Credit: NetflixIt would hardly be a lie to say that Stranger Things Season 5 is drawing closer, but the fifth and final season in the hit Netflix television series is still likely a few years from release.
Thankfully, in the meantime, we still have Stranger Things seasons 1 — 4 available on the streaming service, which might be worth a rewatch (or two) to see if there are any clues about how things will pan out for our Hawkins heroes (and villains) in their final moments.
There’s also the West End stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow (2023), which acts as an official and canonical prequel to the flagship television series, offering fans more insight about certain characters, including Season 4 protagonist Henry Creel/One/Vecna.
Fans are now more eager than ever to find out what will happen to the show’s main lineup, which includes Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), and May Mayfield (Sadie Sink).
What will become of these characters? Who will survive? All of them? Half of them? Less?
If there’s one thing we can trust the Duffer brothers not to do, it’s to kill off characters for the sake of cheap thrills. In the four seasons of the show so far, not a single lead character has been killed off. Unless we’re talking about the likes of Bob Newby (Sean Astin) and Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), each of whom was killed in the same season they were introduced.
But now that Hawkins has been literally torn down the middle by Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), and with the Upside Down starting to bleed through, all bets are off. This is especially true in the case of Max Mayfield, who, in the Season 4 finale, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback,” became the dark wizard’s latest victim — well, sort of.
Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Star Discusses Character Death Ahead of Season 5 Release
Throughout Season 4, Vecna brutally dispatches a number of Hawkins teens by singling them out telepathically (honing in on particularly troubled individuals, which is why Max has her happy song, Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” on loop as a distraction), and then telekinetically lifting them into the air where he snaps all of their limbs and drains them of all life.
And in the finale, he manages to get his claws on poor Max.
Fortunately, Eleven comes to her rescue and defeats Vecna, but it all seems a little too late as Max falls into a coma of some kind. Following her (temporary) victory over Vecna, Eleven desperately searches for Max’s “consciousness” — her unconscious body is in the hospital — in the featureless black void where she’s usually able to connect with the minds of others, but is distraught to learn that Max is nowhere to be found.
Max, it seems, is either in a supernatural coma, or she’s already dead, and her body is simply still breathing.
Should the former be the case, it’s possible Eleven, and the rest of the gang, will find a way to reconnect Max’s mind with her body (will the famous song “Where is My Mind?” become Season 5’s answer to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”?). But if we’re staring down the barrel of the latter scenario, things are looking incredibly grim for Max Mayfield.
With Season 5 still nowhere in sight, it’s hard to tell what will happen to Max, and naturally, the actors are keeping things close to their chest. But there are some clues peppered throughout Season 4 that may hint at Max’s fate, some of them hopeful, others not so much.
Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Is Recasting Three of Its Main Characters
Stranger Things Season 4 Clues (Bad and Good)
Bad — “Running Up That Hill”
The song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush is the first clue. Though the iconic musician has explained that the song addresses the lack of understanding between men and women, within the context of Stranger Things, it may point more towards exchanging places in terms of a great sacrifice (hence “A Deal With God”). As such, Max may have ultimately sacrificed her life for the greater good.
Good — Stranger Things May Introduce Time Travel
Anyone unlucky enough to be targeted by Vecna doesn’t just have crippling fear to contend with — they’re also forced to literally confront the few hours or minutes they have left in the form of a dusty old grandfather clock with ominous ticks and tocks.
Time plays a huge role in Season 4, but will the fifth and final season introduce time travel?
It may sound a bit too far-fetched, but this is also heavily implied in Season 4 through a ton of imagery, even more so when it’s revealed that the Upside Down is “stuck in the past.” Will Eleven use her abilities to reverse time and save Max? Only time will tell.
Bad — The Cemetery
There’s a ton of symbolism peppered throughout the fourth season, particularly in scenes involving Max. One, in particular, sees her visiting the grave of her dead brother, Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery), who was killed by the Shadow Monster in Season 3.
Good: Eleven’s Powers
Perhaps the biggest clue of all is the gut-wrenching scene in which Eleven can’t locate Max using her telepathic abilities, which suggests that Max is dead but that her body is still alive.
That said, if Max’s mind is lost somewhere in the Upside Down or somewhere between realities, it’s likely that Eleven — who has become stronger with each season — will try to find her and restore her mind somehow. Stranger things have happened.
Bad — Max Isn’t an Original Stranger Things Character
Though we’ve already explained that Stranger Things has so far avoided killing any original characters, it’s worth pointing out that Max Mayfield isn’t an OG, as she was introduced in Season 2. This could give her much less “plot armor” against Vecna.
Stranger Things is, of course, a science fiction franchise, and though we see plenty of “miracles” throughout the show, we’re just not convinced Max is going to be able to pull through after her encounter with Vecna. That said, her friends won’t give up without a fight.
If the epic Season 4 finale proves anything, it’s that these characters are incredibly resilient.
After all, Eleven is a teenage girl who goes up against Vecna in a hell dimension; a starved and frozen-to-the-bones Jim Hopper goes toe to toe with a Demogorgon; Eddie Munson sacrifices himself to a horde of monstrous bats to create a distraction; and Nancy Wheeler becomes the ultimate final girl when she faces off against Vecna in his corporeal form.
Stranger Things Season 1 — 4
Stranger Things stars Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven/Jane Hopper), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson), Paul Reiser (Dr. Sam Owens), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Matthew Modine (Papa/Martin Brenner), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), and Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna/One/Henry Creel).
Stranger Things seasons 1 — 4 are streaming on Netflix.
What do you think will happen to Max in Stranger Things Season 5? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!