This post will be pro-byler, pro-ronance, pro-lumax, pro-steddie and pro-jopper, but also anti-m*leven and anti-st*ncy so fans of those ships might want to skip this one. I talk about death, homophobia and racism. Also the "worst case scenario" is not actually the worst option, it's the worst thing I think I could see actually happening in the show. By the way, this is nearly five thousand words long so I appreciate it if you even read just a part of it as it took ages (: doubt the anon wanted this much but oh well! I'll put the headings in red and the subheadings in purple so if you want to skip to a specific part then that is easier to do. So without further ado, here's way too many words about my opinions.
What I want to happen
California:
Will - in Volume 2, I want Will to fall into a Vecna trance. Not because I want him to suffer, but his character has not been explored anything close to what I'd have liked this season. I hope that within this trance, Will's past in the Upside Down is explored and obviously his sexuality and feelings for Mike (which have been planted for a while) because it would serve as good analysis and also confirm that this stuff didn't appear from nowhere. I want him to discover he has powers or is special within this trance like in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, one of the top inspirations of S4, which would make sense with his parallels to Vecna, his true sight and the fact that he survived in the Upside Down for a week. I also think maybe Eleven could infiltrate his trance and supportively fight alongside him with a newfound understanding of his life and also get some more willel sibling content.
Mike - I think Mike should see the painting Will made for him and realize that Will truly loves him. But seeing this display of love makes Mike realize that he doesn't love Eleven like he thought he did, something which was already dawning on him. Eleven has also realized she wants to discover things for herself instead of just finding out things through other people like Hopper, Mike, Max, Brenner and 001 and they have a mature mutual break up. Mike gets Vecna'd and then through this trance confronts his inner feelings for Will. I don't know if I want them to get together fully as it would be rushed, but a mutual confirmation of their feelings and huntings of a relationship would be good enough for me followed by a lot of pining before S5. Maybe they could kiss or confirm feelings to each other in the time skip as well.
Johnathan - I don't have too many hopes plot wise for Johnathan. I hope he gets some good moments with Will and that he gets to have moments beyond funny weed guy.
Argyle - I hope Argyle just continues doing his thing and survives. I also hope we get to see more of emotional side to him. We saw him making a gravestone for the military guy so he's clearly very caring and if there is death I feel like we could see a different side to him.
Lab:
Eleven - I've mentioned a lot of what I want with Eleven this season. I want her to have a moment where she realizes she's been told what to do her whole life but she's never been able to find her own personality and I think this could lead to a breakup with Mike. I want her to realize she's more than her powers as well. Then I want her to use her newfound freedom and powers to fight Vecna within minds that she's infiltrated and see more of their interesting parallels and dynamic together.
Dr Owens - I don't hugely care about him. He's going to protect Eleven from the military and maybe he then dies via sacrifice in order to spur her on. I think that could be nice.
Dr Brenner - I'm rooting for an inconclusive ending with him. Like he runs off when the government come unlike Dr Owens and then doesn't return. I'm not sure if I want him to die because his relationship with Eleven is interesting but I don't want him to be a hero either.
Russia:
Joyce - I want to see her being brave. I want to see her being in love with Hopper. I want to see her trying to phone her kids and once they've escaped the prison, trying to hunt them down like the great mother she is. Also, not necessarily in Volume 2, we don't really get much of her backstory which I'd like to learn more about.
Hopper - I need a Hopper/Eleven reunion. I want him to come back and when he sees Mike instead of hating him like we thought for a funny moment, he just hugs him. Because all these kids matter to him. I do want a funny moment later on though when he finds out they broke up.
Murray - We've seen him become a team player and find trust but I would like to see his dynamic with Dmitri. He's warmed up to Russians because of Alexei but I'm not sure if they'll like each other. Idk it just seems like it could be cool.
Dmitri (AKA Enzo) - I already mentioned seeing him interact with the others, but he clearly cares a lot about his son so it would be nice to see a more emotional side to him. You aren't gonna like me for this, but I wouldn't mind if he died just because I don't know how he'd be outside of this environment, although maybe it could be actually good.
