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WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 4, volume 1.
The end of Stranger Things season 4, volume 1 leaves some big questions that volume 2 needs to answer. The first seven episodes Stranger Things season 4 have answered plenty of burning questions that have long been unanswered in the Netflix series, including what happened to Eleven’s siblings at Hawkins Lab, how exactly Will was able to communicate with lights in Stanger Things season 1, how Hopper survived season 3’s machine explosion, and how long the Upside Down has actually existed. While the Duffer brothers are beginning to reveal the series’ overarching mysteries as Stranger Things’ final season approaches, there are still several season-4-specific storyline questions that must be answered before volume 2 comes to an end.
Stranger Things season 4, volume 1 concludes with a few significant cliffhangers for the teenage and adult characters, with many of the biggest storylines still left unfinished. By the end of Stranger Things season 4, volume 1, Eleven resurfaces the memory of her banishing Vecna/Henry Creel/One to the Upside Down (while revealing he was responsible for the Hawkins Lab massacre), Mike and the California gang recruit Suzie’s help as they head for the Nina Project Lab in Nevada, Max and the Hawkins crew discover how to escape Vecna’s trances while Nancy becomes his next victim, and Hopper, Joyce, and Murray reunite after working together to escape the Russian prison’s Demogorgon attack. With all four groups still separated ahead of Stranger Things season 4, volume 2, the upcoming installment still has plenty more of the story to tell before it comes to an end.
When Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 releases on July 1, there are 12 major questions that it still needs to answer. While volume 2 only features two episodes compared to volume 1’s seven, Stranger Things’ season 4 finale will boast a nearly two-hour- and-30-minute runtime, meaning there will be more than enough space for the plot lines to reach a satisfying conclusion. From major mysteries like Nancy and Max’s fates with Vecna to romantic subplots involving Mike and Eleven, here’s a breakdown of the 12 questions that Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 must address.
How Did Dr. Brenner Survive The Demogorgon Attack?
Stranger Things season 4 reveals that Dr. Martin Brenner miraculously survived the Demogorgon attack at the middle school at the end of Stranger Things season 1. While Brenner and his colleagues were assumed to be dead for the past three years, Eleven arrives at the Nina Project Lab to find “Papa” alive and well. Now boasting a large scar on his face from where the Demogorgon would have injured him, Brenner secretly survived and has seemingly been in Nevada working on the Nina Project ever since. Since a Demogorgon attack has proved to be fatal for nearly every other character, it’s still a mystery how Brenner actually survived back in season 1.
What Was Will’s Painting Of?
The Stranger Things season 4 premiere sees Will working on a secret painting in his room, with Eleven assuming it to be for a girl he has a crush on. Will won’t let anyone see the painting, but it seems it was specifically a gift for Mike. While Will brings the painting with him to the airport when Stranger Things’ California characters pick Mike up from the airport, he never gives his best friend the artwork. Considering Stranger Things season 4 has dropped major hints that Will is gay and may actually have a crush on Mike, theories about the painting have suggested it depicts a personal declaration of his true feelings for Eleven’s boyfriend. Before the end of Stranger Things season 4, volume 2, the Netflix series needs to answer what Will painted for Mike and whether it reveals any romantic interest in him or anyone else.
Why Didn’t Mike Say “I Love You” To Eleven?
One of the biggest subplots in Stranger Things season 4 involves Mike and Eleven’s strained romantic relationship. After Eleven hits her bully Angela in the face with a rollerskate, Mike is surprised and slightly angry, which leads Eleven to become even more frustrated with him in return. Mike and Eleven then have a big fight, and she points out that he can’t say or even write “I love you” to her, which he doesn’t seem to have an answer for.
Stranger Things previously suggested that Mike may have much deeper romantic feelings for Eleven than she does for him, but season 4’s subplot seems to undermine this aspect of their relationship. At the end of Stranger Things season 3, Mike’s fumbled words implied that he loved Eleven but never actually said the phrase. Then, in season 3’s final scene, Eleven declared that she loved Mike, too, though he never said those three words. Mike seems to regret not having said “I love you” in Stranger Things season 4, but he hasn’t explained why he hasn’t said them over the past six months.
Is Will In Love With Mike?
While perhaps controversial considering Mike is dating Eleven, and Will hadn’t previously exhibited romantic feelings toward him, Stranger Things season 4 drops major hints that Will could be in love with Mike. Stranger Things hasn’t explicitly confirmed that Will is gay, but the series clearly wants audiences to think so. When Mike comes to visit California in Stranger Things season 4, Will hints at having secret romantic feelings for him when the two share an unbearably awkward hug at the airport. Then he tells Mike that sometimes it’s hard for someone to say how they really feel because they never know how the other person will respond.
Since Mike is clearly in love with the California-relocated Eleven but just can’t find the strength to say it, Will’s crush would be heartbreaking because his feelings are unlikely to be reciprocated. Will has suffered enough heartbreak in Stranger Things, so it would hurt even worse if he was rejected romantically by his best friend.
