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Who dies in Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2? That’s a valid question. Even if you’ve watched both episodes repeatedly since arriving on Netflix, there’s some ambiguity surrounding the fate of certain characters. And since this is easily the darkest part of the series yet, you might just want a body count recap. Or if you don’t want to see the (excellent) new series and just want a cheat sheet on who won’t make it out of the Battle of Hawkins alive (and shame on you), then this is the article for you.
If you’re in tears after watching, you’ve been warned. This season has always been messy — the Duffer brothers, the show’s creators, were previously asked if we could expect a “body count.” Your Dominions answer? “Sure sure.” And yes, they delivered. But to say more would be a spoiler. Don’t read any further if you don’t want to know who dies in stranger things season 4 volume 2. There is major spoilers ahead. You have been warned!
Who dies in Strangers Things Season 4 Volume 2? *spoilers ahead*
Does Max die in Stranger Things?
Max almost succumbed to Vecna’s dark dimension in the fourth episode of the season. Luckily, her friends (and Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”) helped her mind fight the veined villain and find his way back to her real-world body. In Volume 2, Max convinces the gang to use her as bait for Vecna’s spirit while the others fry his physical form in the Upside Down – but it doesn’t take long for things to go sideways.
First, Vecna infiltrates the happy memory Max uses to keep him at bay – her time at Hawkins’ Middle School Snowball – and then, during his attack on Lucas at the Creel House, Jason smashes her tape recorder. With no music to snap her out of the mind layer, Vecna manages to overpower Max and she begins to float back into Hawkins.
As her limbs bend and snap, blood begins to ooze from her white eyes and it looks like she’s gone, but Eleven intervenes just in time, blasting Vecna’s consciousness away from her best friend. Back in the real world, Lucas orders Erica to call an ambulance while cradling a badly injured Max, who says she can’t see or feel anything. A few minutes later Max dies – her heart stops for a whole minute.
However, Eleven decides she’s seen enough death and… somehow… she resurrects Max with her powers. Just not quite, because the next time we see Max, she’s in a coma in the hospital. Eleven comes to mind and there is no one, only darkness. Let’s pray that Max is conscious again by the start of Stranger Things Season 5.
Eddie Munson
This one hurts. Eddie Munson might not have joined Stranger Things until the beginning of season four, but he quickly became one of the show’s best characters. Dungeons & Dragons loving heavy metal Stan wormed his way into our hearts from his first performance in the school cafeteria. He didn’t have it easy, however, as he got sucked into the Satanic Hawkins Panic of the ’80s after being the last person seen with Chrissy. Witnessing her brutal death, he went into hiding as the police pursued him. Dustin, Steve, and the Hawkins gang rescued him and brought him into their plans to defeat Vecna.
In the final battle, he and Dustin are given the task of luring the Demobats away from Steve, Nancy, and Robin so they have time to destroy Vecna’s body in the Upside Down. They are warned about being heroes – but unfortunately Eddie doesn’t seem to be listening. At first everything seems to be going well, but then the bats enter the caravan through the ventilation slots. Dustin and Eddie decide to abandon ship. But at the last moment, Eddie changes his mind and leaves Dustin at Hawkins to buy some more time.
It’s not long before the bats come at him, leaving him with some very serious injuries. When Dustin comes back through the gate, Eddie is dying. As he lies in his arms, Eddie tells Dustin, “I didn’t run away this time, did I?” when he makes him promise to take care of the others. His final words are all about how he might finally graduate this year, on his third and final attempt. “I think it’s my year Henderson,” he tells him, “I think it’s finally my year.” ’86, sweetheart. Excuse me, I think I might have something in mind… You can read our In memoriam to Eddie Munson via this link.
Dr Martin Brenner
It was clear that an episode with the title “Papa” would show Brenner big – and the eighth episode didn’t disappoint either. After their confrontation with Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower) in his pre-Vecna phase, Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine) and Dr. Sam Owens (Paul Reiser) Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) the truth about Vecna/Henry/One.
After Eleven tells the boy that Henry is now killing kids in Hawkins, Eleven vows to return to Indiana to help her buddies caught in the storm, but Brenner insists that Eleven isn’t strong enough to take care of herself just yet to face the great evil. Owens reminds Brenner that they agreed their facility would not be a prison and that Eleven should make her own decisions. However, the control freak, Brenner, isn’t listening, prompting him to secure Owens and calm down Eleven.
Later, the base of the Nina Project is taken over by Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan is ambushed and while trying to get Eleven to safety, Brenner is fatally gunned down by Sullivan’s men. As he bleeds to death, he uses a remote control to unlock the shock collar he has placed around Eleven’s neck, telling her he has always considered her his family. Cloudy to the end.
Jason Schnitzer
Jason Carver has been causing all sorts of trouble throughout Stranger Things season 4. This only intensified in the finale when he tried to get Lucas to wake Max out of her “trance”. Not only did he destroy her Kate Bush ribbon, he almost choked Lucas to death while fighting him. So forgive us if we’re not too sad to see the Hawkins High jock die.
His death came in an instant and you will miss it. After Lucas gets the upper hand by beating him up, Jason lies on the floor of Henry Creel’s house. It turns out to be the worst place he could be when Vecna’s plan succeeds and the gates to the Upside Down open across the city. Jason is caught between two halves as his body is ripped in half and disintegrates. whoops It’s a pretty gruesome ending for the basketball player. But considering how he almost managed to ruin the whole plan to destroy Vecna, it seems like he let it come.
Is Vecna still alive?
Unfortunately for Eleven, Max and the others, Vecna survived. Despite the villain being flambéed by Steve, Robin, and Nancy in Upside Down, Will confirms he can still sense Vecna in Hawkins. In fact, when Steve and co. left the house where they fried Vecna, the creature’s body wasn’t outside…
In Episode 8, the gang remembers how Vecna’s spooky grandfather clock always strikes four, and they take it to mean that he needs to kill four victims in order to complete his grand scheme of unleashing Demogorgons and the like in the real world. It turns out that Max’s “death” counted, and it led to a devastating earthquake that killed 22 locals and caused glowing, sore-like gates to appear across the city. It also seemed to revive Vecna.
“Now that I’m here, in Hawkins, I can feel it,” Will tells Mike, referring to his somewhat dormant connection to the Upside Down. “And he’s hurt, he’s hurting, but he’s still alive. It’s weird now knowing who it was all along, but I can still remember what he’s thinking, and how he thinks, and he won’t stop… ever… not until he’s taken everything and everyone. We have to kill him.”
what about dr Happened to Sam Owens?
Unlike the other characters mentioned here, the fate of Dr. Sam Owens unclear. He last appeared in episode 8 after Brenner handcuffed him to a pipe in The Nina Project’s bunker and Sullivan threatened him before targeting Eleven.
While Eleven managed to shut down the Army’s helicopter before he could finish them off, and it exploded right over one of the silo’s entrances, it was underground, so it’s unlikely he was caught in the blast. Could he show up again in Season 5? Only time can tell. Hopefully someone remembers he’s down there…
For more information on Stranger Things, check out our Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 ending explainer and our Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 biggest easter eggs and references rundown. If you’ve watched the whole chapter and Don’t know what to watch next, check out the best Netflix shows and the best Netflix movies available right now.
