Alright, fellow Stranger Things fans, it's time to face up to the facts. I love Eddie Munson, you love Eddie Munson, we all love Eddie Munson. But Eddie Munson is dead, and he's not coming back.
Hawkins's resident Dungeons and Dragons-loving metalhead (played to perfection by Joseph Quinn) stole our hearts throughout the fourth season of Stranger Things. The show then yanked out those hearts, broke them, and stomped on them for good measure when Eddie died in the season finale. A whole legion of Demobats viciously mauled the Hellfire Club's leader and left him to bleed out in the Upside Down.
I'm just going to say it: Eddie shouldn't have died. More specifically, he shouldn't have died like this. During the showdown with Vecna/Henry/001, he claims he's going back into the Upside Down to buy more time. Eddie, you did not need to. He also randomly gets off his bike to fight the Demobats with a homemade sword and shield. Once again, Eddie, you did not need to! You could have kept biking!
Eddie's death is supposed to be payoff for his season-long arc about what it means to be a hero. He ran away when Vecna killed Chrissy and spent most of the season in hiding. In the finale, he charges (misguidedly) back into the fray, becoming the hero he claims he's not. All of this would be satisfying if he hadn't gone out with such a whimper. If you're going to kill a heroic character, at least give him a better death.
Despite my qualms with Eddie's loss, I have accepted it. He's gone. Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers even confirmed that he was gone for real in a podcast interview.
However, that confirmation of death hasn't stopped Stranger Things fans from doing what Stranger Things fans do best: come up with very niche fan theories. According to one theory posted on Facebook and shared on Reddit, Eddie will be resurrected as Kas the Bloody-Handed, a character from Dungeons and Dragons lore, and he will play a pivotal role in the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. The theory gained traction online, especially since viewers aren't ready to let Eddie go just yet. However, I'm here to be a Debbie Downer to all you Eddie-Kas truthers out there and tell you that there's no chance in Hellfire that this fan theory will come true.
Explaining the Kas the Bloody-Handed theory — and why it doesn't work
First things first: Who is Kas the Bloody-Handed? In Dungeons and Dragons lore, Kas is the vampiric lieutenant of the powerful lich Vecna. However, after years of service to Vecna, Kas betrays and kills his master. This betrayal is actually referenced in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the first episode of the fourth season of Stranger Things, "The Hellfire Club." During the episode's climactic D&D game, Eddie reveals that Vecna is still alive, to which an outraged Mike (Finn Wolfhard) protests, "He was killed by Kas!"
Eagle-eyed Stranger Things fans latched onto that line harder than the Demobats latched onto Eddie (sorry), and speculation quickly began to swirl around Kas and Eddie's death. Bats killed Eddie, and bats are linked to vampires. Plus, Kas is also known to fight with a sword and shield, just as Eddie did in the finale. Could these similarities just be coincidence, or were they something more?
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People in the "something more" camp believe that Vecna will resurrect Eddie in the fifth season of the show and use him as a lieutenant, just as Vecna uses Kas in D&D lore. Undead Eddie will then betray Vecna and kill him, ending his threat to Hawkins and the world. One Reddit user even wrote an entire essay explaining how the use of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" and Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Spellbound" in the finale foreshadows Eddie-Kas.
While I appreciate the effort that goes into coming up with these theories, I also think it's impossible for Eddie to come back as anything other than a flashback or hallucination in the next season. For starters, Stranger Things has pulled multiple fake-out deaths throughout its run: Will in Season 1, Hopper in Season 3, and Max in Season 4. If the show were to pull this again with Eddie, it would be an incredibly lazy narrative move.
Speaking of narrative, Eddie has already had a fulfilling arc (minus the lame death). He evolved from perceived freak to unsung hero over the course of Stranger Things 4 and was a strong addition to the party. But he is not, nor will he ever be, one of the show's main characters. So there is no way he is going to be the one to destroy Vecna once and for all. If Vecna loses, it will most likely be a character who has a deeper connection to him, like Eleven or Will, who deals the final blow. It won't be a resurrected character re-hashing a D&D plotline.
