It’s finally upon us, the final season of the Netflix original Stranger Things is less than a week away. Coming out on Thursday the 27th of November, the first half of the final season will be dropping all at once. The second half will drop on Boxing Day for us Australians, with the final episode ever releasing on the 1st of January 2026. Are you ready for the final season of a decade defining TV series? Well if you’re feeling a little behind don’t worry, here is everything you need to know ahead of the final season.
Hawkins in Havoc
The last half hour of season 4 showed us that things in Hawkins will never be the same. Whilst every conflict with the Upside Down so far has been mostly swept under the rug and kept a secret, this time the secrets out. The final episode ended with Vecna succeeding in creating an enormous gate that split right through the town of Hawkins, ripping it apart and creating a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. The result has left many injured and several dead. The public has been told that the destruction was caused by Hellfire Club, the gangs D&D group which has mistakenly been accused of being a satanic cult. But the gates have been revealed to the public as being door ways to a new world, even if their origin is misinformed.
Who is Vecna?
The gangly distorted super powered villain from the last season, Vecna, was revealed to be none other than Henry Creel. Henry was the original child with psychic abilities. After Henry attacked and killed his mother and sister with his powers, he framed his father for their deaths and fell into a coma. Dr Brenner then picked him up to study him in which Henry then became One. After proving too difficult to manage, One was then forcibly implanted with a chip that restricted the use of his powers and was then forced to care for the new set of psychic powered kiddies. He formed a bond with the outcast of the kids, Eleven, tricking her into removing his chip which allowed One to slaughter all the remaining kids. Eleven overpowered One and sent him to the Upside Down, the very first time the gate was opened. The trip left him disfigured and mangled, but upon landing in the Upside Down discovered creatures, his powers grew stronger and he created a plan for revenge. It was also revealed that it’s been Vecna behind all the attacks from the start, the Mindflayer from previous seasons was in fact a creation of Vecna’s.
A Couple of Love Triangles
In season four, the show set up two love triangles that will ultimately need to be addressed at some point in the shows final season. For starters we have the love triangle that has existed since the shows first season that stayed low until recently, which is of course the Jonathan, Nancy and Steve triangle. With Jonathan now living out of town a rift has grown between him and Nancy which has allowed room for Steve to slide back into the equation for Nancy. Steve had made it clear he wants her back too, and Nancy does seem to be letting a spark reignite, but with Jonathan returning to fight Vecna going to end the chances for Steve? But also we now have the issue of Eleven, Mike and Will. Whilst not as obviously stated as the prior triangle it is abundantly clear that Will loves Mike, and it does seem like he’s trying to let Mike be happy with El rather than try and jump in and steal him away. But will Will confess how he feels before the seasons end?
The State of Max
Max died at the end of season 4 for roughly 60 seconds before being revived by Eleven. Now Max is in a coma recovering from the attack of Vecna that resulted in the gates opening across Hawkins. Although things might not be so simple. After Eleven discovered that Max was indeed still alive but in a coma, Eleven went into her mind in an attempt to communicate. But Eleven found nothing, nothing at all, only darkness. Does this imply that even though Max may be alive, she may in fact be brain dead? Potentially Max’s soul now belongs with Vecna, her physical body still alive but her mind and essence now with Vecna. Her death played a huge part in the doors across Hawkins opening, potentially her soul was taken from her body to do so and if they want Max back they’ll need to claim it back from the one who cursed her.
What is Vecna’s End Goal?
Vecna, much like his D&D counterpart, as far as we know is simply after revenge against Eleven and the overall destruction of our world. We don’t yet know if his wants go further than just the destruction of the world as we currently know it, or if he has other reasons to beyond a general apathy for the world he was pushed out of. But going into the final season all we know is that Vecna wants to see both Eleven and the world burn and their is almost no chance of reasoning with him.
Are you excited for the final season? You can watch the first half of the final season of Stranger Things when it drops on Netflix on the 27th of November.
