The long-awaited return of Stranger Things is over. Season 4 Volume 2 has concluded the season after dominating the Netflix Top 10 as well as social media feeds almost continuously since Volume 1’s debut last May. Although we did shed tears over what happened to [spoiler] & [spoiler], it was not the bloody battle I had hoped for from the streaming giant’s marketing.

Season 4’s finale was a feature-length setup for the ’80s-set paranormal hit, which will go all out in the fifth season. Fans will see the high-powered battles and huge body counts that we expected. It answered our last few questions about Vecna/Henry Creel/One and their connection to the Upside Down. While leveling Hawkins, it made great strides in closing the gap between the dark dimension and the surface world.

DEAD: DR. BRENNER/PAPA

Episode 8 contains half of the second-parter’s body count. This episode brought Dr. Owens’ desert bunker to Dr. Eleven’s military faction. Dr. Brenner gave Eleven a detailed account of the Vecna fight before they arrived. As many people suspected, the girl was in a coma from over-extending her powers and losing her memories. El wants to run to save her friends immediately, but Papa refuses and knocks El out just as the cavalry arrives.

Eleven is not going to be let go by the power-hungry scientist, who believes that all he has done was to protect her. He even fled the bunker to get her to safety but he is shot by waiting snipers before he can get there. Brenner asks El for forgiveness but El refuses, and he turns his head while he dies.

ALIVE: WILL, MIKE and JONATHAN. AND ARGYLE

Argyle’s track skills allow the group to make it to the bunker in time to give El a ride after El takes down the military helicopter. This is the coolest display of her powers this season. Astral-projecting to hear Max’s plans to kill Vecna and the group stuck in Nevada El devises her own plan to tap into Max from far away. She can then piggyback (hence, the episode title), on her friend and face Vecna.

They set up shop at a Surfer Boy franchise nearby, turning the pizza dough freezer into a sensory deprivation tank. (Another stealthy idea by Argyle.) There are some touching scenes where Jonathan assures Will that he will always be there for him. Mike finally tells El that he is in love with her. Will encouraged him to share his emotions during their emotional van conversation in episode 8. Mike may have heard Will’s “you’re all the heart of this group” speech, but Will has been the true party-keeper for four seasons.

ALIVE: HOPPER, JOYCE AND MURRAY

As the kids prepare to face Vecna, episode 8, Hopper and Joyce escape from the Russian prison with Dmitri, a former guard, and Yuri, a two-faced smuggler. They find the Volume 2 teasers teasing the Monsters of the Upside Down Museum, which includes a demodog that is splayed out in mid-dissection while thrashing on the surgical table. They decide to investigate and get some insight into the Russians’ activities. Instead, they discover a tunnel hidden beneath the truck and run away.

Yuri takes them to a barn where they find the smallest helicopter that I have ever seen. It is named Katinka. Joyce and Hopper have a moment as they change clothes. Joyce sees Hopper’s scarred back and offers comfort. He chuckles at his time in prison and tells Joyce that he had dreamed of their date all along, including the Enzo’s food. Joyce asks him if there’s anything else he was dreaming about and they kiss! They finally kissed…before Brenner’s call interrupted their plans.

Hopper discovers through their encrypted conversation that Eleven, the Byers children and others are planning to fight Vecna very soon. They must also get to Hawkins quickly, but Yuri is stalling on fixing their rides in the hope that his captors will capture him and he’ll be paid ransom. Joyce and Hopper decide to take on the Russian hive mind by breaking into prison and killing the Mind Flayer’s part with Yuri’s super-convenient flamethrower. They find out that the creatures are reanimated and have fled to the prison. This complicates their plans to flambe Hive Mind.

DEAD: EDDIE MUNSON

Here’s a quick overview of Max and Nancy’s four-phase plan to eliminate the most powerful creature in the Upside Down. One: Erica and Lucas go to the Creel house on the surface, while Robin, Steve, Nancy and Robin travel there in their Upside Down. After Erica’s signal, Max lures Vecna into his trance and leaves his body vulnerable. Three: Eddie and Dustin draw away the bats protecting Vecna. They also attacked Steve previously. Four: Robin, Nancy, Steve and Eddie kill Vecna as he is in a trance.

The plan is successful and makes it to stage three without any complications. Vecna lures Max into the cave, while Eddie lures them away with Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” song on his Upside Down guitar. After hundreds of bats have made their way towards Eddie’s trailer, Eddie and Dustin flee. The bat-distraction plan works until the Upside Down’s hive mind detects danger and returns to the Creel House. Eddie, instead of running, as he did with Chrissy and which has haunted his memory, pursues the bats and makes a brave last stand.

