The Truth About What Happened To Max In Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 Explained 

What do you think is going to happen to Max in Stranger Things Season 5? Comment your thoughts below!

Max's soul is possibly stuck at Vecna's lair that's why Eleven couldn't track her at the end of the episode . Vecna consumes the memories of his victims along with their attributes so even if he is defeated eventually , Max may wake up but with memory loss . Maybe the letters she wrote to her friends will help to remember about herself

Vecna mentioned to 11 once that the ones who he kills are not dead but in his mind as he pointed to his head. i believe 11 needs to be in the mind of vecna so she can find max. it is possible that max may have some abilities next season or since she is in his mind she may be able to help 11 in regards to looking into all his memories which could hold the key to defeating vecna.

I theorize that we will see Max in Vecna's mindscape, and she could maybe interact with Chrissy, Freddy and all the other victims. El will somehow have to infiltrate this mindscape to help free them, setting those who died to go in peace and to awaken Max.

I think Vecna has captured her mind, and now that he’s in our world physically, he can inhabit her body. Eddy playing Master of Puppets has me thinking it’s foreshadowing for what he’ll be able to do to people on a grand scale. He already did it with Will. So he’ll be able to control humans without making his presence known to the world at large. It may become a Body Snatchers type of setting. They said it’ll take place in the early 90s, likely 1990 or 1991.

I don't think Max is dead "dead", her arc in volume 1 was a beautiful and painful metaphor for overcoming depression, guilt and suicidal thoughts. She dies expressing that she wants to live, which was gut wrenching. They would not be as grim as giving us a beacon of hope for anyone struggling with mental health and then killing her off when she realizes she wants to live. My theory is that her consciousness is trapped in Vecna's mind lair and somehow she might help defeat him by being like a spy, Maybe as Vecna knows his victims' thoughts, Max could be able to know his thoughts and that can be a powerful weapon. I hope she comes back. She won't be the same, maybe blind, the physical scars will for sure be there, but that is something that she can overcome. Afterall, she has to go to the movies date with Lucas! They wouldn't refer it if it wasn't going to happen, just like Hopper and Joyce's date was referred this season. Lucas was reading The Talisman in the hospital, the story of a boy who goes on a journey to find a talisman who will cure his mother from dying from cancer. This might be foreshadowing, I can see Lucas going on a similar journey to save Max next season.

I think Max will be blind in the "real world" but be able to see all the upside down things that are creeping into reality that the others can't see, just as Will can feel certain things. So she's always kind of in between.

One thing about Vecna's "claiming" of Max, is that he does indeed take everything away from that person, but he didn't finish with Max. She said Lucas's name several times when she woke up in reality. I do believe that she still has her memories, but I do think this coma could be her soul lost inside of Vecna's trap. An interesting plot point for season 5 could be El continuously searching for Max inside her mind, and rescuing her.

I remember in the Stranger Things mobile game from a few years ago, Max’s character had powers. I wonder if she’s finally going to exhibit powers in the next season given everything that’s happened to her.

I cried over Max in the last episodes of season 4. It hit me like a relative died.

I really hope that Erika takes the final blow on vecna because she beat him in the dnd game

Max was in Vecna's mind at the end. She was not consumed but she died as Vecna's link to Max was lost. She is trapped in Vecna's mind, undoubtedly hiding the same way as Will hid in the upside down in season 1.

Imagine if eleven gave max powers. that would be SICK.

I love how at 0:41 she’s already separated from the party and standing in the darkness. I know I’m not the only one that noticed that foreshadowing my first watch, but I thought it was just a nice settle image.

Think I’d rather be dead. Blind, Two broken Arms, Two broken legs, and brain dead 💀

I think her eyes are like that because vecna is still connected to her He never left her mind he was forced from him being on fire meaning they are still connected I think they might do a will in season 2 where she can be a spy, kinda like how Harry Potter could see where Voldemort is and what he’s doing

I’m so glad Max is probably not permanently blinded. She’s just stuck in “Vecna” mode, since people’s eyes always did that clouded thing when Vecna was gonna kill them.

