Is *That* Stranger Things Death Final? The Actor Talked About Season 5 Prospects

Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things 4 follow. Many Stranger Things fans kicked off their Fourth of July weekend by watching the final two episode of Season 4. The epic conclusion saw the Hawkins crew battle Vecna in the Upside Down. However, it’s unclear whether they can say it was a battle they won, since it ended in the heartbreaking death of one of this season’s best characters and Max’s fate unclear after her last scene in the hospital. The ending really had a lot of fans wondering, will Max survive for Stranger Things 5? It seems Sadie Sink is also unsure.

If you have finished Season 4, you know that Max does die for about a minute before she’s miraculously saved by Eleven. Max’s brief encounter with death does open Vecna’s final door to the Upside Down, which sets up Vecna’s return to Hawkins, likely a central plot point for Season 5. While the rest of the crew has all been reunited, including Hopper escaping Russia, it’s unclear if Max will be around to fight when the show returns. Thanks to Vecna, Max was last seen with her arms and legs broken, not being able to feel or see. It doesn’t look good. However, Sadie Sink, who plays Max on the show, recently spoke with Deadline and shared whether or not she knows Max’s fate.

Will Max Survive For Stranger Things 5?

“I can tell you with full honesty that I do not know what is going to happen in Season 5,” Sink shared in her July 4 Q&A with Deadline. While she doesn’t have the script yet and the Duffer Brothers have yet to reveal any hints about the future, Sink is aware that the likelihood of some of our favorite characters not making it through Season 5 is very high. “With Season 5 being the last season, I don’t know what they have planned. But there are so many characters. Some of the deaths on the show are so impactful to audience members and the other characters in general. But they really moved the story,” she shared.

While she’s not sure who could die, Sink trusts the Duffer Brothers’ vision, saying, “I know the Duffers are always very careful and calculated with who they’re killing off. They’re never gonna kill a character for the sake of just killing someone off.” (You tell that to the Eddie Munson fans on Twitter.) When it comes to a character’s death on Stranger Things, Sink said, “It always has to move the plot along and be right in that moment and in the story. I have full faith in [the Duffer Brothers].”

When asked if the Duffers have mentioned to Sink whether or not Max will survive Stranger Things, she said, “They’ve been very secretive about Season 5 in general.” However, they did come to her before reading the final episode of Season 4. Since it said “Max dies” in the script, the Duffers wanted to warn Sink so she wasn’t shocked when she read it.

When Will Stranger Things Return?

Right now, Sink has no clue when they’ll go back to work for Season 5, and isn’t even sure how long it’ll take to film the next season. She did mention, “The Duffers definitely know the fans will be eagerly awaiting a fifth season, but I don’t think they’re gonna rush it. They wanna make the best final season that they could possibly make.”

When it comes to Max’s storyline for Stranger Things 5, Sink knows that “Max’s storyline is very up in the air, ‘cause obviously she’s in a coma and Eleven can’t find her in the void.” Whether that means she’s going to survive or not will just have to be answered when Stranger Things returns. Max has already been through so much, though. Hopefully, she’s fully brought back to life, like Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was brought back to the charts, and her and Lucas can finally go on that date.