The consequences of this Stranger Things character's death could spell disaster for season 5

Max Mayfield narrowly escaped a cruel fate at the hands of Vecna ​​in Stranger Things Season 4, but she wasn't the only character to pay the price. Eddie Munson was mauled to death by a swarm of Demobats after valiantly sacrificing himself for the rest of the Hellfire Club and his companions. And finally Stranger Things Fans say a bittersweet goodbye to Dr. Martin Brenner, whom Eleven affectionately called Papa.

Brenner has been the overarching secondary antagonist to the Shadow World's monstrous creatures since the beginning. Papa appeared primarily in Season 1 and Season 4, starting out as a decided antagonist before his role became more ambiguous in Eleven's past. Brenner was operations manager at Hawkins National Lab during the time of the Creed family murder. He took Henry Creel, also known as One, under his wing to research his psychokinetic abilities. His obsession with Henry's powers led to the discovery of many other gifted children, including Eleven, who unknowingly became test subjects. But Season 4 of Stranger Things proved that Papa was not as invincible as his threatening presence suggested.

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Stranger Things Season 5: These fan theories about Eleven make perfect sense

Stranger Things fans are excited to see Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in the final season, and they have some great ideas about her storyline.

How did dad die in Stranger Things?

In Stranger Things Season 4, Dr. Owens succeeds in convincing Eleven to take part in the Nina Projectan experiment designed to unlock her core memories through sensory deprivation and relieve the emotional trauma that limited her powers. Papa believed he could restore Eleven to her full potential, which would provide humanity with some defense against Vecna. But toward the end of season four The military is after Brenner's illegal experimentsand launched a large-scale military invasion of Brenner's secret underground laboratory.

In the chaos that ensues, Brenner carries the incapacitated Elf out of the compound and out into the Nevada desert. When they reach the surface, Brenner is caught by a helicopter hovering overhead as he tries to escape with Elf in tow. The sniper on board the helicopter opens fire on Brenner and fatally wounds himElf manages to muster enough strength to disable the helicopter and cause it to crash, but Brenner eventually dies, begging Elf to understand his motives.

What does Papa's death mean for season 5?

While Stranger Things The fans were far more heartbroken about Eddie Munson’s death than Dr. Brenner, Papa's involvement in Elf's story was essential to her character development. Over the course of the first season, Eleven realizes that Papa's true intentions are more sinister than originally thought. In fact, Brenner has robbed Eleven of her youth and molded her into a homemade bioweapon. At this point, the audience was unaware of the existence of Henry Creel, but now, with a handful of flashbacks adding to the subtext, Stranger Things has confirmed what Brenner always knew: that Elf was just as powerful, if not more powerful, than Vecna.

Dad’s morals were always examined with a fine comb, like Stranger Things made it increasingly unclear whether Brenner was acting out of self-interest or in a sincere attempt to save humanity from a terrible fate. It would be no surprise if Papa had come to love Eleven as his own daughter, as he could have projected this onto the other test subjects as well, but the complicated choices he made over time do not correlate with a twisted display of affection. From the beginning, it was clear that Papa had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Vecna's weakness is not made clear in Season 4. Nancy manages to subdue his body with Molotov cocktails and a few powerful shotgun blasts, but Vecna ​​survives. As for his subconscious, Eleven overpowers him in the Upside Down with Mike's encouragement. But everyone has a weakness, even Vecna. The bad news for the Hawkins gang is that there is probably only one person who knows enough about Vecna ​​to accurately locate it.but now he's gone. In the future, Eleven will be forced to face Vecna ​​without Papa knowing about his habits, limitations and weaknesses.

If Papa were still alive and would reconcile with Elf, his unique hands-on experience with Vecna ​​(then Henry) would have played a key role in his destruction. Before Season 5, the Hawkins gang is on their own in the fight against Vecna. If Papa were still alive, they would have an invaluable teammate who was fraternized with the enemy and knew Henry better than anyone else. Since One was an experiment in the Hawkins Lab under Brenner's supervision, it's safe to assume that Brenner also knew everything about Henry’s upbringing.the origin of his powers and how to defeat him.

Finally, when Eleven meets One for the first time, he tells him that Papa implanted Soteria in his neck, a microchip that inhibited his powers and also acted as a GPS tracking device so Papa could see where One was at all times. That Papa instructed the scientists at Hawkins Lab to develop Soteria specifically for One, it is not clear what other security precautions Papa had taken to protect the outside world from Henry. Now that he is gone, things become much more complicated for Eleven and her friends in Stranger Things' final season, and Kate Bush's “Running Up That Hill” won't be there to save her every time.

Stranger Things

Release date

15 July 2016

Seasons

4

Number of episodes

34