Hawkins:
Dustin - Dustin is great comic relief, but he's also super smart and brave. I want to see him helping with the planning like usual, but I also think Dustin fighting would be good. We saw the scene earlier of him standing his ground with Vecna so I'd love if they parallel that scene to show his bravery when he defends Eddie's trailer (with Eddie). Does that parallel mean one of them could die? Maybe, but that's for the what I think will happen section (sorry folks). Maybe it could be used to show how far he's come and how he can now succeed through the encouragement of Eddie and Steve. Also more of Dustin and Steve, I know we've seen it before, but it's good for a reason!
Lucas - I hope we get more character exploration of Lucas. I wouldn't mind him being Vecna'd so long as he survives just to see more of his inner workings. He's got more screen time this season but not nearly enough! They should also wrap up his plotline with popularity and stuff by having him realizing he should just do what he likes instead of trying to conform to what anyone wants him to do, including the Hellfire Club, and calling his friends out for them not accepting his new hobbies. I want them to address that bullying also impacts him differently to them because of the racism he faces that they will never understand. And whilst I love him and Max, I also hope they explore more of his character outside of that relationship.
Max - I don't want Max's struggles to be over. Not in a bad way! Depression and grief isn't something you just quickly get over so I think seeing her re-Vecna'd would be nice, albeit with more strength this time. But then Eleven would show up in the trance to rescue her and she realizes again that she's not alone. I want to see her caring about things again. I want to see her skateboarding, reading comic books, hanging out with Lucas and also letting go of some of the guilt she's been holding on to.
Erica - Again, another character who I want more exploration of. I love Erica, but I would like to see her personality and feelings beyond just being sassy and a nationalist which feels really weird considering she's a black girl in the 80s and would've faced a lot of hardship because of that in America (I would recommend this article talking more about the flatness of her character and the representation of black people of Stranger Things to learn more). Her character has become more this season through her D&D playing and last season's stuff about her being good at maths, but I want to see her being actually genuine when stuff gets worse instead of just the sassy comedic relief. Maybe a heart to heart with Lucas so we can see that beyond her teasing she really cares about him.
Steve - I think it would be cool for Steve to get Vecna'd. Maybe not a full trance, but little visions as he walks through the Upside Down. Steve has an implied past with parental negligence (which I believe helped lead to his babysitter tendencies) and maybe more sprinklings of that to add some more emotional complexity would be interesting. Also, and I know this probably isn't going to happen, but I want Eddie to flirt with him and him to be totally oblivious but later on he tries to flirt really badly but Eddie finds it funny.
Nancy - So we already know Nancy's getting Vecna'd. I want Robin to rescue her and Nancy to start developing a bit of a crush on her. I want her to be impacted by the trance thought which we'd see in a potential flashforward. By looks of it, she's going to have a hostile interaction with Jason which I cannot wait for! Badass Nancy is the best and it looks like we're going to get a lot more of that in Volume 2.
Robin - As I've mentioned, I want Robin to remember Nancy's tapes on her bedside table and send off Steve and Eddie to retrieve it whilst she stays watch (meaning Nancy wakes up in her arms). I want to later see her get Vecna'd and have Vickie in the trance as well as Tammy Thompson (explaining her appearance) and Nancy. Robin liking women is a big deal to her and she seems to have some interalised homophobia in season 3 so I hope they fully explore the implications of her being a lesbian in the 80s. She must not die under any circumstances though!!!
Eddie - I want to see a full circle moment where instead running he stands his ground with Dustin. I don't want him to die though! I want him to work with him and be less independent and together I want them to bring down the demobats. I wouldn't mind him getting guilt visions about Chrissy but instead of getting sad, he uses it as fuel to fight back against Vecna.