Will Nancy And Steve Get Back Together?
While Stranger Things season 4 should have broken up Nancy and Jonathan before jumping back into a romantic pairing between her and Steve, it’s impossible to ignore the tension between the two in the new season. Stranger Things has continued to suggest that Steve could never find another girlfriend because the one girl he’s always been in love with is Nancy, but Nancy never seemed to look back at Steve after she began dating Jonathan in season 2.
Nonetheless, Stranger Things season 4 explicitly has Dustin mention Steve’s love for Nancy, Robin hints that Steve and Nancy should get back together, and even Steve and Nancy themselves seem to have awkward romantic tension whenever paired together alone. The scene where she wraps up his wounds in the Upside Down is perhaps the most obvious display of attraction between one another that they’ve had since the night Barb died. Reviving the Nancy and Steve romance is controversial when considering her relationship with Jonathan, but the two getting back together before the end of Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 now seems more than likely.
Why Is The Upside Down Stuck In 1983?
After Nancy, Steve, Robin, and Eddie swim through the water gate to the Upside Down, they realize that the dimension’s timeline is stuck on November 6, 1986 – the date Will Byers went missing in Stranger Things season 1. Nancy’s room in the Upside Down is left exactly how it was on the night that Steve came over to “study,” leaving the characters confused about why the world hasn’t updated alongside their own. While Dustin theorizes that the Upside Down has been around for centuries, it seems the timeline is stuck in 1983 because this is the day that Eleven opened the gate, perhaps creating a copy of Hawkins on that date that would never be changed. Since the answers have yet to be concrete, Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 needs to confirm why the Upside Down’s timeline never changes from this date.
What Did The Rest Of Max’s Letters Say?
Sadie Sink’s Max Mayfield finds herself with a death sentence in Stranger Things season 4, episode 4, “Chapter Four: Dear Billy,” as she realizes she is Vecna’s latest victim. Max figures out that Vecna’s past victims died 24 hours after seeing the grandfather clock from Creel House, giving her the same amount of time before meeting her own gruesome end. Max then stays up all night writing letters to every person she loves as a “fail-safe” but forbids them from reading the letters until she dies. The only letter Stranger Things season 4, volume 1 reveals is the one that she reads aloud to Billy at his grave, so volume 2 still needs to answer what she wrote for the rest of her friends.
Will Nancy And Max Survive Vecna’s Curse?
Stranger Things season 4, volume 1’s ending twist reveals that Nancy has now become victim to Vecna’s curse, which means the characters will quickly need to find a way to play her favorite tune for her. Max only escaped Vecna’s curse when she ran out of his mind as the other characters blasted her favorite song, “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, which she now must play on a constant loop to keep her grounded in this dimension. With Nancy and Max both being targets of Vecna’s curse, Stranger Things season 4, volume 2’s most pressing question is about whether they’ll both survive.
How Did The Russians Get Demogorgons?
The Russian prison that Hopper is held captive in has a Demogorgon that it feeds with prisoners, but Hopper doesn’t understand how they attained it in the first place. The Russians opened a gate to the Upside Down but came to Hawkins’ Starcourt Mall to do so, with all of the Demogorgons seemingly having died when the Mind Flayer was destroyed. As such, it’s unclear how the Russians got hold of the monsters, but the trailer for volume 2 reveals they have more of them stored in strange liquid containers.
How Will Joyce, Hopper, And Murray Get Back To America?
While Joyce, Murray, and Hopper have now reunited at the Russian prison, their plan to get back to the kids in America is so far unknown. Stranger Things season 4, volume 2’s teaser trailer seems to show Hopper exploring the Russian prison’s Demogorgon storage, suggesting they’ll have to take down the prison’s Upside Down weapons before heading back to Hawkins. Since their plane also crashed in the woods, Joyce, Hopper, and Murray are currently without a form of transportation to leave Russia.
Did Any Of The Kids From The Hawkins Lab Massacre Survive (Other Than Eleven)?
The massacre at Hawkins Lab ends with a standoff between Eleven and One/Henry Creel, with the former banishing the latter to the Upside Down. One seemingly killed every other kid from the lab aside from Eleven, but Dr. Brenner has yet to confirm this. While Kali is alive because she escaped Hawkins Lab prior to the massacre, it’s possible that at least one of the other kids was able to survive One’s attack as well.
Will Mike Get To The Lab Before The US Army Does?
At the end of Stranger Things season 4, volume 1, Mike and the California teens are on a race to the Nina Project Lab before the U.S. Army can reach and capture Eleven. Now that Eleven has her powers back, the U.S. Army won’t be able to take her away as easily, but Mike and the gang will want to reach her before a deadly confrontation ensues. Since Eleven remembers the truth about One/Henry Creel, Mike and the characters will need to bring her back to Hawkins for a major Upside Down battle before the end of Stranger Things season 4, volume 2.
Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 releases on Netflix on July 1.
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