As Stranger Things readies for the end of its series, the endgame for the kids from Hawkins is a dangerous one. With season 5, volume 2, the stage is set for a showdown with the monster known as Vecna, where the extent of the danger is finally laid bare. With the discovery of The Abyss being the source of the Upside Down, not to mention the military’s efforts to get its hands on Eleven, the time for easy choices is behind the kids from Stranger Things. Max Mayfield, in particular, is a player in the final stretch of Stranger Things, where her journey is a significant one. Another is Will Byers.
The story’s evolutions this season make it clear that each character’s personal struggle is inextricably linked to the threat from beyond. Eleven is always the best result of Brenner’s experiments, withstanding the transfusions from Henry Creel better than any other sister, which ironically makes her vulnerable to attack. Kali chides Eleven that toppling Vecna may mean making the ultimate sacrifice: giving up their lives. Simultaneously, Will’s personal development, from his revelation to his new powers, evidences just how much the experiences in the Upside Down have made him into someone whose knowledge and gifts are vital to his group.
Max’s return and strategic influence on the final battle by Will
Max’s resurrection in Vol. 2 places her in a distinct position of being an invaluable resource to the team. Shawn Levy, the executive producer and key director of this volume’s episodes, asserts that her return is more than simply symbolic. As she has experience on the other side of life now, she has firsthand knowledge of Vecna’s telepathic landscape to make her a valuable resource in fighting him. The interactions she has in Ep. 6 are actually a sort of bookend to her previous seasons because they illustrate her character development based on themes of sacrifice in the show.
Will, too, takes an ever-more central role. His attunement with the Upside Down and its psychic residue in those who touch it gives him foresight that narrowly surpasses that of the more conventional characters. In tandem with the strategic thinking that Max brings and the brute strength that Eleven wields, Will struggles with the very real personal toll of the battles that the characters must fight against Henry Creel’s forces and the military’s meddling. Throughout the final episodes, “Stranger Things” successfully aligns spectacle with character-developing depth.
Max and Will’s storylines represent the overall development of the series: the characters themselves, along with their skills, have become pivotal to both the destruction of Vecna and the exploration of the ethical dilemmas the series has raised since its very start. As the series hurtles toward the end, Max and Will’s trajectories specifically convey the idea that surviving Hawkins is about more than merely battling creatures: it’s about grasping the lives that have been formed or destroyed as a result of them.
