Contains spoilers for “Stranger Things” Season 5, Volume 2
We’re in the endgame now. With “Stranger Things” Season 5, Volume 2 available on Netflix, there’s only one more episode left to see how the saga of Hawkins and the Upside Down plays out. But there’s one lingering question that remains: Who in the main “Stranger Things” cast is going to die?
As fans know all too well, “Stranger Things” has been allergic to killing off any main characters. The big deaths so far, like Bob (Sean Astin) in Season 2 or Eddie (Joseph Quinn) in Season 4 have been secondary characters killed off in the same season they were introduced. We’re now seven episodes into the final season, and not one major character has bitten the dust. Granted, no one needs to die for the story to be compelling, but we have a hunch the show’s saving a big demise for the final curtain call.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, there are five names who seem most likely to bite the dust in the “Stranger Things” series finale. We’re going to overlook Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) because, as the villain, he’s probably going to die no matter what. But amongst our heroes, get ready to say goodbye to at least one of these …
Eleven
Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) dying feels almost like an inevitability. In fact, the Duffer Brothers have said before how the original plan was for Eleven to die back in Season 1. She survived, but ever since, it feels like she has one foot through death’s door. Anytime she pushes her powers to the max, she winds up bleeding out the nose and convulsing. It’s like her body increasingly can’t handle the massive power surging inside her, and Season 5 has really telegraphed that this could be the end for her.
Season 5, Episode 7 — “Chapter Seven: The Bridge” — sees Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) tell Eleven how they have to sacrifice themselves when the team collapses the Upside Down (a bridge between Hawkins and the Abyss). As long as the two of them continue to live, the military will keep coming after them to restart the program and threaten the world once more. Kali says they have to die to stop all of this, and Eleven is seemingly fine with that plan. Additionally, the Upside Down (read: the bridge) was formed when Eleven made contact with Henry/Vecna. She’s intrinsically linked with the Upside Down, so if it gets destroyed, she may have to go with it no matter what her thoughts on the matter are.
The premiere episode of “Stranger Things” 5 saw Mike (Finn Wolfhard) tell Eleven that at the end of any Dungeons & Dragons campaign, the heroes go away because they don’t know what else to do after a traumatic adventure. If Mike’s girlfriend, Eleven, dies, that’d be a good enough reason as any for him to leave Hawkins and pursue something else, forever tormented that he couldn’t save her.
Hopper
For the first half of “Stranger Things” 5, it felt unlikely that Hopper (David Harbour) would kick the bucket. After all, we already got a fake-out death for him when he seemingly died at the end of “Stranger Things” Season 3. He came back for Season 4 when it was revealed he was simply being held prisoner by the Russians, so him dying for real in Season 5 would feel too much like well-trod territory. Fans already mourned him once, so the emotional impact of doing it again but for real could be blunted.
But there’s a moment in “Chapter Seven: The Bridge” that has us thinking otherwise now. Hopper pulls Joyce (Winona Ryder) aside to tell her that he doesn’t trust Kali, but he can’t say anything for fear Eleven would defend her. He tells her that if Kali does anything to jeopardize collapsing the bridge, he’ll take her out to protect Eleven. It’s doubtful that line would exist for no reason, and given what Kali told Eleven about the two of them needing to sacrifice themselves, we could witness Kali’s heel-turn in the final episode.
Hopper has been haunted by the death of his biological daughter throughout “Stranger Things.” She died from cancer, so there was nothing he could do. If Kali betrays Eleven during the bridge collapse, he could finally do right by his new daughter and save her life, perhaps by sacrificing his own in the process. It would give his death some emotional impact after his fake death earlier in the series, giving it the extra oomph it needs to land with audiences.
Steve
Steve (Joe Keery) is another character the Duffers planned on killing in Season 1. He was a jerky boyfriend to Nancy (Natalia Dyer), but he’s seen some great character development since then. He’s the unofficial babysitter of the younger kids, and he’s a good friend to Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo). In fact, at one point during “Stranger Things” Season 5, Volume 2, the two tell one another, “You die, I die,” before enacting the final plan to destroy the Upside Down once and for all.
It seems doubtful for Dustin to die, but maybe Steve will sacrifice himself to save his best bud. It would be the ultimate way to close out his arc, as he goes from a selfish antagonist to a selfless hero. Additionally, he’s been butting heads with Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) during this final season, seemingly to win over the affection of his ex Nancy. Jonathan un-proposes to Nancy, realizing he was only going to give her an engagement ring to try to fix things before realizing that wouldn’t work, so those two seem to reach some kind of amicable place within their relationship.
A sacrifice from Steve wouldn’t just be heartbreaking for Dustin but also Jonathan and Nancy. It would be like Steve giving Jonathan to go ahead to be happy with Nancy, whenever they decide to get engaged and married. He started the show as overly possessive of her, and through death, he’d give her the okay to live her life happily, even if it means he can’t be in it. Steve’s death, as much of a gut punch as it would be, would also be the perfect way to close out his character arc in a way that feels earned.
Joyce
Many theorists assume Will (Noah Schnapp) is highly likely to die going into the final “Stranger Things” episode, especially after we learned of his connection to Vecna and how he, too, has supernatural powers. It’s possible that, instead of Eleven, Will’s the one who must push his powers to the extreme to defeat Vecna and destroy the Upside Down once and for all. However, the penultimate episode sees Will finally come out of the closet after struggling with his sexuality throughout the show’s run. “Stranger Things” killing off a queer character, especially if that’s the only major hero death, would be in poor taste, so Will might be safe. The same can’t be said for his mother, Joyce.
Joyce has been heavily underutilized since Season One, where she was arguably the main character. She was a grieving mother trying to locate her missing son, but she’s been sidelined ever since Will came back. It’s possible Will believes he needs to sacrifice himself to stop all of his, but Joyce, realizing what she must do, could come to his side and sacrifice herself to save him. It would bring the character back to her roots of doing anything for her son, and we think Joyce would sooner die rather than let her soon go through any more suffering.
Will’s been through enough. If anyone in the main cast deserves some kind of happy resolution, it’s him. Or, you know, as happy of a resolution one can get with their mother dying. It could be her final gift to him, so that he can live a normal life.
Mike
This is probably the most off-the-wall pick for a potential “Stranger Things” Season 5 death, but after “Chapter Seven: The Bridge,” it seems more like an actual possibility. Mike’s never really seemed to be in too much danger, at least not on the level of other characters. It would shock the audience because it would come out of left field, and Vecna now has a reason to target him.
When Will comes out to everyone, he mentions having a crush on someone who’s not like him, and the camera cuts to Mike. Mike may not have the same romantic feelings toward Will, but if Vecna knows how much Mike means to Will, he’d become an easy target to mess with him. On top of that, Mike’s dating Eleven, another major threat to Vecna. Him targeting (and ultimately killing) Mike would be a blow to the audience as well as these two important characters, and throwing a wrench in whatever plan they have to stop Vecna and collapse the Upside Down.
The alternative to this is Mike sacrificing himself to save Will and Eleven. He may not feel about Will the way Will feels about him, but he still loves him as a friend. He could show Will he still means a great deal to him by putting himself in harm’s way so that he can live. There are many different kinds of love, and the big death in the final episode of “Stranger Things” can hammer that point home.