Jason - I want him to get his ass handed to him by Lucas and then have Lucas say he needs to save Max and that Chrissy is gone but Max can still be saved, which causes him to realize Lucas isn't involved and by extension the rest of Hellfire. This causes him to have a mini crisis and just leave and break down. In a flashforward, we see him sad and grieving but he's polite towards the members of Hellfire.
What I think will happen
California:
Will - I think Will is going to have a big emotional coming out scene to Johnathan. My personal theory is that Will is going to overhear Mike saying he loves Eleven to encourage her to infiltrate someone's mind with her newfound albeit weakened powers (this could be platonic from when they break up) so Will is going to run off to Johnathan and cry and show him the painting. I think he then will be Vecna'd and have visions in which Mike rejects him and his fresh coming out is warped. I think Eleven will go into his mind and see his feelings and fight off Vecna in sibling solidarity and support.
Mike - I'm honestly not too sure about Mike. It really depends on if Byler is requited or not. Despite being a huge pessimist, I'll share my optimistic thoughts in this section. Mike will find out somehow that Will likes him (probably the painting) and then I think Mike will realize he doesn't like Eleven and have a mature break up with her where he explains he loves her but not in the way that he thought he did. She'll understand and feel encouraged by this. They could heavily hint to his feelings towards Will after this without canonically confirming it yet (except maybe in a flashforward). He could also maybe die to spur on Will and Eleven but that's coming up in the next section.
Johnathan - Unfortunately, I think he's going to just be more of funny weed guy. As I mentioned, he'll have emotional moments with Will and Joyce which I think will be very nice but ultimately aid their characters more than his. Later on, I think he'll meet up with Nancy and break up which makes me sad. Whilst I ship Ronance over Jancy, if Jancy break up it will be for St*ncy which I really dislike. Overall not hopeful in the Johnathan department. At least I don't think he'll die as he's too irrelevant this season lol.
Argyle - more funny weed guy shenanigans. Possibly a surprise death, which I spoke more about in the past. Basically he is surprisingly caring and brave and he's also new and likeable which is a deadly combo in Stranger Things. Out of the California group, I think he's most likely to die.
Lab:
Eleven - Eleven will gain back her powers but knowing what Vecna is capable of, she'll immediately want to leave. She'll get dressed and get ready to go until suddenly the base is stormed. She practices her powers by blowing them up but is completely drained by this and has to be rescued by the Cali crew. Knowing Max is a target, she infiltrates her mind using a sensory deprivation tank at the pizza place in Hawkins and fights off Vecna within there, protecting Max for the moment. She has a big showdown with him within their mindscapes which makes him dormant for the moment (but he'll be back). On an emotional level, she'll be dealing with the blowout from her relationship with Mike failing and also her guilt around her past. Vecna will have an easy time hurting her, let's just say.
Dr Owens - I kind of believe in my 'what I hope will happen' scenario being that he will die for Eleven, protecting her from the soldiers, unlike Brenner who will run off. He'll also be the one to let Eleven leave and not Brenner.
Dr Brenner - Brenner will want to keep Eleven around for experimentation, saying she's too weak, but by now Eleven is not falling for his manipulation. Owens will let her leave and they will argue whilst Eleven is about to go only for the government to come storming in. Owens could jump in front of Eleven and get shot meanwhile Brenner runs away like the coward he is.
Russia:
Joyce - I think we'll get what I hoped from her minus the backstory stuff. We'll see her loving Hopper but also her anxiety over her children and her need to get back to California and see them only to find out what's going on, giving a whole new layer to the need to escape.
Hopper - Similar to what I wanted. We'll see Hopper have emotional reunions with Eleven and have so many more romantic Jopper moments. The one thing I don't think will happen is an emotional moment with Mike, but it's nice to dream. Maybe will even see more of the Jopper parenting duo.
Murray - I think Murray is going to die this season. There's shots of him in the trailer burning something which I believe are things from the Upside Down that Russia stole. In terms of character arc it makes sense too. Going from being a disillusioned lone wolf to a guy who cares about his friends so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself for them is super emotional.