My theory is, that for opening the portal itself you need soul. And now is Max's soul essential part of the 4th portal And, after defeating Vecna and closing portals, Max's soul will come back to her

I wanted to add my thoughts and in a way mirrors “ The Empire Strikes Back” and Season five could mirror Return of the Jedi. Eleven is Luke Skywalker and like Luke who goes alone to Degabah to train with Yoda to become a Jedi, Eleven goes to the Missile Silo and trains to reach her full power. But like the Empire Strikes Back Eleven is pulled back too soon like Luke who has visions of Leia and Han being captured and tortured by Vader. In Stranger Things Eleven has visions of Vecna who’s name also begins with V capturing and torturing Max and the Hawkins group. Unfortunately like Han Solo being frozen in Carbonite Max is taken by Vecna. Both characters also can’t see when they first come back. Han after being unfrozen from the Carbonite and Max coming back from the Upside Down. Needless to say this sets up like Return of the Jedi with Luke who is set to face Vader and Emperor Palpatine in final battle to decide the fate of the galaxy and Eleven who is set to face Vecna and the Mindflare to decide the fate of the world. There’s a number of other parallels between these stories but I think it’s a decent summary!😁👍

Personally, I think they’re possibly going an Endgame route and will have to use time to defeat Vecna. There are so many crumbs that point to it - the clocks, the Upside Down being stuck in the past, Eleven bringing Max back to life, etc. Eleven has already discovered that she’s powerful enough to open portals to other universes, but she’s not strong enough to travel through/affect time. Her ability to control time will eventually be her way to ‘fly’ to defeat Vecna. Ultimately, she has to go back, save Max, and correct the timeline.

Max was certainly taken by Vecna, and he Said he Keeps them all. He at least has the 4, but Only Max's body survived. This HAS to be an Issue, or the Duffers would have Killed her as well! Max got into Vecna's mind, and he was Surprised! Does Max have that Something Special as well? What did 11 DO? CPR her heart Telekinetically, or Defibrillatior shock, or some Unknown Power of hers? If it was part of Her, might that be How 11 got the Power(and maybe Henry as well?). I HOPE Max is saved, as she was Incredibly Brave this Season! Sadie Sink and Caleb McLaughlin should get awards for that Death Scene! Hugs!

Or maybe #8 has to come back to help El she has the same exact powers as Vecna. 01 explains to El about the rainbow room and mention that it was "before 8 left" .. never explain the relationship between the two. But there is more and I think 8 holds the key to helping El.

I have a theory- I think max is hiding in her memory….the skating memory… it was not necessary to show us that and it felt a little out of place and yet they showed it to us… so I think she is hiding from Vecna in that memory…also in the end of season 2 the mindflayer was shown in the upside down during the snow ball dance….which means vecna knew about that memory and hence it was easier to find her but vecna does not know about max’s skating memory….not sure if its possible…its just a theory….and maybe be in the next season el will have to go find her and I think max definitely will know something about vecna that will help the gang to fight him…

If somehow Max does wakes up. I don’t think she will be the same again. I think we see what happens.

11 has to learn vecna's ability (Intuitive Aptitude) and she will restore max. But while max was captured by vecna for sometime, she will be able to communicate with all vecna's victims and predict his next moves. MORE... after 11 connects with Max's mind, they both agree that max will be the bridge to vecna until the very end before they make sure vecna is about to die. Only then 11 can restore Max.

TBH Max in a coma opens up a lot of potential for her character as well ad the final season... I mean she could develop powers, maybe gained through Eleven somehow, she could learn to Shadow Walk, she could find some kind of backdoor into Henry's mind etc. I think Eleven & Max's connection is going to be a huge part of season 5

I think Max might be the key to defeating Vecna/Henry/ One. Since Max is THERE in his head, she can give Eleven some insight.

i would love to see a Toph Beifong arc for Max!

My theory is since Vecna consumes people, and just so happens every time the vessel ends up being unusable after, there's no going back, but since Max is still alive, technically, it should be possible for Eleven to make Vecna spit Max's soul back, like gohan punching cell into spitting android 18 or something like that

What I'm confused about is how El was still there after Max died. If she was there by going through Max's mind then wouldn't she loose her "mind connection" once Max died? So Max must have somehow still been alive enough to have Eleven start her heart up again. Maybe her body died but wasn't brain dead when it happened and that allowed El to stay long enough to start her heart up again. And maybe the reason why El was in darkness when trying to communicate with Max at the hospital is because Max's brain is healing from not having blood and oxygen for a whole minute and it's making Max take a rest mentally from the trauma so she doesn't stress out while healing. With that, Max's consciousness might be in a deeper part of her mind that El would have to find out how get to to talk with her.

