Stranger Things: 5 Most Important Characters Heading Into The Final Season

Stranger Things has dropped the second volume of season four on Netflix, and boy, the two movie-length episodes are quite the rollercoaster. While there were plenty of cheerworthy moments, such as Steve, Robin, and Nancy's weakening of Vecna, Hopper defeating a Demogorgon with a sword, and Hopper's sweet reunion with Eleven, there were also some tragedies, such as the death of Eddie Munson, and Max being left comatose after a near miss with Vecna. So near, in fact, that her heart stopped, giving Vecna the four deaths required to open four gates to the Upside Down across Hawkins. And while Nancy, Robin, and Steve weakened Vecna, the villain still escaped to fight another day.

In the final moments of the episode, our heroes watch in horror as the Upside Down's influence begins to creep into the real Hawkins, perfectly setting up the conflict for Stranger Things fifth and final season. While everyone will likely have a role to play in the big showdown, here are the characters likely to have the most impact in the final season.

1. Eleven

Ever since season one, Eleven has been set up as the big hero of Stranger Things, using her telekinetic abilities to protect her friends from the horrors of the Upside Down, often while also fleeing dark forces who want her power under their own control, or wrongfully believe that she is a threat. In the finale of Stranger Things 4, Eleven faced her first true loss, unable to stop Vecna from opening gates to the Upside Down across Hawkins, and while she managed to revive Max, her friend's mind appears to be lost.

Despite the abuse Eleven suffered at the hands of Dr. Brenner before his death, the final season may see Eleven forced to concede that he was right, and she was not yet ready to face Vecna/One/Henry. However, despite this Eleven remains the greatest hope the group has of saving the world. She will likely need more training to enhance her powers before facing Vecna again, but what form this training will take now that Eleven has lost access to Brenner's technology remains to be seen.

2. Will Byers

Will Byers sets off the events of Stranger Things as a whole, with his disappearance at the beginning of season one. However, Will, on a cross-country in search of Eleven with his best friend Mike, older brother Jonathan, and Jonathan's friend Argyle, takes a backseat in season four, with even his big moments mosly serving as a foil to other characters' stories.

However, fans are ready to see Will step back into the spotlight in the show's final season. Since his time in the Upside Down in season one, Will has carried a strange connection to it and the monsters that rule it. He is also a gifted artist, using this ability to create visual references of the Upside Down for his friends. The usefulness of this is highlighted by Dustin in season four vol. 1, after Max's attempts at drawing Vecna's lair lack detail.

"This is why we need Will."

Some fans believe Dustin's comment also serves as foreshadowing, proving that Will's connection to the creatures of the Upside Down, and possibly his artistic talents, will prove vital to the group in the coming conflict.

3. Max Mayfield

Since joining the cast in season two, Max has been a vital supporting player in the Hawkins crew. However, season four saw her step into the limelight, as her trauma over the loss of her stepbrother, Billy, makes her a perfect potential victim for Vecna. After narrowly escaping Vecna in Vol. 1, Max bravely offers herself as bait in the groop's plan to kill the monster in Vol.2. Unfortunately, things go horribly wrong when Vecna traps Eleven, forcing her to watch as he makes Max his final victim. While Eleven is able to revive Max, she is left comatose, and when Eleven attempts to read Max's mind after returning to Hawkins, she finds it eerily empty.

While at first glance Max's empty mind could indicate brain death, fans have another theory. It would seem rather pointless for Eleven to have saved Max only for her to be left permanently braindead. Many fans believe that Max's mind may be trapped in Vecna's realm, potentially giving the Hawkins crew an advantage if they can find a way to contact her there.

4. Nancy Wheeler

As the older sister of Mike, Nancy has mostly been a supporting player in Stranger Things until this point, often existing for the purposes of investigation and exposition while her brother and his friends are in the thick of the action. This was flipped in season four, with Mike part of the season's B-plot while Nancy joined the main adventure in Hawkins. In one of the season's biggest twists, Nancy is nabbed by Vecna as she, Steve, Robin, and Eddie are escaping the upside down at the end of Vol. 1, with the villain able to use her lingering guilt and trauma over the death of her friend Barb to take her as a victim. However, Vecna spares Nancy, using her as a means to deliver a message to Eleven.

Heading into the final season, Nancy is currently the only non-comatose member of the main cast to have been marked by Vecna. While this might put her in significant danger, our heroes could find a way to use it to their advantage. And, if Max is in fact trapped with Vecna, Nancy may be the one to discover this information.

5. Dr. Sam Owens

Since his debut in season two, Dr. Sam Owens, played by Paul Reiser, has played an important role in Stranger Things, as one of the few known to have worked in Hawkins Lab to have a conscience regarding the lab's activities. While Owens does deliver Eleven to the Nina Project, and therefore back into the hands of Dr. Brenner, in Vol. 1, in Vol. 2 he makes it clear that he always saw staying at Nina as Eleven's choice. So, when she opts to return to Hawkins and help her friends in favour of training to enhance her powers further, Owens commits himself to helping her get there. Unfortunately, thanks to Brenner's actions, Owens instead ends up as a prisoner of the military when they attack The Nina Project in search of Eleven.

Dr. Owens' fate is left unknown at the end of the season, though we know he is likely still a prisoner of the Military. This poses a problem for our heroes, as Owens, as the last surviving member of The Nina Project, likely has the information Eleven needs to continue her training before being ready to face Vecna again.

We can't wait to see how everything unfolds. While the final season of Stranger Things has not yet started filming, series creators The Duffer Brothers have promised the wait for season five will be significantly shorter than the wait for season four.