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[Ed. note:<\/strong> As you might\u2019ve guessed or hoped for, this post goes into detail about the end of season 4 of Stranger Things<\/em>.] <\/p>\n

Upon its release, Stranger Things 4 <\/em>part 2 was a doozy, and not just because of the run time. In the final run of episodes, the whole cast of characters finally converged on Hawkins and beat Vecna \u2014 sorta. <\/p>\n

Though they survived the battle, the war still looms in a very real way, as Vecna\u2019s efforts to merge the Upside Down and regular world are a bigger threat than ever now that four rifts between the worlds scar the town they love. Plus, there\u2019s still the Upside Down particle monster\/shadow that Joyce and Hopper glimpsed in Russia. <\/p>\n

All this sets up a pretty major final season for the streaming juggernaut, in which I\u2019m sure the Upside Down monsters will be worse than ever. Knowing that the end is so close, naturally every lingering question feels a little more weighted than it might otherwise. While Stranger Things<\/em> is known to inflate some episode lengths, there\u2019s still a (relatively) limited window to wrap up the journeys of everyone in the cast. And that\u2019s all before we get into solving their latest Upside Down problem. <\/p>\n

What happened to Vecna? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Although Nancy, Robin, and Steve\u2019s ground offensive successfully incapacitated Vecna \u2014 they both shot him out a window and<\/em> burned him extensively \u2014 by the time they got outside he had vanished, leaving just a soot mark on the Upside Down ground. <\/p>\n

Does that mean that Vecna is well and truly dead? No, at least not according to Will. His Upside Down Spidey senses told him that One\/Vecna\/Henry is still very much alive. \u201cNow that I\u2019m here, in Hawkins, I can feel him. And he\u2019s hurting, but he\u2019s still alive,\u201d Will told Mike. \u201cIt\u2019s strange, knowing now who it was this whole time. But I can still remember what he thinks, and how<\/em> he thinks. And he\u2019s not going to stop. Ever. Not until he\u2019s taken everything and everyone. We have to kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does that mean for Hawkins?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A few days after Vecna\u2019s attack, many of the people of Hawkins are already moving away from the \u201cearthquake\u201d that caused the massive rifts through town. The Upside Down seems to be bleeding through to our world, as vines make their way through the rifts and up buildings, electrical storms pop up, Upside Down dust starts to rain down, and the infected ground kills the plants surrounding the town. <\/p>\n

Will\u2019s Upside Down Spidey sense lets him know the storm clouds are setting in. And soon everyone in town is looking up, trying to make sense of what happens now. Though our cast of main characters certainly knows better than the regular townspeople what\u2019s spreading through the air and beneath their feet, they don\u2019t look any more capable of stopping it \u2014 yet. When Eleven looks back at the town in the final moments of episode 9, it\u2019s clear the Upside Down is starting to take over Hawkins. As Vecna told Eleven: \u201cThis is only the beginning. The beginning of the end. You have already lost.\u201d <\/p>\n

Is Max dead? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

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No, but Eleven can\u2019t find her, even in her own headspace. Max held out for as long as she could, but Eleven\u2019s victory in the psychic duel and Steve, Nancy, and Robin\u2019s victory in the Upside Down came too late. He had already started the process of killing Max, suspending her in the air and systematically breaking her bones. Once Vecna was dispatched, Max fell and woke up from the trance, but told Lucas she couldn\u2019t hear or feel anything. She died shortly after. <\/p>\n

El refused to accept this and used her powers to bring Max back to life \u2014 to a point. We last see Max in the hospital, where she\u2019s in a coma the doctors aren\u2019t certain she\u2019ll wake up from. When El touches her hand to mind meld with her, she finds Max\u2019s brainspace totally empty. Where Max\u2019s mind has gone \u2014 and if it can return to her body again \u2014 is one of the biggest questions heading into the final season. Though I\u2019d be hard-pressed to believe this is the last we\u2019ve seen of Max on Stranger Things<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Will Hopper and El still have matching haircuts in Stranger Things 5?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Who knows. Maybe they\u2019ll really bond over it during this period and grow it out together. They could even complete the look with matching father-daughter outfits.<\/p>\n

OK seriously: What is going on with Will?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Although Will finally got to show Mike his art and talk him up, it almost immediately prompted Will to sadly bawl by himself as he looked out the window. As he described the thought process behind his painting, Will spoke about how hard it was to be different than other people, and was fairly clearly emotional about it. <\/p>\n