I’m going to say Max doesn’t play a role in season 5 at all. Once they defeat vecna though, Max’s will come back to life and the season will end with her being okay and regrouping with everyone. Will will be a host for vecna and 11 and will will battle it out knowing that will will be killed

i really appreciate the break down on Max's part in the finale being major i didnt expect that at all

I don’t usually cry but this death/resurrection definitely made me shed a tear, I think the reason was Bc most of the characters like Eddie, Hopper, Billy, etc. seemed so at peace and fine with dying while max shut everyone out and acted so tough and sacrificed herself but when death was approaching she was so scared and you could really feel Sadie’s emotion coming through finally. This was my favorite part of the whole season and probably the best acting Sadie has done so far in Stranger Things. A little disappointed that she didn’t die kinda ruins the impact on the audience.

I have a theory that half of her mind is stuck in the upside down, and the other half in the real world. Like he mentioned in the video, Vecna almost took her, so maybe half of her mind is stuck there because of him. And once Vecna is defeated, her mind will be freed and she’ll either wake up, or have her mind will no longer be stuck there.

That is a good theory when it comes to Max becoming a seer and when looking at dungeons and dragons which stranger things base the show on the seers characteristics would be “Seers are a disparate lot. Some embrace their gift and seek to share their knowledge, while others fear the unbidden insights they receive. Seers are resigned to the whim of happenstance, and they see design where others would see coincidence”.

my theory is that el will have to enter vecna’s mind in season 5. in episode 7 of season 4 when henry is talking to el, he mentions that the people he killed still exist in his mind so maybe she’ll go in it to look for max or possibly kill vecna🤷‍♀️

It really looked like the emptiness in Max's head meant excessive brain damage after her heart stopped for a minute. If Eleven had noticed any evidence of Max's mind being trapped by Vecna instead of destroyed, I think she immediately would've started planning to get it back somehow.

vecna wanted them to go ahead with that plan so he could get max to take her music off. He knew that the plan they did would be suicide for all of them. so I assume that’s why he pretend he wasn’t aware but he was. If it wasn’t for eleven, it could of been a lot worse.

season 4 gut punched me more than any of the other seasons. So much death and pain.

Love these videos and ur channel

Maybe in the opening scene of S5, Max will ‘wake up’ after El revived her, thinking all is normal but realizes she is stuck in the dark empty subconscious mind of Vecna. Then a little time jump and hopefully the group will try to free Max, but Will might possibly have a huge role the last season. Perhaps we get to know the past of Henry prior to when he was unhappy and tormented. El managed to find Billy’s happy memory so she should be able to with Henry as well.

I think the letters will play a key role in getting Max back. Those where her happy memories with those characters and what ties her to the normal world.

Great video! Would you please do one on why Vecna had Will kidnapped into the upside down in season 1?

I am so glad you made this video. Many people said that not killing Max completely and keeping her in a coma is an asspull. I've been trying to tell people over and over: if you technically look at it, Max's fate is really worse than death. If she does survive and have ANY of her memories the trauma that she suffered is going to change her forever. The other three victims were in a trance and flat out killed. She returned to experience that in her real body before she died for one whole minute. That in itself is rough to go through. That's why she was so terrified when she was dying. She couldn't physically feel anything but she also couldn't see anything. But she was aware of her surroundings and she could hear everything. And it is said that a human being's senses are heightened before death.

I love how videos like this put spoiler warnings after showing the shots with the biggest spoilers

I feel like 008 might come back to help Max restore her vision and then we’ll see a Halloween 2018 Laurie Strode version of Max hunting down Vecna.

Max might have a simular role as to what Will had in season 1, and that might be one of the main focuses, the other main focus might be war.

I think Max and Will are going to be instrumental in bringing Vecna down and saving Hawkins! I cannot wait to see if I’m right.

My heart sank when she got crunched up like a UPS delivery.

Honestly, I felt nothing when max got ‘killed’ in the end. I never really cared much for her character and the way they were constantly trying to get us to empathise with her made it pretty obvious she was going to die. Not only that but the two death fake-outs they did was also pretty annoying.

