The Big Picture
Max’s fate in
Stranger Things
Season 4 is tragic but opens the door for a potentially important role.
Max’s possible role as the Oracle in
Stranger Things
Season 5 could provide valuable insight and guidance.
To complete her arc, Max may need to seek revenge against Vecna to overcome her trauma.
In the shocking finale of Stranger Things Season 4, Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) uses herself as bait to try and defeat Vecna, aka Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower). After their plan backfires, Max has both her arms and her legs broken and is blinded in the process. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) manages to revive Max with her abilities, but she remains in a coma at Hawkins Hospital at the end of the finale. Stranger Things showrunners the Duffer Brothers have confirmed Max’s fate as of the events of Season 4, describing her as “brain-dead and blind” in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. However, this obviously isn’t the end for this beloved character, and what’s in store for her is still up in the air. All of her limbs may be broken, and she may be blind, but she is not helpless, and she may not even be useless in the show’s final season. In fact, Max could play one of the most important roles in the battle to save Hawkins if the series decides to go in this direction with her character.
Stranger Things
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.
Release Date July 15, 2016
Creator Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
Main Genre Sci-Fi
Seasons 5
Studio Netflix
Max Should Become the Oracle in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5
According to the series, Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) is the group’s Dungeon Master who is the “heart” and leader of the party and is responsible for narrating the campaign, as well as a Paladin. Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is a Wizard, “Will the Wise” as well as a Cleric, or a magic user. Meanwhile, Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) is a Dwarf, “Nog,” and a Bard; Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) is a Knight, “Sundar the Bold,” and a Ranger; and Eleven is a Mage. Everyone has clear, established roles, courtesy of the prior seasons, except for one character. Max does suggest that she could be the party’s Zoomer in Season 3, but a Zoomer is not technically a class in Dungeons & Dragons, as the boys point out. In D&D, however, a player does not choose to become the Oracle, but rather, one is chosen by some mysterious power. Oracles have the power to contact the gods and ask for guidance; they can also see glimpses into the future. This divine gift comes at a great cost, and the player’s character, who becomes the Oracle, will suffer a terrible curse. Sound familiar?
In terms of being able to assist the rest of the group, there’s still a possibility for Max to help even while confined to a hospital bed: she could be a mole for the others if her consciousness is trapped in Vecna’s mind in the Upside Down. Consider the likelihood that Vecna is gravely injured and recovering in the wake of Season 4’s massive battle; he may not even be aware that Max is close at hand. Or the opposite could happen, and Vecna could use Max to spy on the party, as he did with Will in Season 2. Max could see into the Upside Down and tell Eleven telepathically what Vecna’s plans are once the two possibly make contact in the Void (the black empty space Eleven sees when she’s in a sensory deprivation tank).
Stranger Things’ many ’80s references are what make the show so iconic, including classic films like The Goonies, E.T., and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as Hellraiser and Nightmare on Elm Street in the most recent season. Along those same lines, an Oracle would be another homage to everything Stranger Things is already paying tribute to. Oracles are pivotal in several science fiction and fantasy series from that time period, including DC Comics’ Barbara Gordon, who adopted the moniker of Oracle after being shot by the Joker in The Killing Joke, which incapacitated her much in the same way Max has been. Beyond the fact that Max has yet to find her contributing role to the main group, the blinding injury she sustained also makes her the perfect candidate to become the show’s new Oracle. Max has already proven how intelligent she is by surviving Vecna’s wrath time and time again. It’s entirely plausible that Max could gain the ability to see into the future — a major trait Oracles possess — while she’s trapped in Vecna’s mind and has the potential to draw on his existing power.
To Complete Her Arc, Max Needs to Get Revenge in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5
Max has had one of the most complex and compelling arcs in Stranger Things — plummeting into a deep depressive state as she struggled with overcoming grief and shame at the beginning of Season 4, which made her the perfect victim of Vecna’s curse. In order for her arc to end in a satisfying way, she needs to learn to let go of her guilt and forgive herself, overcome her trauma of losing her brother, Billy (Dacre Montgomery), and find the strength to defeat her metaphorical demons, who take the physical form of Vecna. The only way she can do that is by killing Vecna before he kills her. Vecna has to kill Max in order to claim four lives, thereby making it possible for him to destroy the world, and as a result, Hawkins remains in limbo between our world and the Upside Down while Max is still in her coma. Although she’ll still be in danger and a target in the show’s concluding season, she could also become one of Stranger Things’ most powerful and essential characters as the final battle looms.
Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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