Dmitri - Also at risk from death. As I said, I just don't know how he'd fit in in America. It would also probably be quite emotional if he said something about Mikhail (not sure how it's spelt) before he died and Hopper promised to tell him he's a hero or something along those lines. I'm less sure of him than other characters but this is my leading theory at the moment.
Hawkins:
Dustin - I think that Dustin is going to decide to be brave and go into the Upside Down to defend Eddie's trailer. Eddie is going to use echolocation to lure the demobats away from Vecna leaving him and Dustin alone to face them. I think Dustin will be successful at fighting but get stuck leading to Eddie sacrificing himself for him, which makes Dustin very sad and could be used in a future Vecna trance (possibly in S5 when Vecna comes back).
Eddie - As I said, I think Eddie is going to sacrifice himself for Dustin. This would be a full circle moment from him encouraging them to run in 01x04 only for him to stand his ground and die so Dustin could land a critical hit on the demobats. Maybe Dustin would try to stop him and that he's probably going to die but he'd say something like "a wise guy once said never tell me the odds" and I'd cry.
Lucas - Lucas is going to beat up Jason but only to try and get back to Max who's re-tranced. They kiss once she's saved for the second time. We get to see him caring for and defending Max. Unfortunately, I feel like they've dropped his plot from at the start of the season and we won't get much complex exploration of popularity and the impact of his racist bullying on him compared to his white counterparts.
Max - Max will get re-Vecna'd but this time Vecna is more prepared for her to try and escape. My theory is that he's going to make a fake portal that she's going to run through so she thinks she's safe only for Vecna to strike again based on a monopoly card. I think Eleven will try and fight back Vecna in the trance, potentially saving Max although she is definitely at risk for death. The horrified shot of Lucas doesn't make me the most optimistic.
Erica - I don't think she'll do much beyond just being sassy unfortunately. Maybe she'll fight in the Upside Down but I doubt she'll be developed beyond comic relief.
Steve - Steve is going to infiltrate the Creel House in the Upside Down alongside Nancy and Robin. I doubt he'll get Vecna'd but he might get more visions potentially of his parents but I also think more spider-y stuff like we saw too. I think he's at a huge risk for death because it like Murray and Eddie would narratively make sense for him. Seeing him go from selfish jerk to sacrificing himself would be heartbreaking. I hope they don't kill him thought as S5 will really feel his absence and Joe Keery has some of the best line delivery on the show.
Nancy - After escaping her trance, Nancy will be very shaken up but ready to fight. I don't believe she will die. She is going to attempt to hunt down and shoot Vecna in the Upside Down along with Robin and Steve although I imagine this is not going to go well, resulting in injury but probably not death. Whilst there, Vecna will scatter in visions of Barb to try and throw her off. Afterwards, if Steve is alive they might throw her with him and have her break it off with Johnathan. If he dies, we'll probably get a posthumous confession of love. I'm not a fan of this ship.
Robin - Robin could be in a Vecna trance or at least get visions. These would be about her lesbianism and feelings for Vickie. Vecna would use this to torment her. I still think she will survive. If Steve does die then she'll be hit very hard by that and may fight off Vecna in his memory.
Jason - Kinda feel like my hope for him is going to come true. He's gonna fight Lucas, see Max, realize his error and then have a mini crisis. Or he'll double down, Vecna will say she was cheating and then he'll eventually die.
Worst case scenarios (superhell)
California:
Will - Will has a rushed coming out scene and then gets killed whether through Vecna or not. Then Mike posthumously finds his painting and it's enough for Mike to realize what love is in order to tell Eleven.
Mike - Mike realizes his undying love for Eleven and confesses it to her which is enough encouragement to temporarily harm Vecna and make him dormant. Worse if he dies just after which makes Eleven angry and she defeats him off of that.
Johnathan - He's too irrelevant to realistically die in my opinion. Worst version is that he gets no screen time and then breaks up with Nancy. This seems pretty likely to me sadly but as aforementioned, I'm a pessimist.