Ideally. If Vecna needed death to open the portal, Max's death would only cement its existence. She might need to regain contiousness fully in order to break the connection.

My question: why 4 victims and why 4 gates? Is it just because it's season 4? What's the significance of the number 4 here?

Max may slowly regain her sight. Nancy will see visions through time. Will will read Henry's thoughts in return. Eleven will reach even higher and newer powers. *Max might be even stronger than Eleven as the only member to feel the full strength of 001 and 011. She will eventually see through the eyes of all the new monsters. Maybe even control them.

Wondering if her "waking" from the coma will explain the major time gap that is planned - I understand the next season will take place in 1989 3 years after the 4th season?

11 has very vague powers.

I get the feeling that just like Dr Brenner said he consumed her. she's basically one with him now until he's defeated or they figure out some way to get her out of there. that's why El found her mind completely empty. she's not even really there anymore. which is even sadder than her dying because it's like she's just a husk.

To lose sight but gain insight. Movies and books love doing this. Same process can be seen even in William Shakespeare’s work.

I hope she does continue to play some role in season 5 however I'm also fearing that the only reason why she wasn't just killed outright was because they needed to have the scenes that took place after she was killed but before the world turned.. The writers struggled to write this part of the script and came up with this to dig themselves out.

The Eleven could’ve given Max powers as a result of transfer from bringing her back reminds me of the Matrix when Neo transferred his abilities to agent Smith. That would be cool, and something they could get away with since this is a new unaddressed ability.

Nice topic 🙂👍

There might be a possibility that max might be braindead, because that el saw nothing when she went into Max’s mind supports the fact that max might be braindead and there is nothing left, but there’s also a high chance she is still in there and she might be able to return and be a huge key part to season 5.

What is max’s soul is in Vecna. But when the gang tries to kill Vecna they kill max due to her soul being apart of Vecna. This is just a thought though.

I was so crush when I saw Max lift into the air and some of her limb's break, I cried the whole time.

It could also explain when eleven tries to find max inside her mind at the hospital it’s all black insinuating that she is a empty vessel since she got consumed by vecna so she will need to find her way back to her body at some point…someway.

So this is what i think. When eleven brought max back to life she used happy memories of max and her friends, kind of the opposite of what vecna does that he uses traumatic memories to kill his victims. But since vecna already started killing her, he has part of her "soul" and when they defeat vecna in season 5 she will get the rest of her soul back like her sight and conciousness because she is in a coma and still have a body for her soul to return to. Also if that is not the case and max wakes up, i think that her being blind will make her able to see what happens in the upside down just how will gets goosebumps when he feels the mind flayer or vecna which might help them in defeating vecna because she can still talk and hear so she will be able to tell the others what is happening. Also we kknow vecna knows eveything and what is going to happen ahead of time and will said he can still remember how he thinks, what if will also knows what will happen to them and they will all find a way to prevent or stop it since they are back in hawkins.

some ppl felt underwelmed because they kept Max alive, that it wasted the emotions and potential y'now, character growth of lucas and co. It doesn't. Eleven's selfishness is what caught me, Max had been through worse and yes it would be great to finally let her rest but Eleven became selfish, she acted up on grief, she blames herself for not making it on time and doesn't care if max suffers the aftermath as long as she stays. the first stage: denial. tbh these deaths wont go to waste. Vecna could use Eddie's death to taunt Dustin next season, Max's death to taunt Lucas and Eleven. And both to mess the heads of the whole crew.

The storm as we saw in the end is the mind flayer's final form

My theory is when they kill vecna she will come back to life but blind. I also think 8 whos 11s sister is going to pop up to help. Will is going to play a big part in beating vecna imo and idk im thinking we may see eddie again. Just not human.

I've been thinking about this...Nancy saw her diary was dated the day Will went missing with nothing wrote in it. So this means the Upside-down is stuck back in time. So What if Nancy wrote everything that has happened in her diary in the upside down. Would Nancy back in 1983 in the real world see it and then be able to save Barb and Max along with everyone else? Or at the end of season 5 the whole show was just a D&D Campaign and everything is ok.

