On November 27th, the final season of Stranger Things which, yes, will later be rationed into three batches of episodes: this week the first four, on December 26th the next three and the final culmination on January 1st, 2026, to celebrate the new year “upside down”, in a slightly different way.
Obviously we expect a lot of strong emotions, as it cannot be otherwise in a series that usually has high-impact defeats in its final stages.
For those who are unaware or forgotten, we will try to summarize the fourth season and the main milestones of the series that will mark what is to come with the idea of refreshing the moment in which it left us more than three years ago. Logically from this point on you will find major spoilers, so if you continue reading you already know that you will encounter major spoilers… Don’t hate us for that!
The final episode of season 4 of Stranger Things It all started by confirming Dr. Brenner’s intention to use Eleven to “connect” with Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower), aka One.
She pushed him into the Inverted World (the Upside Down) where the energy ended up deforming him until he gave him a monstrous appearance. His name, in fact, comes from the famous character from the RPG Dungeons & Dragons and was where the children of the series gave him as a nickname, as well as Demogorgon or Prince of Demons.
The confrontation between Brenner and Eleven ends with the doctor being shot down by the military and abandoned by his daughter in the desert.
Back with her friends, Eleven tries to get into Vecna’s mind to defeat him, a task that ends up being much more complicated than expected. Max herself is in danger for giving in to her enormous power. Mike, encouraged by Will, confesses that he loves her and that he must fight evil. Thus he finds the strength to face Vecna and save Max.
Nancy, Steve and Robin are in charge of putting an end to fire and guns in what appears to be an absolute victory… although we already know that’s not entirely true.
And the fallen? There are several characters who are also very loved by the public. The first of them was Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) who tests himself by showing great courage when fighting the Demobats that were chasing him and Dustin. She dies in his arms with the comfort of having gotten herself together: “At least this time I didn’t run away, right Dustin… I think I’m finally going to graduate, I think my year has finally arrived”, she said before taking her last breath.
Max’s (Sadie Sink) situation is uncertain: Vecna needed a fourth victim to carry out his plan to divide Hawkins. She appears to succumb, blind and fractured in Lucas’ arms, but Eleven manages to make her heart beat again. However, those moments when Max dies serve Vecna to open a fourth portal.
Max ends up confined to a hospital bed in a medically induced coma that seems difficult to reverse.
As we said above, it appears that Vecna has been defeated, but Will continues to feel his energy (those terrible tickles on the back of his neck) and tells Mike that they must finish him off permanently.
Shortly after, snow begins to fall. Eleven and her friends leave the cabin where they met Jim and Joyce and see that the forest is divided into two strips: one in bloom and the other burned. In the sky, the color red takes over the light, reminding us of the threat of Vecna.
It’s up to the Duffer brothers to give a memorable ending to one of Netflix’s most innovative, loved and followed series. The fourth season of Stranger Things He laid the foundations for the outcome, but there are many pending tasks such as explaining what the Upside Down is and finishing closing the characters’ narrative arcs, which involve knowing where their evolution takes them. At the end of the day, it was always a coming of age infused with the fantasy genre.
About The Author
