{"id":17797,"date":"2022-07-01T13:13:12","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T11:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1672464"},"modified":"2022-07-01T13:32:10","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T11:32:10","slug":"stranger-things-4-part-2-ending-explained","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/stranger-things-4-part-2-ending-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranger Things 4 part 2 ending explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Huw Fullerton\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 01 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The second part of Stranger Things 4<\/a> has finally arrived, and it\u2019s an epic conclusion to what\u2019s been a massive season already. Full of pitched battles, tragic losses and a surprising amount of metal music, our heroes faced off with Vecna and (sort of) succeeded in holding back his plans.<\/p>\n

But with so much to take in over such supersized episodes, you\u2019d be forgiven for getting a little muddled about exactly what went down, when and why. And if you were, not to worry \u2013 we\u2019ve broken down the major plot points from Stranger Things 4\u2019s final episodes below, looking ahead to what\u2019s sure to be an explosive final season.<\/p>\n

Look away now if you haven\u2019t caught up with the finale, because we\u2019re delving straight into Spoiler Things\u2026<\/p>

Stranger Things 4 part 2 plot<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield and Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair in Stranger Things.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

First, the background. These two episodes largely concern with the prep for and attempt to kill Vecna\/One (Jamie Campbell Bower), taking place on multiple fronts. Max (Sadie Sink) baits Vecna into trying to take her mind again, knowing that he needs a fourth death to open the world to the Upside Down, with Lucas by her side to pull her out.<\/p>\n

While that\u2019s happening, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn) distract the Demobats in the Upside Down protecting Vecna\u2019s physical body, drawing them away so Steve (Joe Keery), Robin (Maya Hawke) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) can attack and kill Vecna in person.<\/p>\n

In Russia, Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett Gelman) attempt to capture and kill a gang of escaped Upside Down monsters, who have absorbed particles from that dimension, and whose deaths will weaken Vecna\u2019s strength drastically.<\/p>\n

And perhaps most importantly of all, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) remotely piggybacks into Max\u2019s vision of Vecna to face off with her old nemesis, engaging in psychic battle as he attempts to murder her friend.<\/p>\n

It was a clash of the ages \u2013 and led to quite a complicated conclusion. The key thing to remember is, Vecna needed four kills to bring the Upside Down to our world. He had three already, and Max was his fourth target.<\/p>\n

Stranger Things 4 ending explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Vecna in Stranger Things<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Of course, things didn\u2019t go exactly to plan. Vecna fought off Eleven, trapped Steve, Robin and Nancy in some creepy vines and started to work on popping Max\u2019s head like his other victims. While running from the Demobats, Eddie had a change of heart and faced them instead, hoping to buy his friends more time but quickly getting overpowered.<\/p>\n

However, with a little pep talk from Mike, Eleven was able to force her way out and stop Vecna shortly before he killed Max.<\/p>\n

The Russian team\u2019s efforts to kill the Demogorgons also paid off, weakening Vecna\u2019s psychic hold so he dissolved from Max\u2019s mind. The Demobats also dropped dead, though it was too late for poor Eddie, who\u2019d already succumbed to his wounds.<\/p>\n

In Vecna\u2019s lair, Nancy, Steve and Robin were also set free from the vines, and used their Molotov cocktails and sawn-off shotgun to grievously wound Vecna, sending him flying out of the window.<\/p>\n

However, it was all too late \u2013 Max succumbed to her injuries shortly after, and with Vecna\u2019s curse still in motion her death was enough to open the gateway to the Upside Down, causing a massive natural disaster in Hawkins and claiming many lives.<\/p>\n

How did Max survive?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield in Stranger Things.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

But Max didn\u2019t stay dead for long. Despite the devastation outside, Eleven refused to accept her friend\u2019s death, reaching into her with her mind and (it\u2019s implied later) restarting her heart. Days later Max is in the hospital, having \u201cdied\u201d with her heart stopped for over a minute.<\/p>\n

Apparently the doctors aren\u2019t sure if she\u2019ll wake up at all, and when Eleven travels into the astral plane to look for Max she\u2019s nowhere to be found\u2026<\/p>\n

Is Vecna really dead?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Jamie Campbell Bower and Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things 4<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Like Max, reports of Vecna\u2019s death may also be greatly exaggerated. On his return to Hawkins, Will\u2019s (Noah Schapp) Upside Down spidey-sense starts tingling, and he can feel the wounded Vecna is out there somewhere planning his next move.<\/p>\n

Will picked up this trick after his experiences in season 1 and 2 of Stranger Things, where he was trapped in the Upside Down and possessed by the Mind Flayer respectively\u2026 though as it turns out, that was sort of Vecna all along too?<\/p>\n

Was Vecna the villain of every Stranger Things?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Will confronts the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things 2 (Netflix, JG)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Confusingly, it\u2019s suggested in the final Stranger Things 4 episode that Vecna has actually been behind all the Upside Down trouble the gang have faced over the years. He was what Dr Brenner (Matthew Modine) had Eleven looking for when she first brought the Demogorgon to Hawkins, and it seems that the Mind Flayer of seasons 2 and 3 was actually doing Vecna\u2019s bidding as well.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a little tricky to follow \u2013 it seems that the Mind Flayer smoke-entity thing existed in the Upside Down, and Vecna\/One used his psychic abilities to channel it in an attempt to reach Eleven in the real world \u2013 and was probably not the plan from Day One of Stranger Things. But we\u2019ll allow it. Vecna was the Big Bad all along, sure, why not?<\/p>\n

Stranger Things 5?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Stranger Things cast<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

The season ends with Hawkins recovering from the \u201cearthquake\u201d that claimed 22 lives at least (and probably many more). The town is reeling, still half-convinced that there\u2019s a satanic cult that brought this down on them and that poor old Eddie (RIP) is to blame.<\/p>\n

There are some points of light. At the end of the season, Hopper and Eleven are reunited at last, and more or less the whole gang come together at Hopper\u2019s cabin to share in their experiences. But something goes wrong.<\/p>\n

As ash falls from the sky, plants and flowers die and rot and red lightning crackles through the smoke coming from Hawkins, Eleven realises that Vecna\u2019s plan worked after all. Max did die for long enough to open the gateway, and now the Upside Down \u2013 and all its monsters \u2013 is coming to the real world.<\/p>\n

This sets the stage for a truly massive final season, which may not have the same time jump and reset we\u2019ve grown used to from Stranger Things. Clearly there\u2019s one final battle before Vecna and his legions of greasy creatures are done away with for good, and it\u2019s coming soon.<\/p>\n

And who knows? Hopefully Max will wake up in time to see or help them stop it. Though she might wish she\u2019d stayed sleeping\u2026<\/p>\n