STRANGER THINGS Season 4 Ending Explained! Season 5 Theories & Volume 2's Biggest Questions Answered

Hold on to your Eggos because we have a deep dive analysis of the ending to Netflix's season 4 of Stranger Things! I also go into detail about some of the season's biggest unanswered questions and theories for season 5.

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:25 Is This Really the Upside Down?
3:15 Did Vecna Steal Eleven's Powers?
4:13 The 4 Gates Explained
5:23 Where Is Max?
7:57 The Hellfire Future of Hawkins, Time Travel & Time Jump
9:16 Mike & Eleven
10:22 What Is Will Hiding?
11:28 Is Eddie Really Dead?
12:22 Lucas' Journey
12:54 Will Nancy Choose Steve or Jon?
14:11 Will Robin & Vickie Get Together?
14:45 The Piggyback Explained
15:16 Max's Hidden Power? Vecna's Back Door
16:03 A Bigger Battle?
16:26 Loose Ends
16:44 Conclusion

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[ThinkStory]

🧇Hands down, best season of STRANGER THINGS! Pumped for season 5! What are your big thoughts and theories for ST Season 5?🧇

[luckytiger]

Max is in a coma but she’s not dead yet. Vecna/001 technically “killed” Max. Lucas mentions that her heart stopped for one minute and that’s how the portal opened and why the clock chimed four times. But Eleven somehow saves her. At the hospital Eleven goes into Max’s mind but can’t find her. It’s just empty. In the massacre scene 001 told eleven that the kids are not dead but still in his head. Papa also mentions how 001 consumes the people he kills. My theory is that Max’s consciousness/soul is in his head and if he’s defeated all the captured souls escapes. Since Max’s body is still intact her soul has a place to come back too, while the others can’t be saved because their bodies are completely destroyed.

[KarrasSim]

My mouth literally fell open when Max’s bones started breaking. I was like, Truly epic season. That and Eddie’s scene were just phenomenal!

[tylertroyano]

The part where max is released from vecna and she cry’s to Lucas cuts my hart right out. I cried so hard my head hurt. Unreal acting and setting. What a pleasure to watch.

[februaryschild]

It's great how as the kids get older, their monsters get more menacing and complex. Lucas holding Max and calling for his sister to help him brought me to tears. In fact, I was a mess this entire episode. Gay is normal, but I don't think Will is ever going to be a normal person again. At the end, when he was talking about Vecna NOT being dead, he looked so haunted. Next season will be epic!

[armoghetto]

There’s something to be noted. El does not need victims to open gates, but Vecna does. She can open and close gates without human sacrifices. I think El is more powerful than Vecna and/or has more ability to tap into the source of power than Vecna. Edna needed four victims, and his fourth victim sacrifice was not completed… what does tha mean…. Are the portals not stable?

[rikorobinson]

I just love how Argyle is basically a pot-head version of Nurse Joy from Pokemon, with basically someone just like him working at the other Surfer Boy Pizza restaurant (and presumably all of them). I laughed my ass off 😂😂😂

[expeeroblox]

The whole ‘revival’ thing is actually quite simple, it’s just the human body, really. Obviously for somebody to be alive, the blood needs to circulate the body, which can only be done by the heart, though when somebody dies, the heart stops this, so they die. What Eleven did was really simple. She practically got Max’s heart with her powers, and made it beat, which then meant the blood could go around the body. She pretty much just did CPR a with her powers.

[shawniebeans]

I have a strong feeling there will definitely be time jumps (as stated by director and yourself. ) but both past, present/future. These jumps will play a big role with being ahead of 001. I think 011 will figure that out, meeting Max during different time period unlocking probably a power within Max who will be the key to all of this.

[amanms]

This finale really had an Empire Strikes Back vibe, especially with ending where the villains win and the heroes are at their weakest spot.
Luke undergoing training with Yoda similar to the whole Project Nina thing (even the scene where Eleven lifts that chamber totally parallels Luke trying to lift the X-wing).

Luke leaving the training to face Vader despite Yoda warning that he's not ready yet, just like how Eleven ran off to face Vecna despite Brenner claiming that she's not ready yet, only for Luke/Eleven to face defeat under Vader/Vecna.

It ends with Han Solo being captured by the Empire and frozen in Carbonite, kinda like how ST ends with Max in a coma.

Even their story structures are kinda similar, with the heroes being separated for the majority of the story (Luke/Eleven undergoing training while Han & Leia/the Hawkins gang are fighting the Empire/Vecna)

[padmik]

Yeesss I'm so happy someone thinks Max will have powers in S5. I think Will will too. I'm thinking Will could get a power upgrade to control monsters from the Upside Down like how he was possessed and Max will have the ability to traverse through memories. I don't think Max realizes she's doing this just yet and is just lost in memories atm. I would love to see more superpowered people on their team for the final showdown and I'm hoping 008 comes to help too.

[spacedout]

I was so confused why literally 2 days after massive gaping hell holes opened in the middle of town everyone was literally just calm, did nobody like, wonder why there were massive chasms into hell in the middle of town? It just made zero sense how quickly the mood changed

[IndieAnnieJones]

I was surprised that Will didnt have a bigger role in this season and wonder if his "strange " feelings could be more about Vecna - since he was the first person able to escape the upside down - it would have made sense if somehow I did love the rest of the season!

[nkyryry]

I definitely think Max is the key to beating him. She unexpectedly got in his head. If Vecna keeps all his victims with him in his mind…. She’s still there. 011 will use that back door Max opened to get her out & defeat him.

[LaineyBug]

I think the reason the upside down is stuck in time from when Will was taken is that when Eleven opened the gate a second time in season one, she fused the two words together somehow. So when she connected with it through the void by touchingthe Demogorgan, it changed from it's original and Henry/Vecna/One molded dimension into an echo of Hawkins frozen at the moment of fusion.

[VoiceoftheFatMantis]

Really enjoyed this season. However, it's cowardly to introduce Eddie only to predictably kill him in the finale. I think it's past due for the Duffers to kill main characters. Like, why not have Dustin die in Eddie's arms? That would be daring storytelling. Or, maybe kill Steve to give Nancy some edge, or have Lucas accidentally kill Jason during the struggle for the gun. This is a horror story after all and the cast is huge.

[BwAaS]

This show meets and exceeds expectations every season. I loved this season!

[tarantolopictures]

The thing that bothered me most was how Vecna was the main bad guy all along instead of the mind flayer. We’ve had so many human bad guys was really hoping the mind flayed would play a bigger role and be the hive mind virus type bad guy from the upside down everyone has to worry about because it gives us a villain that isn’t redeemable and an actual threat

[OutragedBlaze]

When you said "memory in a memory", it makes me think of The Haunting of Bly Manor... Like they are still living on inside Vecna's head, tucked away in a happy place, (hopefully), ignorant to what is really going on, not wanting to remember/relive the trauma of their death.

[sweetwetsugarmess]

Eddie was one of the best characters of the show. I wish he somehow came back as a denizen of the Upside Down. Or Demibatman