Stranger Things Fans Zero In on the Season 5 Death the Duffer Brothers Teased as the Most Violent Yet

When did the series unleash its most violent death? The split-second that turned a shock into a cultural flashpoint—and changed the show forever.

Now that Stranger Things season 5 is wrapped, fans are digging up old Duffer brothers interviews and trying to match their pre-season hype to the actual finale. Specifically: which death were they calling the most violent in the entire series? If you are not through season 5 episode 8, this is your spoiler siren. Proceed at your own risk.

What the Duffers promised before season 5 dropped

Before the final season hit Netflix, the Duffers spent a lot of time warning that things would get gnarly. They told multiple outlets to brace for big twists and ugly exits. Matt Duffer even put a pretty high bar on it in The Times:

"I would say season five is not as violent as season four, but it has the most violent death of any season."

What everyone expected vs. what actually happened

When that interview first landed, fans immediately assumed a major character was about to go out in the worst possible way. Not exactly a rare move for finales; plenty of shows have ended with a bang, and yes, we all remember how Game of Thrones wrapped things up.

But now that season 5 is out, here is the reality: none of the core heroes die... aside from Eleven, maybe. The finale leaves El in a place that can be read as a sacrifice, but we do not actually see her die on-screen. Which brings us back to the original question: what death were the Duffers talking about?

The leading candidates fans keep pointing to

• Vecna gets impaled, then decapitated: In the finale, Eleven shoves Vecna onto a spike, and Joyce Byers finishes the job by hacking through his neck. One fan on Twitter summed it up with: "You did not see Vecna get his head slowly chopped off?" If you remember that shot, you know it is not subtle.
• Chrissy in season 4: Some viewers argue nothing in season 5 tops Chrissy’s death from last season for pure shock and nastiness. If the Duffers are counting across seasons for comparison, Chrissy is still the high-water mark for a lot of people.
• The soldier in season 5: Vecna drives his claws into a soldier’s skull and out through the eye sockets earlier this season. It is quick, brutal, and frankly the most straight-up grisly thing we see in season 5 from a practical standpoint.
• Eleven’s 'maybe' ending: A few fans think Matt Duffer might have been hinting at Eleven sacrificing herself by stepping back into the Upside Down and getting caught in Hopper’s explosives. The problem is we do not actually witness her death, which makes it a weird fit for 'most violent.'

So... which one is it?

Depends on how you define violent. If you go by on-screen detail, Joyce separating Vecna’s head from his body is the obvious pick. If we are talking pure horror impact, the soldier’s eyeball kill is hard to beat. And if you are ruled by season 4 nightmares, Chrissy still lives rent-free in your brain.

Until the Duffers spell it out, everyone is going to keep arguing their case on Twitter. Personally, I lean eyeballs. But 'most violent' is doing a lot of work here.

The complete Stranger Things series is streaming on Netflix now.