I would hate to see Max being consumed by the evil of the upside down or serving as a host for Vecna to infiltrate the group. That would be worst case for me. I hope the Duffer Brothers don’t go down that path. Max is such a great character. She definitely deserves better than that.

I don’t usually cry but this death/resurrection definitely made me shed a tear, I think the reason was Bc most of the characters like Eddie, Hopper, Billy, etc. seemed so at peace and fine with dying while max shut everyone out and acted so tough and sacrificed herself but when death was approaching she was so scared and you could really feel Sadie’s emotion coming through finally. This was my favorite part of the whole season and probably the best acting Sadie has done so far in Stranger Things.

Good content. Thought our theories. But what I'm afraid of is we're going to have to wait another two and a half years for this to continue.

Yes, Will, Max, and El (and maybe Kali, if they bring her back) are keys to the battle for Hawkins. I think Will and El will die, but Max will recover fully due to El’s healing power since it is becoming more potent than before, according to Owens.

Max MAY wake up having new mind powers and even though she might be physically damaged for life and not the same Max she used to be, she could still help El defeat vecna mentally

FIRE VID LOVED IT AND SUBSCRIBED ASAP🤪🤪🤪

I'm actually thinking of Max's favorite song, which at first seemed to be something that was referring to Billy - Max deep in her heart kinda wanting to change places with him as she feels guilty for his death because she imagined him dying as she says. However the song plays at the end of finale again and the lyrics could be a hint on what's going to happen (as well as the book Lucas was reading from - in D&D terms maybe something that equivalents to an Amulet of Regeneration which is a heart-shaped ruby and the Talisman in the novel is somekind of crystal/gem as well. Of course it won't be an object bit probably a person). The song didn't make much sense in the finale. Or did it? Is it some kind of pledge? It is possible that the idea is that in the end someone (Eleven?) in some form swaps places with Max, making her whole again. But in the process that person sacrifices him-/herself for Max's wellbeing. Maybe playing that song at that point was kind of a foreshadowing device. Plus, there's this conversation between Max and Lucas, in which they plan on having a movie night on the next Friday. That was probably foreshadowing her death/coma as then the date couldn't happen. However it's also a possible storytelling device that one can follow up at the end of the series. Wouldn't be that unusual to do this, especially in about 1,5- 2 years no one remembers that but will react with a "Ohhh, we forgot about that." It's a little bit confusing if Vecna did really consume her or not because he was not only interrupted in the ritual but also not in Max's mind. Maybe a vital part is missing that they have to reclaim. Which leads me back to the song. (That Kate Bush described as "Max's totem", maybe that's what the Duffer Brothers called it?) So, I think RUTH was chosen for a specific reason that may end up being important in Season 5. In the end we can just speculate and there is no "truth" other what the brothers really intend to do. Some of the implications are kinda clear but combined with what actually happened, things a pretty much up in the air. They also may have not told us all the rules. An important part, that of four victims to open the gate, was revealed very late. It's like playing with a GM (Game Master) that tells you just before you want to do something really cool in any RPG, having the dice already in your hands... Nope, that's not going to work because: Rules for this specific action are different in this situation. Leaving the player pretty frustrated. That's how this feels... Frustrating. Two years of frustration. Seriously?

I just hope they don’t do a memory loss thing cause that would ruin everything we’ve gone through with the charecter

I wonder if max’s conscious being held by vecna will allow her to sabotage him from the inside and give the rest of the gang an edge over vecna in the real world. also just an idea, i think it would be so beautiful if at some point will feels max on the back of his neck and the feeling is good and light instead of the darkness and evil of vecna.

Here's my theory: When El tells vecna no you have (as in he lost) everything in his mind starts turning to dust as in his mind going blank. Specifically Vecna's mind. Max was in this world and could have dusted along with him, and eleven will need to stop going into her mind, and start infultrating Vecna's. because think about it. when it all disapeared, if max was there el would see her and ask like r u ok? but it was all darkness and thats what i think

5:57 I actually thought that

I think she might feel like she needs to be sacrificed to save Hawkins however at the sametime I think Lucas will need to save her soul from Vecnas house in the upside down to fully save her. I see him saving her just in time

Hope she'll be fine

I believe that there's going to be a "Star Wars" moment between 011 and 001.... "I am your father"

The song running up that hill by kate bush played in the background at two different climaxes as max runs from Vecna and as Eleven and the group "defeat" Vecna, has a particular line that goes " and if only I could, I'd make a deal with god, And I'd get him to swap our places" , this might be interpreted as literally Eleven traveling inside of Max's mind to find her or even the group trying to understand each other's trauma as a way to "swap their places" ( since Vecna preys on individuals that are negatively impacted by trauma). When the flaming alcohol bottle is being thrown towards Vecna in slow motion, the line" that hill" is being repeated several times, that hill might be representing the challenges that they will have to face as they are "running up that hill .

