Stranger Things Fans Think A Character From The Past Will Return In Season 5

With Stranger Things 4 now fully released, there’s only one more season of the series to wrap everything up. From the original arrival of the Demogorgon to Vecna’s reveal in Season 4, there are more than enough battles to come for one more round of episodes. The final season will also have to tie up loose ends, which is why some viewers think Kali, aka Eight, could be one of those to come back in Stranger Things 5.

Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things 4 follow. Although the Chicago episode back in Season 2 was one of the critics’ least favorite of the entire series, it brought up questions many fans hadn’t previously considered: If Eleven and Eight exist, what happened to One through Seven, or Nine and Ten? And were there more numbers beyond Eleven? Why was there no sign of them in Hawkins Lab?

Stranger Things 4 answered that mystery by revealing One was Henry Creel, who had become Vecna when Eleven shoved him through time and space into the Upside Down. But before Eleven broke that barrier between worlds, she unknowingly helped One slip his mental restraints. Free to use his powers again (after Brenner held him in captivity), he attacked all of the other children in the lab, murdering everyone he could reach, including the clique of bullies — Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Seven — the sweet and trusting Nine and Ten, and all the younger kids who were numbers Twelve through Eighteen.

Technically, that leaves One and Eleven to have a face-to-face showdown. But Eleven knows something One does not: Eight, who escaped the lab a couple of years before the massacre, is still alive, and Eleven can call on her for help.

But would Eleven actually reach out to the Chicago gang for reinforcements? The better question might be: With the Upside Down now invading Hawkins and the Rightside Up, can she afford not to? One of the complaints over the Chicago interlude was how pointless it felt to the overall arc. Sure, Eleven got her mojo back and a makeover with too much eyeliner, but it was unnecessary. Having Kali come with her crew as reinforcements in Hawkins’ hour of need would rectify that.

Moreover, there’s a hint in the final episode that Chicago hasn’t left Eleven’s mind. When she initially got her makeover, Kali and her friends taught Eleven the correct slang term: "B*tchin!” When Hopper asks if Eleven likes his new shaved head, she looks him over and uses that phrase, calling right back to the episode just before the effects of the Upside Down creep toward them.

With over a year until the final season, fans will just have to keep speculating if Kali will come into play in Stranger Things’ final battle.