Max Mayfield’s fate at the end of Stranger Things Season 4 has fans wondering if she’s dead or alive. While it seemed like Eleven saved her at the last minute, she’s comatose and has gone through enough trauma that she may be brain dead. Her fate will obviously be a key focal point of the plot in the next season.
Is Max dead or alive at the end of Stranger Things Season 4?
Vecna kills Max during the final episode of Stranger Things Season 4. He breaks all her limbs and blinds her. Though Eleven is able to prevent him from doing further damage, she must have incurred internal injuries, which she succumbs to shortly after. However, Eleven is able to psychically resuscitate her after her heart stops. Afterward, Lucas and his sister are able to get Max medical attention, and she ends up in the hospital.
Unfortunately, Max’s ending isn’t a completely happy one. Her physical body is alive, but she may be brain dead. In the hospital, Eleven attempts to enter her mind, but all she finds is darkness. What this means is open to interpretation, but it seems to indicate that Max’s conscious mind or soul has left her body. Even if she was in a typical coma, we could assume that some Eleven would have been able to enter her memories.
Our current theory is that Max is brain dead. Vecna never needed her body to open the giant gate in Hawkins. Instead, her spirit (or soul) provided the psychic energy to open the portal.
Fortunately for her, unlike Chrissy, Fred, or Patrick, Max’s body remains alive. So, the group may be able to rescue her soul from Vecna and reunite her physical and spiritual selves. However, Vecna is now hiding, and the whereabouts of the souls used to power the gate is (presumably) unknown.