I feel like max won't be the same after this

Idk I thought it was quite obvious why it was darkness when 11 went into Max mind....11 didn't save max life, she saved her brain stem and is in a vegetative state. No memories to see when there is no brain activity. Which is a pretty good indicator that Max most likely will have the plug pulled unfortunately. I think Will is going to end up being the villain at some point kind of like a Jekyll n Hyde sort of thing and when Will is conscious and himself, at some point he's going to sacrifice himself to save his friends and his lover Mike and Hawkins

I'm wondering if we might get a situation like Arthas in WoW, where all of the souls that Vecna has consumed will be his undoing. It could be possible that we'll even see Barbara, Bob and Billy as well since the Mind Flayer is just an extension of Vecna, so I wonder if anyone that the Mind Flayer has killed would cause them to be consumed into Vecna's being.

I think she'll be back to her normal mental self in the final episodes of S5 with the exception of her physical injuries, mostly to keep the gates open for S5 to play out and to finally close it in the end.

I believe strongly that Elevens sister will return in the final season, and have some sort of involvement with max and eleven.

Is it me or does vecna have the same body type as the Grinch LOL

Her state and the victims’ matches El sensory-deprivation tank trick

I can't wait for season 5😭😭😭

We can all agree she won't be braindead till the end and not have another word. I think as the only surviver she will come back with something that will help in the fight. She won't come back after all this just as a weight to slow them down. I don't think Vecna is worried about the group anymore seeing how he supposedly had an army and a giant monster with a gaping mouth we haven't seen and completed his gate with Max's death. Sense they did the "Luke Skywalker " training bit to 11 I think the guy who was helping with her pa pa lol will train her to get stronger along with that black military guy who gave the order to kill her because they are both still alive and know about the situation. He will most likely stop pursuing 11 to kill and they both train her after seeing and hearing from the group of what's to come. The military WILL get wiped out by the army of monsters that we WILL see come out if the gate most likely helping the group giving them time. They will probably stall Vecna while the group hunts him down and 11 gets training.

Max has officially been pronounced brain dead by the duffer brothers. I honestly hope that eleven does something to bring her back to reality or something but I have no idea :(

I think there’s going to be an instance of the chance to go back in time and sort of “fix” the root of what started it all which also will mean the existence of Eleven altogether. It would end in Hawkins at the moment that Will went home after playing D&D and actually make it home.

One of the ways I think they can close the gate is by rescuing Max's consciousness/soul from Vecna's mind or wherever she is trapped. Since Vecna won't have her soul anymore then, the gates should theoretically close cuz remember Vecna doesn't need someone's physical life, he just needs their consciousness/soul to execute his plan and its why the gates remained open even after Max is revived

My theory: Max will come back with memory loss, as said that he consumes the victim’s memories etc. If she does come out of the coma, she might have side effects or powers since 1. Eleven used her powers to save her (might have shared her powers also) or since she is a survivor like Will from a monster.

Vecna has Max's soul, which is why El couldn't find her when she was searching for her in the hospital. I think season 5 is going to be the fact that Max comes back. But her soul is corrupted by Vecna. Vecna, being in his weakened state, sends Max to do his bidding. The gang don't find out immediately. But someone has suspicions and gets pushed from the group. I'm saying maybe Dustin. Then Suzy comes to Hawkins and they work together to figure it all out. There's not enough Suzy. Theory number 1 for me at least! I also had the theory that Vecna may take over her body in his weakened state and infiltrate the gang. But it could all be different with the Upside Down leaking into the normal world. We shall see!

I think the first and last theory sound the most appealing

1:45 I WAS LAUGHING HIS MOUTH IS LIKE SO FUNNY