Stranger Things will officially come to an end in just a few days with the series finale dropping on Netflix and in select theaters on December 31. The series finale promises to bring an end to the series that has captivated audiences for the last decade.
Fans are eager to see how the show will come to an end, but more than anything they’re eager to see which characters will and won’t make it out of the series finale alive. This is far from surprising as fans have entered every batch of episodes this season with a fear that a major character would die, only for the show to play it safe instead.
Through the first seven episodes of the final season, there has not been a single named character death. Instead, the only deaths of the season have been background players such as random military guards. This has led to rampant speculation that the series finale will be the show’s most deadly episode yet, a theory that has gained momentum on social media in the days since part 2’s release on Christmas Day.
Across social media, particularly on TikTok, fans have been discussing the characters they feel are in the most danger. Many of these viral posts have begun citing a promise from Matt and Ross Duffer that the series finale will feature the death of five main characters, a promise that keeps gaining momentum. However, there’s just one problem: The Duffers never made this promise.
The Duffer Brothers have never said five characters would die in the Stranger Things series finale
Despite numerous claims by social media users on TikTok, the Duffer Brothers have never said there would be five character deaths in the Stranger Things series finale. In fact, they’ve actually hinted that the series finale won’t be the bloodbath that fans keep speculating it will be.
In speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Matt Duffer explicitly stated that Stranger Things is not trying to bring fans a “Red Wedding” level event. While the series finale will feature some shocking moments, he’s made it clear that the show doesn’t intend to slaughter countless characters for shock value.
“It’s not Game of Thrones. We’re not in Westeros. I love Game of Thrones, but it’s just a very different type of show than that. There’s not going to be a Red Wedding situation. I think some things happen in the finale that are very surprising, but we’re not trying to shock or upset anyone. I hope by the time people get to the end of the finale that it just feels like there’s something inevitable about what happens, and that it doesn’t feel painful but feels satisfying. We’ll see.”
For those unfamiliar with Game of Thrones lore, the Red Wedding is one of the show’s most brutal moments resulting in the death of several key characters. It all takes place at a wedding feast where Robb Stark and his army were betrayed and massacred leading to the deaths of countless characters including Robb Stark, his mother Catelyn, his dire wolf Grey Wind, and his pregnant wife Talisa.
With the Duffer Brothers directly noting that the Stranger Things series finale will not be a Red Wedding style situation, this seems to hint that there won’t be much bloodshed in the final episode of the show. Yes, there might be a few character deaths, but the Duffers have never said exactly five characters will die, nor have they ever truly confirmed that any main character will perish in the final episode.
It’s a real possibility that the series finale will bring the death of a key character or two, but it’s also just as real a possibility that the episode ends without any of the core Hawkins characters dying. What seems most likely is that it’s the villains and newly introduced characters who are at the most risk, as the show has had a long-standing history of killing off new characters and villains rather than any of the actual core characters.