The end of Stranger Things is officially here. The season 5 and series finale is set to be released on Wednesday, Dec. 31, and with it, we're expecting to see a lot of death and destruction.
As you know by now, Vecna is trying to smash his world, the Abyss, into Hawkins through the Upside Down using Holly, Derek, and the other kids, and our heroes are just waiting for their time to strike to stop him.
While I'm not expecting a Game of Thrones-level massacre in the finale, I do think we can expect at least a handful of characters to die in the Stranger Things 5 finale. Some are much more likely than others.
For this exercise, I picked four characters who are definitely going to die in the finale and three other characters in danger of dying.
Vecna/Henry Creel
Status: Definitely will die
There's no sugarcoating it. There's no way that Vecna is winning this war. We're going to see a ragtag group of kids and a couple of adults with trauma wipe the floor with his vine-y bod.
Is he going to do some damage? Probably. Will he take out a few of our favorites? I hope not! But, it's definitely possible. Fingers crossed that he leaves the good characters alive.
(That was a joke. I genuinely do not want any of the heroes of Hawkins to die, but I am worried about a few of them, which we will get to shortly.)
Dr. Kay
Status: Definitely will die
Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) has been a welcome addition to the Stranger Things 5 cast. She's been involved with some pretty specific plot points, but overall, we still haven't fully grasped Dr. Kay's role in everything that's happening.
After the events of Vol. 2, I've never been more sure that a character is going to die than Dr. Kay. If Vecna doesn't get her, I have a feeling that Kali will, and that will be sweet revenge for her.
Kali/Eight
Status: Definitely will die
From the second we saw Kali in Stranger Things 5, it's been clear that she's going to die. I have to give props to the Duffer brothers for an epic reveal in the "Sorcerer," and the new element it's given to this story. With Kali's ability to make very realistic illusions, there are some really cool things that could happen in the finale to beat Vecna.
I'm thinking that Kali will manipulate Vecna into believing he's won, only to realize too late that he's lost everything. Then, I'm curious if Kali's last sacrifice could be to wipe the collective memory of those not directly involved to bring back some sembleance of life to Hawkins.
Lt. Robert Akers
Status: Definitely will die
In the same way that Dr. Kay is destined for death, Lt. Robert Akers (Alex Breaux)'s minutes and hours left are definitely numbered. He will probably be the last of these military dudes left standing, but he's going to meet a similar fate. I don't know whose hand it will be at. It could be Kali, Vecna, or even Eleven, but somebody is going to kill Akers.
I don't think we've seen enough character development from Akers yet to know if he has any good inside of him anymore. But, if so, things could get pretty interesting. Would he be the one to turn on the military and work with Hopper and the gang to best Vecna? It's possible.
Steve Harrington
Status: In danger
If any of the main characters are going to die, Steve (Joe Keery) seems like a likely candidate. Do I think it will actually happen? No, I don't, but there's enough smoke here to feel a little fire.
Steve seems like the sacrifice that the show could make because he's connected to the group, but Robin (Maya Hawke) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) are probably the two closest characters to him. He's not as connected as, say, Nancy (Natalia Dyer), who has a whole family of characters we would have to imagine would be left to live without her.
Plus, there is that clip in the Stranger Things 5 finale trailer that shows Dustin screaming at someone or something. I really hope it's not Steve dying.
Eleven
Status: In danger
Heading into Vol. 2, I knew Eleven was at least safe until the Stranger Things 5 finale. Then, in Vol. 2, Kali revealed that she's planning to sacrifice herself after all this is over to officially end everything that happened with the Hawkins Lab and all the testing and all the experiments.
I don't think Eleven is actually going to do that, especially since the seed to sacrifice herself has already been planted, but I do think the Duffers are going to make fans wait until the very last second possible to know if Eleven lives. I don't know exactly what point of the finale that will be, but I have a feeling it's going to be near the end.
Jim Hopper
Status: In danger
Hopper (David Harbour) is like a cat with nine lives in Stranger Things. He could have died so many times, honestly, but he's still on the front lines about to go toe-to-toe with Vecna in the season 5 finale. It would be so awesome if Hopper is the one who delivers the killing blow on Vecna.
Ultimately, I don't think Hopper is definitely going to die. In fact, I think it's more likely that he survives everything and lives that happy life that we wanted him to live this whole time. But, there's going to be some close calls in the finale. I know that much!
Hopper's willingness to sacrifice himself makes me think that he's probably going to live. It's been hinted at so many times. It would feel almost too predictable for Hopper to die. To me, it would feel unsatisfying when we've worried so much about Hopper anyway.
So, those are the characters I'm most worried about in the finale, but I don't think it's going to be Game of Thrones-level or anything like that, as mentioned.
We'll see who actually bites the dust in the Stranger Things 5 finale on Wednesday, Dec. 31!