Will Max die in Stranger Things?
Max went through it all in season 4, but just where is her story heading? **WARNING - Contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 4 volume 2**
The last two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4 gave fans a lot of action and drama to enjoy – and the finale also ended with a massive cliffhanger regarding the fate of a beloved character.
Sadie Sink's Max has had a pretty torrid time of it throughout the new run – relying on the music of Kate Bush to avoid succumbing to Vecna and generally struggling to cope with the grief brought on by the death of her brother Billy in the previous season.
And now, following that gut-wrenching closing episode, fans are left wondering - what exactly did happen to Max, and is her part in the show at an end ahead of the fifth and final season?
Read on for everything you need to know about whether Max will die in Stranger Things, following the end of season 4.
*WARNING - Contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 4 volume 2*
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What happens to Max in Stranger Things 4 Volume 2?
With Vecna on the hunt for a fourth victim in order to create another doorway, one which will complete his mission of bringing the Upside Down to our world, the gang hatch a plan.
As Vecna has already marked Max, she will bait him into attacking her, switching her music off (Kate Bush would disapprove!) and letting him come for her. As this is happening, her friends try to attack him from all sides, with Steve, Nancy and Robin going for his physical form while Eleven attacks him in the astral plane.
However, things don't exactly go to plan, as Vecna ties Eleven up and gets to work killing Max - he levitates her, breaks her limbs and starts to pop her eyes.
Just at the last moment, Eleven breaks free and manages to defeat Vecna, while Steve, Nancy and Robin simultaneously manage to badly wound his physical form.
A now-blinded Max wakes up but seemingly dies in Lucas's arms.
Is Max dead at the end of Stranger Things season 4?
While it at first appears that Max has gone the way of Barb, Bob, Alexei and Eddie, it's later revealed that she's still alive in hospital, with the suggestion that Eleven’s astral projection restarted her heart and saved her.
The last we hear of Max is that she's in a coma, with Lucas telling Eleven that the doctors say she may never wake up. Eleven goes into the astral plane to try to find her, but to no avail, leaving her fate uncertain as the credits roll.
Will Sadie Sink be back as Max in Stranger Things season 5?
At this point it's unclear, but if we were to hazard a guess we'd say she'll be back. With the character's fate uncertain, it would seem strange to kill her off off-screen, just after bringing her back from what at first seemed like an emotional and harrowing death.
However, if and when she does return, who knows exactly what state Max will be in? The show's creators The Duffer Brothers have previously revealed that season 5 will feature a time jump, in part to account for the real-life actors' visible ageing.
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If Max doesn't get out of her coma until after the time jump, she may be awaking to a very different world, and to find her friends in very different states than when she last saw them. For now though, all we can do is speculate until we get more concrete information on just what will be happening with Max in season 5.
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