Is Max the key to defeating Vecna in season 5 of ‘Stranger Things?’

One of the best things about Stranger Things — and there are many great things — is the show’s ability to foreshadow events. 

After three long years between season three and season four, we finally reunited with our favorite group of nerds in Chapter One: The Hellfire Club which premiered on Netflix in May 2022. True to its promise to divulge the meaning of the episode’s name, we soon learn that Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are part of a D&D club called Hellfire and that it’s spearheaded by three-time Hawkins High senior Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). 

Munson and gang gear up for a semester-long campaign dubbed The Cult of Vecna. Here we are tossed breadcrumbs of important information such as the name of D&D character Vecna and his trusty vampire lieutenant, Kas the Bloody Handed. Since the show relies so heavily on D&D lore to steer its ship, fans are returning to that very first episode for possible hints for how season five will play out.

In D&D lore, Vecna — a wizard-turned-lich — is killed by Kas. This is mentioned in passing during the Hellfire Club’s meeting, but ever since Eddie was bitten to death by bats in the finale (we’re still not over it), some D&D experts believe he could return as Kas in season five to kill Vecna.  

Other D&D experts are pointing to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) as Kas since she was the one who banished One (Jamie Campbell Bower) to the Upside Down, similarly to how Vecna was banished to Ravenloft by Kas in D&D lore. The similarities are striking, and arguments can be mode for both Eleven and Eddie as Kas, if Kas does indeed make an appearance in season five. 

However, there’s one other Stranger Things character flying under the radar at the moment who just might be as much of a key to defeating Vecna as Eleven or Eddie, if not more. You guessed it: we’re talking about Max (Sadie Sink). 

Is Max the key to defeating Vecna?

By far the most gut-wrenching scene in Stranger Things history was when Lucas cradled Max in his arms as she cried and wept and said she wasn’t ready to die (rivaled only by Eddie’s death in Dustin’s arms). With blood pouring out of her eyes, her limbs broken and bent, the fight for survival was simply too much for her. She died, creating the fourth gate Vecna needed to tear the fissure of reality between Hawkins and the Upside Down wide open. 

Thankfully for all of us, she was brought back to life by Eleven, but reduced to being in a coma. This is where things get interesting. There’s obviously no point in reviving Max if she’s simply going to be in a coma for the rest of her life. The Duffer Brothers clearly have bigger plans for her, and thanks to some delicately placed breadcrumbs, we might be able to discern what those plans are. 

Earlier in the season Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) tells Eleven that Vecna doesn’t just kill his victims, he consumes them. By no means would The Duffer Brothers include a detail as poignant as that if it was just trivial information. Considering Eleven couldn’t find Max inside her own mind at the hospital, the reason could very well be because Max is, in fact, inside Vecna’s mind. 

This could lead to her playing a vital role in killing Vecna in season five. Killing Vecna from the outside — as Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), and Robin (Maya Hawke) attempted — clearly isn’t as easy as one, two, three. Attacking him from inside his mind might prove to be the correct course of action. If Max is indeed coexisting with him inside there, she could be, as they say, the chink in his armour. 

If Max does indeed come out of her coma, her milky-white eyes and apparent blindness could lend her the powers of foresight, similar to a seer in Greek mythology. That could help the group stay one step ahead of Vecna, giving them the leg up they need to strike him down once and for all.

Furthermore, Max could come out of her coma and still exist inside Vecna’s mind in some way, which would make her the biggest key to killing him. She might not be Kas, but she’s more than just a victim stuck in a coma. Stranger Things has big plans for Max. We’re sure of it.