WARNING: Major spoilers for Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 in this article. Do NOT read on if you've yet to watch the season finale. Okay? Okay.
Blimey. After a weekend of dodging spoilers, I was finally able to sit down to watch the season finale of Stranger Things 4 yesterday, and I still haven't quite managed to catch my breath.
For a grueling two-and-a-half hours I watched through my fingers as the various groups of heroes carried out their coordinated attack against Vecna. I knew there'd be casualties. I just wasn't prepared for how brutal they would be.
As I'm sure you know because there's no way you ignored my spoiler warning, the big character death of Stranger Things 4 was none other than Eddie Munson. The D&D-loving guitar-wielding hero went out in a blaze of glory, luring away Vecna's demobats with some savoury licks before standing his ground to give Dustin a chance to get to safety.
It was a meaningful arc for a character who kicked off the season by acknowledging what a coward he can be, but not everyone is thrilled that Stranger Things 4's breakout star was offed after just nine episodes. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled sweet baby Steve Harrington made it out alive, but I would've loved more Munson going forward too.
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It's a sentiment shared by the vast majority of fans, with Twitter flooded by Munson stans who wished he had more time.
Other fans have argued that Stranger Things is getting a little predictable in who it chooses to kill off. Each season typically introduces a new fan-favourite to murder brutally, rather than have us lose any of the core cast.
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Yes, this season Max technically "died" for a minute after Vecna finally caught her, but the character is currently alive and in a coma. She's quite clearly coming back, just like Hopper did.
"Petition for The Duffers to actually kill off a main character instead of bringing in new fan favourites every season just so that they can be the death of the season so no one can complain that no one dies cough cough Bob Alexei and Eddie," wrote one user.
"I'm a firm believer that it would've been more impactful to kill off a main character (if it was absolutely necessary) then develop Eddie/his relationships more in Season 5 so that way his death is much more soul crushing," argued another.
Of course with Stranger Things 4 hinting at time travel in some form (why exactly is the Upside Down stuck in 1993?) I'd imagine we haven't seen the last of Munson one way or another.
Topics: Netflix, TV And Film