It’s been a while since we last got new episodes of Stranger Things. Three and a half years is an awfully long time to wait between seasons, so we don’t blame you if you’ve forgotten what happened the last time we saw the kids of Hawkins, Indiana. Hell, I can barely remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, let alone what last happened in the battle against Vecna.
But, with the final season of the Netflix series finally hitting our screens soon, it’s high time for a refresher — and if you don’t have time to watch the movie-length final episodes of Season 4 while you prep your Thanksgiving dinner, we’ve got you.
Here’s exactly where we left each of the key characters of Stranger Things at the end of Season 4, with some faring much better than others.
For more, check out our roundup of Stranger Things characters most likely to die in the final season.
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Eddie Munson
Joseph Quinn in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
Let’s start with the obvious one: this man is dead. D-E-A-D dead, with very little possibility of returning for Season 5 after being attacked by demobats, giving the rest of the team time to foil Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) evil plans. Joseph Quinn’s increasingly busy schedule aside, Eddie’s dying in Dustin’s arms seems fairly conclusive, despite many running fan theories that he’ll somehow return. If it turns out that I am indeed incorrect about this, I will print out this article and eat it. Hand to God.
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Max Mayfield
Sadie Sink in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
Next to Eddie, Max (Sadie Sink) probably had the roughest fate out of any of the characters in Season 4. As one of several victims of a curse set by Vecna, she was key in taking him down, but her luck ran out in the last few episodes. After an epic sequence escaping Vecna’s clutches, set to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” she ended the season in a coma despite her heroism, and could very well be blind going into Season 5. Hopefully we’ll get some more Kate songs and she can miraculously heal to the sound of “Cloudbusting.”
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Jim Hopper
David Harbour in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
After being presumed dead after an explosion in Starcourt Mall at the end of Season 3, fans were relieved to see that Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) was alive and well in Season 4 — well, maybe not well, but at least not blown to smithereens. It turned out that he was being held prisoner in the USSR and tortured by Russians, but after being freed by Murray and Joyce — whom he finally gets to smooch after four seasons of tension — he battles some Demogorgons and makes his way back to Hawkins to reunite with Eleven and help out in the final battle against Vecna.
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Robin Buckley
Maya Hawke in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
The most recent addition to the core group of heroes, Maya Hawke’s plucky lesbian best friend Robin ended Season 4 in a pretty decent spot. After following Steve and Nancy into the Upside Down and chucking a Molotov cocktail that helped bring down Vecna, she was last seen working at Hawkins High’s makeshift disaster shelter and reconnecting with her crush Vickie. While it’s uncertain whether Vickie’s feelings are mutual, things were looking up for Steve’s closest friend — though that probably won’t last long.
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Joyce Byers
Winona Ryder in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
As previously mentioned, Winona Ryder’s iconic central character finally got her hands on Hopper after four seasons of missed connections, thanks to some apocalyptic hijinks from Vecna. But aside from freeing Hopper from a Russian prison and planting one on him, she was finally able to return to Hawkins after moving her kids to California and reunited with Jonathan and Will, as well as Eleven. Here’s hoping they can free her son from Vecna’s influence once and for all in Season 5 — that woman deserves a break.
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Steve Harrington
Joe Keery in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
While there’s been plenty of speculation that he might bite the dust in Season 5, everybody’s favorite babysitter came out of Season 4 in one piece, albeit with a little bit of a broken heart. After admitting that he still had feelings for Nancy while they fought Vecna in the Upside Down, Steve (Joe Keery) looked a little worse for wear when she reunited with Jonathan, who she’s still very much in a relationship with — the poor guy is so unlucky in love. But hey, at least he still has Robin, who he was seen helping out at the disaster shelter at the end of the season.
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Nancy Wheeler
Natalia Dyer in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
She’s got a shotgun and she isn’t afraid to use it, folks. Nancy (Natalia Dyer) proved herself just as capable as the boys in Season 4, battling Vecna in the Upside Down and showing that she’s not one to be messed with. But, despite her reunion with long-distance boyfriend Jonathan at the end of Season 4, she’s also left with Steve’s confession to deal with, meaning there’s likely a love triangle in her future as we enter Season 5. (Groan.)
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Jonathan Byers
Charlie Heaton in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
Corner three in the potential future love triangle was stuck with a B-plot for most of Season 4, but that doesn’t mean Jonathan’s (Charlie Heaton) contributions were any less significant than Steve and Nancy’s. Not only did he go with Will, Mike, and Season 4 addition Argyle to the secret facility in Nevada where Eleven was being held, but he also got a chance to connect with his little brother, and assure him that he’ll be there for him no matter what. While it doesn’t seem like much, that’ll probably be important going into Season 5, where it seems like Will will have to face all of his trauma one last time, and will probably need a lot of help to do so.
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Lucas Sinclair
Caleb McLaughlin in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
This poor kid. His girlfriend ostracizes him, then before he’s even had a chance to process it, she nearly dies by Vecna’s hand and is stuck in a coma for the foreseeable future. Add to that the fact that he only just reunited with his friends after they distanced themselves from him after he chose to invest his time in basketball over their D&D club, and he’s not doing so hot. While Season 5 is almost certainly going to put everyone through the ringer, I can only hope Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) catches a little bit of a break.
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Dustin Henderson
Gaten Matarazzo in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
We’ve all had rough ends to friendships in our lives, but the way Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) ends Season 4 is probably the worst of them all. After watching Eddie die in his arms post-demobat attack, he’s left with a gnarly limp, though he’s able to reassure Eddie’s uncle Wayne that his nephew was not the criminal the rest of Hawkins thought he was, and that he died a hero. While he’s popular with fans of the show for his comic relief, the end of Season 4 left Dustin scarred, and it’s likely we’ll see the effects of that in the opening episodes of Season 5.
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Mike Wheeler
Finn Wolfhard in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
Finn Wolfhard’s character has always been the heart of the show, and that was never more obvious than at the end of Season 4, where his passionate speech to Eleven about how much he loves her helped her in one of the toughest moments in the fight against Vecna. He was also able to reunite with his friends in Hawkins after returning there, though his relationship with his friend Will is up in the air going into Season 5 after a conversation that left the latter feeling cut off and struggling.
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Will Byers
Noah Schnapp in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
The boy whose disappearance started everything is still key in the fight against Vecna, but he’s definitely not had an easy go of it. Will (Noah Schnapp) spent much of Season 4 feeling isolated from his friends — especially Mike, who he has conflicting (and potentially romantic) feelings for. He still has a clear physical connection to the Upside Down, and the final shots of the season saw him with goosebumps on the back of his neck, indicating that something sinister is coming for him and everyone else.
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Eleven
Millie Bobby Brown in STRANGER THINGS (Credit: Netflix)
After having lost her powers at the beginning of Season 4, thanks to the emotional distress of moving to California and being bullied by the most stereotypical of Valley Girls, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) ended the season by gloriously regaining them, with mixed results. While she reunited with Mike and Hopper and was able to defeat Vecna, she also tore a hole through Hawkins and opened it up to the Upside Down, which will inevitably leave it vulnerable in the final fight to come. With her powers back and her friends by her side, she’s probably better off than most characters when it comes to where she’s starting Season 5, but I’d bet that she’s number one on Vecna’s list when he inevitably returns for revenge.
Maggie Boccella
A self-professed Babe With the Power and bad movie enthusiast, Maggie Boccella is a pop culture junkie whose work also appears on Collider, Blossom Mag, and Certified Forgotten, as well as her podcast Girlies for McGann. When not writing, she’s probably watching a schlocky horror movie (Slumber Party Massacre 2 forever) or reading a murder mystery.
