After a three year hiatus, fans have spent years trying to piece together what the final season has in store. With the debut of the first installment of season 5 on Netflix released on Nov. 26, the internet has gone crazy with speculations as to how the hit series will end.

Season 4 ended with Hawkins on the brink of collapse, the entire town of Hawkins literally torn open by Vecna’s long-planned invasion. This can only mean the characters will go to war with Vecna trying to save Hawkins, but after many seasons of narrow escapes and heroic comebacks, season 5 will have the most significant losses the series has ever seen.

While no deaths are confirmed, several characters stand out as candidates for high-stakes sacrifices or gut-punching exits.

Murray Bauman: Crazy Conspiracy Theorist

Murray has somehow quietly become the show’s most reliable wild card. He’s smart and hilariously blunt, the perfect combination of comedic relief while everyone’s battling monsters. Being a former journalist turned conspiracy theorist, Murray is always in for an adventure to solve mysteries which in season 5 will be his demise.

Murray is one of those characters that you don’t know much about. Although he’s loved by viewers, he’s not important to the plot of the show. The Duffer Brother’s most likely killed him off in season 5 for an emotional shock factor. He’s always out on some high-risk missions as the “unexpected hero” which we saw in season 4 when he used a flamethrower to kill a Demogorgon.

 Shows often kill off quirky characters to further maximize the emotional impact of the finale without affecting the main cast.

In the final season: Murray will die in a last minute explosion. With his experiences with explosives and flamethrowers, he’d most likely go on a mission involving blowing an Upside Down gate or nest up. This is because of the multiple rifts in Hawkins we saw in the ending of season 4, one would have to be closed in order to achieve the main goal of killing Vecna.

An explosion would be on brand for Murray’s character. It would allow him to die in a fiery, chaotic and in complete “Murray” fashion.

Steve Harrington: Single Mom of Hawkins

If there’s one major character that fans are scared to lose is the popular jock turned babysitter. For multiple seasons now, Steve has shown heroism and has gotten out alive. His most notable moment was swinging a spiked bat at a Demogorgon defending himself and his friends. He always seems to jump into danger without concerning his safety in order to do what’s “right.” 

He already dodged death once in the earlier seasons when he first found out about the Upside Down, so the chances of the writers saving him again are low. Writers don’t let you dodge death twice. These fearless actions add to his character arc of ‘Hero/Protector’ which has to come back full circle with the show’s end. The lack of Steve’s appearance in the trailers have built a cloud of mystery about what will happen to him this season. 

Knowing his hero arc: Steve is one of the most likely characters to die in Season 5. In Season 4, he tells Nancy Wheeler about his dream of a big family and admits he sees that future with her. This dream of his is too perfect – the ultimate bait for tragedy in the finale. This scene also reveals that Steve still loves Nancy and genuinely wants her to be happy, even if it’s not with him. 

Steve is always protecting Nancy and worrying about her safety even though they split up seasons prior. His love has been unrequited since they parted ways, but he continues showing up for her. 

Because of this, the final season positions Steve for self-sacrifice. He could die saving Nancy so she can live the life he once imagined, or he could sacrifice himself for Jonathan to spare Nancy the heartbreak of losing him. With this being the ending season, Steve’s death would be sad but satisfying given his character arc. It will leave a huge impact on fans who’ve been following this series for the past decade.

Eleven: Eggo Lover

From the start, Eleven has been the heart and weapon of Stranger Things. Her entire arc has revolved around sacrifice. She’s always the sole character that would stop the villains of each season because she is the only one capable of taking down creatures that are in the Upside Down.

Eleven’s powers are directly tied to the Upside Down as explained in season 4 through Vecna’s storyline. The show painted her as the cause and solution to this other world. Perhaps the only way to sever the connection of the real world to the Upside Down is to stop the source linking the two – Eleven.

So in the finale: Eleven will die closing the gates. In the trailer, we hear Vecna say, “William you will help me… one last time.” Which could only mean that Will Byers once again has to be Vecna’s spy. However, as we saw from Billy Hargroves’ possession by Vecna, Will is most likely to be in the same boat due to his connection to the Upside Down since his disappearance in season 1. 

With the prediction that Will is going to be controlled by Vecna, Eleven will not have the heart to kill him. She’s seen him as a brother ever since Joyce Byers took her in after Hopper’s alleged death in season 3. So, she will most likely use all her prowess to take Vecna out of Will’s mind and close the gates for good. We know even using a small amount of her power leads to nosebleeds which shows the effect it has on her health. The overuse of her powers in the final battle will be the cause of her death.

Emotionally her death would be heartbreaking, but the most logical death. The girl who opened the gates is the girl who also shuts it forever. While lots of fans want a happy ending for Eleven, her background of growing up surrounded by loss only points to the finale where she will do everything in her ability to protect what she doesn’t want to lose – her friends and family. Ultimately, sacrificing herself.

If any death would define season 5, it’s Eleven’s.