Summary
Max Mayfield narrowly avoided a gruesome fate at the hands of Vecna inStranger ThingsSeason 4, but she wasn’t the only character who paid the price. Eddie Munson found himself mauled to death by a swarm of Demobats after bravely sacrificing himself for the remainder of the Hellfire Club and their associates. And lastly,Stranger Thingsfans bid a bittersweet farewell to Dr. Martin Brenner, known fondly to Eleven as Papa.
Right from the start, Brenner had served as an overarching secondary antagonist tothe monstrous creatures of the Upside Down. Papa appeared primarily in Season 1 and Season 4, starting out as a firm antagonist before his role in Eleven’s past became more ambiguous.Brenner was the Director of Operations at Hawkins National Labduring the time of the Creed family homicide. 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 more gifted children, including Eleven, who became unwitting test subjects. But Season 4 ofStranger Thingsproved that Papa wasn’t as invincible as his ominous presence made him seem.
How Did Papa Die in Stranger Things?
InStranger ThingsSeason 4,Dr. Owens manages to convince Eleven to participate in the Nina Project, an experiment designed to unlock her core memories via sensory deprivation and alleviate the emotional trauma stinting her powers. Papa believed himself capable of restoring Eleven to her full potential, which would give humanity some defense against Vecna. But towards the end of Season 4,the military catches on to Brenner’s illegal experiments,launching a full-scale military invasion on Brenner’s secret underground lab.
In the ensuing chaos, Brenner carries the incapacitated Eleven out of the compound and out into the Nevada desert. Once they reach the surface, a helicopter hovering overhead catches Brenner attempting to leave with Eleven in tow.The sniper aboard the helicopter opens fire on Brenner, lethally wounding him. Eleven manages to muster enough strength to incapacitate and crash the helicopter, but Brenner ultimately dies, begging Eleven to understand his motives.
What Does Papa’s Death Mean For Season 5?
WhileStranger Thingsfans were far more heartbroken over the death of Eddie Munson than Dr. Brenner,Papa’s inclusion in Eleven’s story was imperative to her character development. Over the course of Season 1, Eleven comes to understand that Papa’s true intentions are more sinister than originally perceived. In fact,Brenner had robbed Eleven of her youth, molding her into a homemade bioweapon. At the time, the audience were unaware of Henry Creel’s existence, but now that a handful of flashbacks filled in the subtext,Stranger Thingshas confirmed what Brenner knew all along: that Eleven was just as powerful, if not more powerful, than Vecna.
Papa’s morality has always been examined with a fine-toothed comb, asStranger Thingsmade it increasingly unclear whether Brenner was acting out of self-interest or in a genuine attempt to spare humanity from a terrible fate. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if Papa had grown to love Eleven as if she were his own daughter, ashe could have projected onto the other test subjects too, but the complicated choices he’s made along the way don’t correlate with a twisted display of affection. Right from the start, it was obvious that Papa had everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Vecna’s weakness isn’t made clear in Season 4. Nancy manages to subdue his physical body using Molotov cocktails and a few powerful shotgun blasts, but Vecna survives. As for his subconscious self, inside the Upside Down, Eleven overpowers him with Mike’s encouragement. But everyone has a weakness, even Vecna.The bad news for the Hawkins gang is that there’s probably only one person who knows enough about Vecna to pinpoint it,but now he’s gone. Going forward, Eleven will be forced to confront Vecna without Papa’s extensive knowledge of his habits, his limitations, and his weaknesses.
If Papa were still alive, and he reconciled with Eleven,his unique hands-on experience with Vecna (Henry, at the time) would have played a key part in destroying him.Ahead of Season 5, the Hawkins gang are on their own in the fight against Vecna, whereas if Papa were still alive, they would have an invaluable teammate who had fraternized with the enemy and knew Henry better than anyone. Since One was an experiment at Hawkins Lab under Brenner’s supervision, it can be assumed thatBrenner also knew everything there was to know about Henry’s upbringing,the origin of his powers, and how to subdue him.
After all, when Eleven first meets One, he tells her that Papa planted Soteria in his neck, a microchip that inhibited his powers and simultaneously acted as a GPS locating device so that Papa could see One’s whereabouts at all times. For Papa to have instructed the scientists at Hawkins Lab to design Soteria especially with One in mind,there’s no telling what other fail-safes Papa had in place to protect the outside world from Henry. Now that he’s out of the picture,things are about to get a lot more complicated for Eleven and her friendsinStranger Things' final season, and Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” won’t be around to save them every time.
