Is Max dead in Stranger Things?
By WiC Staff
Spoilers for Stranger Things 4 Volume II ahead
The highly anticipated final two episodes of Stranger Things season 4 are here, and they went straight for the heart. Volume 2 of Stranger Things 4 sees our heroes from Hawkins enact a daring plan to ambush big bad Vecna. All season, Vecna has been murdering teenagers from the Upside Down. Volume 2 finally sheds light on his motives, and reveals that he’s still very much after Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) after she escaped his clutches earlier in the season.
As part of the plan to ambush Vecna, Max decides to use herself as bait in order to make Vecna vulnerable to attack in the Upside Down, since he’s defenseless when he’s psychically projecting himself into our world to kill his victims. Unfortunately, all does not go according to plan.
Does Max die in Stranger Things?
As part of the plan to defeat Vecna, Max, Lucas, and Erica go to the Creel House in hopes of luring Vecna into trying to kill Max. While Vecna is initially reluctant to fall into the trap, he does eventually possess Max. She fights his influence, stalling for time by imagining happy memories to combat the dark ones that Vecna preys upon. Yet not even the intervention of Eleven was enough to prevent Max from falling into harm’s way, as one thing after another went wrong. In the real world, basketball jock Jason arrives and breaks Max’s Walkman, preventing Lucas from waking her up with the magic of Kate Bush.
Ultimately, Vecna lifted Max into the air, broke her arms and legs, and very nearly killed her before Eleven intervened. The damage was done however, as Max died in Lucas’ arms, providing Vecna the fourth death he needed in order to break the interdimensional wall that kept the Upside Down from spilling into the real world.
However, Eleven refuses to let Max go. We see her trying to revive Max before the camera cuts to black. We later find out that Max’s heart began beating again. She was clinically dead for an entire minute, which was enough to trigger Vecna’s Upside Down gate. It was a bitter survival though. Season 4 ends with Max in a coma, with the doctors having no idea if she’ll ever wake. Eleven tries to contact her psychically in one of the final scenes of the season, but when she calls out to Max’s mind she gets no answer.
It’s not clear whether Max will ever recover, or how she’ll be changed if she does. But for now, she’s alive.
Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 is available now on Netflix!
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