Eddie’s final scene shows how strong their bond is. We all remember the metalhead telling Dustin to “never forget” in Episode 8. Dustin promises Dustin that he will look after the rest. Eddie’s last words to Dustin are sweet and sweet about Dustin’s chances of graduating this year. Before telling Dustin, “I Love You Man.”

DEAD: JASON

The second problem in the group’s plans is the bullying basketball team players. They really need to relax somewhere and take a break. After a heated run-in at a gun shop (where minors can freely purchase guns since the ’80s), Jason and co. head to Erica. Jason and his friends track Erica to the playground. Jason discovers Lucas in the Creel attic, where he pulls a gun against him. They believe Max’s trance is a satanic ritual. Jason is eventually knocked out by Lucas, but Jason falls on the Walkman in a crucial moment.

UNKNOWN MAX

Episode 9 “Piggyback” is another highlight for Sadie Sink. Max bravely confronts Vecna, and she faces her complicated feelings about Billy’s death. Vecna initially takes a while to get Max into a trance but she eventually opens up to admit that she wishes something had happened before her brother’s death. He was a horrible sibling to her throughout their childhood. Vecna finally reveals himself in a very cool horror effect, where he imitates Lucas. Max uses a trick that she learned in the previous episode to hide from Vecna.

The diversion doesn’t last forever. Vecna discovers her in her memories, bringing the decay from the Upside Down to her gym, and attacking her. After piggybacking on the childhood memories of the skater, Eleven found them. However, she didn’t attack Vecna. While she’s still adjusting to her new powers, Vecna defeats her and represses her. He then takes Max and Eleven to his red-soaked Mind Palace to give a classic villain monologue. ).

It looks like the bad guys may lose this one. Eddie’s been bitten by bats, Hopper’s up against a demodog, Max’s bones start breaking while blood pours from her eyes. Eleven hears Mike’s “I love you” speech and taps into her power. She pushes Max off and holds him back until Steve’s group can infuse his physical body. Max is now suffering the worst effects of Vecna’s killing and Lucas is calling out for help. El is still there and she recalls their fondest memories as they tell Max “No. You are not going.”

ALIVE: ELEVEN (AND ALL THE REST OF HAWKINS CREW).

The flash-forward took place two days later, at which point I checked the run-time and found that there were still 30 minutes to go (! )–Eleven and the van travelers finally return to Hawkins, still reeling from Vecna’s plan. Although Vecna’s ritual was interrupted, Max died and Eleven brought him back. His plan was complete. The fourth portal to Hawkins was opened by four chimes. All four portals of Vecna were visible in a terrifying shot. They ripped through the town and intersected in the square.

(The fourth portal also tore through Jason’s abdomen while he lay down on the Creel floor. There was not a single tear.)

The event was recorded as a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. It caused injuries to hundreds of Hawkins residents. Robin, Steve, and Dustin volunteer at an emergency station in the school gym. Dustin then finds Eddie’s father and gives him the guitar-pick necklace. It is a heartbreaking scene. Dustin now has a tribute to Eddie’s perm. Max lies in a coma in the town hospital. The Sinclair siblings are there to care for her, and Lucas reads her Stephen King.

El is now at home and Nancy needs somewhere to rest. Nancy takes a group to Hopper’s cabin where they clean the abandoned home. These scenes aren’t always sweet. As Nancy compliments Steve on Jonathan’s work, Will says to Mike that he still feels Vecna’s presence. Eleven searches for Max’s consciousness and calls her friend from a quiet void. We are treated to a scene of pure joy as Hopper and Eleven finally reunite with each other. He hears her tell him she believed all the way and that she kept the door open “always three inches”. The father, daughter and audience were relieved to see her sobbing.

ALIVE: VECNA

After all the theories and hype, season 4’s final battle doesn’t end with a win. My personal favorite character is no longer with us, but he is my new favorite. The border between Hawkins and the Upside Down is also gone. As the vegetation dies, smoke rises from the earth cracks as the ashes of Hawkins’ mirror dimension rain down on them.

Vecna is still out there. Although Robin, Nancy, and Steve set him on fire, and then shot him with a sawed off shotgun, his body vanished. This was in direct tribute to Freddy Krueger, an infamous ’80s villain in Halloween. Although he is now severely injured, Will can still feel him. Also, we now know that Vecna was the one who controlled the hive minds of the demo-creatures. (Cue the Wandavision music: IT WAS VECNA ALL THE WAY!)

Once the Big Bad is healed, it’s likely that there will be an army made up of bats, dogs, and other demon-creatures ready to invade the world. All the characters