‘Stranger Things’ Season 4: The Duffer Brothers Confirm a Beloved Character Is Officially Dead

The final two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4 featured several major character deaths. One death in particular devastated fans, but some are still holding on to hope. After all, Jim Hopper’s character was presumed to be a goner, only to reappear in season 4. Still, the Duffer Brothers have seemingly confirmed that this character is gone for good.

[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things 4 Volume 2.]

Eddie Munson died in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4

The Stranger Things Season 4 finale featured a major character death. Eddie Munson worked with Dustin to draw the Demobats away from Nancy, Robin, and Steve. Though their plan seemed to work, Eddie stayed behind to fight the bats for as long as possible. He sustained severe injuries and died in Dustin’s arms.

Fans were devastated. Eddie quickly became a beloved character, despite the fact that he was a newcomer in the series. Some viewers even saw Eddie’s death as pointless and unnecessary. “There was no reason for him to sacrifice. Nobody ‘needed time.’ I feel like they killed him just to fill a quota. His character was so good and interesting for them to just kill him,” one Reddit user wrote.

The Duffer Brothers called Eddie a ‘doomed’ character

After the final episodes aired, fans also began to speculate that Eddie could still be alive. After all, Jim Hopper “died” in the season 3 finale, only to return in season 4. Unfortunately, it looks like Eddie is gone for good after the Stranger Things Season 4 finale.

The Duffer Brothers recently appeared on the podcast Happy Sad Confused to discuss season 4 volume II. The Stranger Things creators were asked if Eddie Munson is “officially dead.” “Yes. Sadly, yeah,” they responded.

“We sort of saw Eddie as a bit of a doomed character. I mean even imagining the flip side of that where he does survive the final battle, it’s not a great life awaiting Eddie back in the right side up either. He was really designed from the get-go as a doomed character.”

Could Eddie return in some other form in season 5?

Although Eddie died in Stranger Things Season 4, there are potential ways the character could reappear in season 5. Dead characters sometimes appear in flashbacks or memories in the Netflix series. Joseph Quinn also suggested to Radio Times that Eddie could return as “a figment of Gaten’s imagination or something.”

Dacre Montgomery returned for a scene in season 4, despite his character Billy’s death in season 3. Vecna created a fake Billy to torment Max while he attempted to kill her in episode 4. At the end of season 4, Will states that Vecna is hurt, but still alive. Could Eddie appear as one of Vecna’s distorted hallucinations in season 5?

All episodes of Stranger Things are currently streaming on Netflix.