Though Mike continued to be oblivious all season to what Will is going through, Jonathan (fresh off the weed) finally clued in. While prepping the sensory deprivation tank\/pizza freezer for Eleven, Jonathan told Will that he\u2019s sad about how distant they\u2019ve been. \u201cI don\u2019t want you to forget that I\u2019m here. I\u2019ll always be here, no matter what, because you\u2019re my brother, and I love you,\u201d Jonathan said. \u201cThere is nothing in this world \u2014 absolutely nothing \u2014 that will ever change that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, after a hug, Will went back to playing a supporting character and we didn\u2019t get any resolution for whatever was going on with him throughout the entire season. In Part 1, when he was melancholily consoling Mike, he again talked about El in a way that felt like he was talking about fears he has himself. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s just scary to open up like that and say how you feel,\u201d he told Mike in a charged moment in episode 5. \u201cWhat if the people you care about the most don\u2019t like the truth?\u201d <\/p>\n

While he might<\/em> just have been that bent out of shape about the issues in Mike and El\u2019s relationship, is it possible there\u2019s something more happening with him and his own coming-of-age story? Some feel that it\u2019s building up to a story about Will coming out to his friends and family. But as of Stranger Things 4<\/em>, it\u2019s unclear.<\/p>\n

Are Nancy and Steve going to get back together?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Just when you thought Stranger Things<\/em> was done with a love triangle, we\u2019re back studying amorous trigonometry again. After spending the whole season trying to find the perfect girl, Steve finally came clean to Nancy that she was the one in his fantasies about raising six Harringtons and road tripping around the country. Hearing this, Nancy seemed intrigued, or at least flattered. <\/p>\n

She certainly was interested in defending how much Steve had \u201cgrown up\u201d to Jonathan, her boyfriend she\u2019d been estranged from (physically and emotionally) throughout Stranger Things 4<\/em>. Although they finally ended up back together in Hawkins, the season ended with those two awkwardly dancing around if they still make sense together. He apologized to Nancy for being distant, but also still lied about his plans to hopefully attend the same college as her. And it\u2019s clear the events of this season left Nancy reconsidering her feelings toward Steve. All in all, it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s clear skies for Jonathan and Nancy, Vecna or no.<\/p>\n

Where will the Russians factor in?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It took the entire season for the children to learn that Joyce, Murray, and Hopper were in the Soviet Union, let alone that they were aiding the fight against Vecna\u2019s forces by attacking monsters connected to the hive mind. Ultimately, the Hopper rescue mission to Russia was vital, but it often felt pretty auxiliary to the rest of the season. <\/p>\n

Still, important discoveries were made: The Soviets are continuing to make contact with the Upside Down and seem to have made better headway than Brenner into figuring out exactly what its deal is and how to harness its monsters. Joyce and Hopper stumbled on a (now gone) lab of Demodogs, other Upside Down monsters, and a \u201cparticle monster\u201d that resembled the primitive form of the Mind Flayer. <\/p>\n

Is the American military still looking for Eleven?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Though they were neutered as a plot element once Eleven downed their helicopter in the Nevada desert, they were (for a time) very concerned about how Eleven would handle her powers. Now that she\u2019s come into her own and<\/em> Hawkins, Indiana has seemingly turned into one massive gate, one would think the military would have a bone to pick with her \u2014 and\/or an apology note for not helping her stop this! What better time to mend fences and work together than the end of the world?<\/p>\n

Will there be a time jump in season 5? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Although the final moments of Stranger Things 4<\/em> seem to set up going right back into battle, it\u2019s likely that there\u2019s going to be a time skip. For starters, Mike said El didn\u2019t feel she was ready to fight Vecna again, and so she might have to train with Yoda more to access the true depth of her powers. Plus, Vecna is still recuperating, and if Max is going to get into the action, she needs her body to heal in addition to Eleven finding her missing mind.<\/p>\n

The Duffer brothers <\/em>have said in interviews that a time jump is likely, in part because they have to cover for the fact that the cast keeps growing. \u201cI\u2019m sure we will do a time jump,\u201d Ross Duffer told TV Line in June 2022, noting the fact that the young stars are aging rapidly. \u201cIdeally, we\u2019d have shot [seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that. So these are all discussions we\u2019re going to have with our writers when we start the room up.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s hard to imagine the foundation of Hawkins can withstand too<\/em> much time lapsing in between seasons, it would certainly give El more time to train and Max time to heal up. <\/p>\n

No seriously \u2014 will we ever get \u201cRunning Up That Hill\u201d out of our heads?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Now there\u2019s a heavy synth remix in the mix? Hoo boy. Here\u2019s to the Kate Bush resurgence! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[Ed. note: As you might\u2019ve guessed or hoped for, this post goes into detail about the end of season 4 of Stranger Things.] Upon its release, Stranger Things 4 part 2 was a doozy, and not just because of the run time. In the final run of episodes, the whole cast of characters finally converged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/thumbor\/X6kSk0KQnpMTGKUsiKPqnm1y81E=\/7x0:3646x1905\/fit-in\/1200x630\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/23664459\/A404C010.00086402.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-news"],"yoast_head":"\n