The Eye and Hand of Vecna
So I’ve already discussed how I think El is a good reflection of the Raven Queen based on the Forgotten Realms lore. Now I’d like to explore the roles of the Eye and Hand of Vecna, two incredibly powerful magical artifacts from the original Dungeons & Dragons game.
The Eye of Vecna:
“The Eye of Vecna allows its wearer to cast the clairvoyance, crown of madness, disintegrate, dominate monster, and eyebite spells a limited number of times. It progressively regains its magic at every dawn. Using the artifact to cast any spells incurs a small risk of Vecna himself tearing the wearer's soul apart, devouring it, and taking control of the wearer's body, using it as a puppet.”
The wearer of the Eye of Vecna also gains the ability to use Truesight:
“A monster with Truesight can see in normal and magical darkness out to a specific range, see invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on saving throws against them, and perceive the original form of a shapechanger or a creature that is transformed by magic. Furthermore, the monster can see into the Ethereal Plane within the same range.”
The first Eye of Vecna was Will Byers. He broke free with the help of his friends, who essentially banded together and repeatedly cast Dispel Magic (by offering happy memories and support for Will to use as ammunition). This also left him with the residual ability to sense Vecna’s presence (Truesight).
The second Eye of Vecna was Billy Hargrove. Alone, angry, and good at picking up the details around him, Billy provided an excellent window into Hawkins High for Vecna and the Upside Down. Unfortunately, despite El’s best attempts to save him, Billy was torn apart and “devoured” by the Upside Down. He lost his soul and became one of Vecna’s puppets, as seen in Season 4′s “Dear Billy”.
And who’s my prediction for the new Eye? Max Mayfield.
Ironically blinded by her run-in with Vecna at the end of Season 4, Max is now in the best position to become the new Eye. Related to a past Eye (Billy), emotionally vulnerable, and proven to be an aggressive and skilled ‘warrior’, Max meets all the criteria for a possession. She also has close ties with El (our Raven Queen) and therefore offers Vecna the best possible ticket to victory.
The Hand of Vecna:
This artifact grants supernatural strength to its wearer, as well as a boost of cold energy to spells and attacks dealt with a weapon held by it. In addition, the Hand of Vecna allows its wearer to cast the finger of death, sleep, slow, and teleport spells a limited number of times. It progressively regains its magic every dawn. Using the artifact to cast any spells causes it to demand its wearer to commit an evil act shortly thereafter, in a manner similar to the suggestion spell.
Claiming the Hand also gives its user the highest possible Strength (20).
I would argue that the first Hand was Steve Harrington. He hindered the initial investigation, antagonized the Party/Nancy/Jonathan, and balanced his ‘cute boyfriend moments’ with semi-random acts of evil (we hear Steve say WAY worse things than Billy ever did throughout the course of S1).
Jason Carver was the Hand in Season 4. He incited violence, kept the sheriff’s department from making progress by insisting on a false narrative of Eddie’s actions, and appears at just the wrong moment every time. His strength comes not only from physical/athletic prowess, but from social power.
I think the next hand might be Dustin Henderson.
Hear me out:
He’s lost the most important people to him over and over. Will, Mike, Lucas, and now Max have all left him in one way or another. They come back, but their temporary loss weakens his already unstable foundation (I could write several papers about the experience of living as a child of divorce/under the roof of a single mother). Combining his intelligence and curiosity with his feelings of loss and frustration would be easy for Vecna.
Anyway, these are my thoughts.
9 notes
·
View notes
Me browsing dnd merch sees something
OH WOW that's a great replica of the hand and eye of vecna. So I send the pic to mom
me gets upset. However her BFF who is gona live with us likes it!
so when I move guess who's displaying the hand and eye
2 notes
·
View notes