"Stranger Things" has pulled multiple fake-out deaths throughout its run. If the show were to pull this again with Eddie, it would be an incredibly lazy narrative move.
It's also necessary to remember that Stranger Things is not actually Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, it uses in-show D&D games to foreshadow events, such as Will being taken by the Demogorgon way back in the first season. It also uses D&D names, such as Demogorgon, Mind Flayer, and Vecna. But these names are how the main characters process and contextualize the supernatural events happening around them — they aren't the actual entities from D&D. For the show to draw its plot from Dungeons and Dragons lore in its final season would be a completely out-of-character move, and not in a good way.
The Eddie-Kas theory speaks to an unfortunate trend in fandom
The reason this theory vexes me so much is because it is based in something so granular that no writer worth their salt would base a major narrative arc around it. The Duffer brothers have produced a great show with extremely compelling storylines. When plot twists come — such as the reveal of Vecna's true identity — they feel earned and believable, as they've had proper build-up. The Kas theory relies far too much on niche D&D knowledge for it to be the basis of what would be one of Stranger Things' biggest plot choices ever.
The Eddie-Kas theory isn't the only fan theory this season that's fallen into this category of "far too niche to be remotely possible." Some viewers believed that school guidance counselor Ms. Kelly was in cahoots with Vecna because she spoke with all the victims of his curse She also wore a grandfather clock necklace, calling to mind the Creel House clock. On top of this, fans also noted that you could hear the sound of a ticking clock in scenes where she and Max spoke together, which some took to signify her connection to Vecna.
Turns out that none of this was true, and why would it be? Ms. Kelly is a guidance counselor. It's her job to work with troubled teens, which happens to be the exact same demographic Vecna preys on. As for the clock necklace and ticking sounds, these are still specific choices, but they don't necessarily foreshadow anything. Instead, it's more that they create a mood and enhance the clock motif associated with Vecna. Choices like these remind us of his presence even when he isn't directly onscreen, which helps cement his role as the show's Big Bad.
The Ms. Kelly and Kas the Bloody-Handed theories both speak to a trend in fandom that's become more and more visible, especially with the rise of easily distributable fan theory videos on TikTok. Fans are focusing so much on finding Easter eggs and signs of foreshadowing in media that they're losing sight of the bigger picture.
Take Wandavision. What was clearly a show about grief and loss quickly became a playground for MCU fan theorists. What was the deal with Evan Peters as Quicksilver? Which member of the Fantastic Four would we meet? When would Mephisto show up? Fans spent so much time searching for confirmation of their own theories in the smallest background details (including translating the position of clock hands into semaphore) that they built their own sky-high expectations for the finale — expectations that were not at all in keeping with the show's main project. When the finale didn't address these theories in exactly the right way, fans were divided, many even disappointed. If Stranger Things fans keep it up, they'll find themselves in a similar boat.
It's reductive to view every craft choice in film and TV as solely setting up future storylines.
To be clear, I don't totally discourage fan theories. They're a vital part of fandom and a great way to get excited about what a piece of work might hold in store. Sometimes, shows even encourage speculation due to their central mysteries — recent examples includeYellowjackets, Severance, and The Afterparty. But in those cases the shows are actively presenting specific questions. When it comes to Stranger Things theories like Eddie's resurrection or Ms. Kelly's secret alliance with Vecna, fans are answering questions that the show hasn't even bothered to ask.
It's reductive to view every craft choice in film and TV as solely setting up future storylines. I'd even go as far as to say that it's harmful to think of a piece of work not as a fully fleshed-out story but as a collection of Easter eggs for audiences to spot. With Stranger Things, the MCU, and beyond, audiences have become so accustomed to thinking about what a show or movie might be that we're beginning to lose sight of what they actually are.
So, no, Eddie won't be coming back. If he does, I'll eat my hat and shake my fist at the Netflix gods. But until then, we can remember Eddie as he actually was. Not as a possibly undead vampiric lieutenant, but as a lovable metalhead with a heart of gold.
Topics Netflix Stranger Things Streaming
