Great theory to cover up bad writing, but, unfortunately, the Duffer Brothers have set the story straight!

Fair enough. Another question I had that other people have been asking is once they get to The Abyss, where are all the creatures? Where are the demogorgons, the demodogs, the bats? Are they hiding?

Matt Duffer: Mainly it’s just that Vecna was not expecting this sneak attack on his home turf. Never in a million years could he even imagine that. They’re there somewhere. We obviously discussed having a demo battle on top of the Mind Flayer battle, but it felt more right to us that why does he need the demos when the Mind Flayer is this giant thing and can attack them? He doesn’t need his little ant army to attack, he’s going to take care of this himself. It’s a giant, desolate planet. If you recall, you see Henry wandering the planet back in Season 4 and at some point in his journey, he does see a demo far in the distance, but it’s not like they’re hanging out in little huts. There’s not like a giant civilization of demos up there.