka Henry Creel (Victor’s son). Aka Vecna. What!? I know! And it was Eleven who sent him to the Upside Down and basically created him into the monster he is today. What a plot twist!

Just as she and the audience figures that out, of course the episode ends! Now we have to wait for episodes 8 and 9 to come out to see the aftermath. Since these repressed memories have come to the surface, was this the final step to get her powers back? We’ll have to wait and see! But if I had to take a guess, I’d say it’s very likely she’ll get her powers back.

Stranger Things season 4 volume 1 is now streaming on Netflix!