Argyle - More funny weed guy antics who dies out of nowhere and it's really poorly handled.
Lab:
Eleven - Eleven is reduced to nothing more than Mike's girlfriend. Her powers whilst they returned were motivated by protecting Mike and not her brothers. When she goes to attack Vecna she can't do it until Mike encourages her and then at the end she immediately goes to him. We don't see any further exploration of her complex relationship with good and evil, she's now just accepted she's a superhero (proven by Mike of course).
Dr Owens - He betrays Eleven for the government and ends up getting killed by her when she presumably kills them all.
Dr Brenner - Eleven and him now have a really good relationship and he rescues her but it is treated as though that redeemed his prior actions. Whilst he cares about them deep down, they make it feel as though that's enough to redeem him instead of exploring his weird dynamic with the kids.
Russia:
Joyce - Joyce gets killed by the Russians when they're trying to escape. She possibly does this to protect Hopper as some tragic element as they were only just back together. It would also mean Eleven lost her mother again. Whilst this would be sad it feels unnecessarily cruel and also it's not been foreshadowed at all.
Hopper - Similar to Joyce. They re-kill of Hopper so everyone re-loses him and we sob our hearts out over again. I don't think this is likely as there's no way we'd trust he's actually gone after the last time plus they've already grieved so it would just be re-grieving. More likely bad possibility is that the Russia stuff is just really boring until they get to Hawkins.
Murray - He stills dies but it's not heroic, it's just a surprise. We think he's safe but then boom maybe as a parallel to Joyce. This could be handled well but this is super hell season 4 so it's not. It's rushed and it's not as emotionally impactful.
Dmitri - He's just kind of there, not really helping, and if he does survive he's barely included in later stuff because they didn't know what to do with his character post-Russia.
Hawkins:
Dustin - Dustin gets panicked and briefly stops defending the demobats leading to Eddie being killed and a shit ton of guilt that Vecna uses against him. He is so upset he's unable to keep on fighting and he fades into the background earlier.
Eddie - Eddie's worst case scenario is a reverse Dustin. Dustin and Eddie fight together but Eddie panics and backs off leading to Dustin fending for himself and dying. Eddie, feeling guilty about Chrissy and Dustin, gives up and ends up dying or handing himself in for murder.
Lucas - Lucas is sidelined and shoved to the background. Whilst fighting Jason, he's unable to defend Max so when she dies he blames himself. We don't really get to see much of his reaction as it's shoved over for more fighting. If she doesn't die then he barely appears at all until they all reunite at the end.
Max - Max dies within her second Vecna trance. Except instead of being in a way that's engaging and sad, it's a boring physical fight that she loses causing Eleven to swoop in and exile Vecna but it's too late. The show is now left without her presence. Lumax was never reunited.
Erica - Yet again, the worst case scenario is what I think will happen. Erica will be irrelevant only to make sassy comments. If it was really bad they'd kill her leading to that shot of horrified Lucas but then they'd have to actually explore her character through a trance which I doubt the show would do.
Steve, Nancy - Either of them dies in a hastily done manner in which the other one then posthumously confesses their love for the other. It's not developed enough and also if they die I want them to go out in a good way, especially Steve. Robin is then left to mourn on her own which is a shame as we'd lose one of two amazing character dynamics and one great ship (Ronance).
Robin - Robin dies. Full stop. I don't care how well its written, how tastefully its handled, it's impact on the plot. I know all too well how much it sucks for them to kill of lesbian characters and it happens way too often. There's no way they can kill her off in a good way in my opinion. I love this show so much but I don't know how I'd react to her dying.
Jason - They just drop his plotline after Lucas beats him in a fight. Like he just runs off and it's never resolved. We're left to assume he stopped his revenge for his girlfriend's brutal murder because he got punched and he was so ashamed that he just gave up.
So that's the post… woah it's long. Thanks so much for reading this far, I don't understand how you have the patience to do it! And thanks for the ask as well, anon.
