WARNING! This post contains SPOILERS for Stranger Things season 4. Max’s resurrection in Stranger Things season 4 may have technically kept her alive, but her missing consciousness sets up a tragic twist for season 5. At the end of Stranger Things season 4, Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) is briefly killed by Vecna after he breaks her limbs and takes her eyes. However, Eleven resurrects Max using her powers, which still leaves her broken, blind, and in a braindead coma heading into Stranger Things season 5.

Despite surviving Vecna’s curse, Eleven couldn’t find Max when she searched for her in the void, suggesting Max’s mind has moved elsewhere. Consequently, it's been widely speculated that Vecna has possession of her consciousness, as she technically did join his collection of victims. Vecna takes everything that his victims were and will be, meaning Max’s consciousness could perhaps be located in Vecna’s red smoke mindscape area. As Stranger Things season 5 sees the characters try to wake Max up, Vecna’s possession of her consciousness could pose a particularly tragic obstacle for her friends.

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While killing Vecna will be one of the key goals in Stranger Things season 5's endgame story, his possession of Max’s mind could cause an incredible hindrance to this plan. Killing Vecna would also mean killing Max, so her friends could be put in the position of needing to make the tragic decision to sacrifice Max in order to rid both the Upside Down and the regular world of Vecna. If Max’s mind is truly uninhabited as Eleven’s trip to the void suggested, Vecna could also use Max’s body as a host, similar to Billy in Stranger Things season 3. If Max is used as a vessel for Vecna, Stranger Things season 5's characters would be put in another tragic situation of needing to use her to get back at Henry Creel, repeating the circumstances of needing to burn Vecna out of Will Byers in season 2.

Will Max Die In Stranger Things Season 5?

Sadie Sink as Max in Stranger Things season 4

Considering Max already had a devastating death scene in Stranger Things season 4 (despite being brought back to life), the show isn’t apt to kill her again in season 5. Max won’t have an easy recovery in Stranger Things season 5 – if she mentally recovers at all – and if she survives, she’ll likely remain permanently blind or disabled from her injuries. Max’s horrifying ending gave hope to Stranger Things’ characters due to her miraculous survival, so the next season can’t undo this by quickly killing her off again. The fact that Max is still alive thus needs to play a major role in season 5, and could be a supernatural key to finally bringing down Vecna and the Upside Down.

Recovering Max’s consciousness from wherever it has gone will likely be the core focus of Lucas Sinclair’s story in Stranger Things season 5. The Stranger Things season 4 ending sees Lucas read Stephen King’s The Talisman to Max, which is about a boy who travels to another dimension to find a crystal that can save his mother’s life. If this is any clue to Max’s fate, Lucas may have to lead an expedition into the Upside Down to find the cure for Max’s lost consciousness.

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