There are many questions about Eleven, like whether Eleven created The Upside Down, and in the season 4 finale, she brings Max back to life. Eleven uses her telekinetic powers to get into Vecna's mind and battle him herself.
Why Did Vecna Go After Max? As Vecna continued to go after young victims in order to open more portals, he set his sights on Max Mayfield, since she was investigating the deaths of Chrissy and another student named Fred Benson with help from her friends (including Dustin, Steve, and her boyfriend Lucas).
So, while Eleven restarted Max's heart and brought her body back to life, she was trapped inside of Vecna's hive mind. As terrible as that sounds, it offers the perfect segue into Season 5. Namely, the only way to save Max's soul will be to kill Vecna.
The fan-favorite character ended the season in a coma with her bones broken and eyes blinded at the hands of Vecna. Max technically died for one whole minute before Eleven revived her friend, but Eleven's powers weren't enough to bring Max fully back to life.
Max's death was used a device to push Murphy toward killing Josh in the series finale. Max didn't need to die to wrap up the story this way. Sure, Murphy needed to have a complicated place to land.
Well, based on the injuries she sustained, it's likely Max will be blind going forward. Additionally, the Duffer Brothers actually confirmed during a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast that Max is blind and brain dead.
After serving as bait for Vecna, she becomes his “final sacrifice,” getting her bones broken and losing her vision during a low point. Once the fight is over, she dies in Lucas' arms, unable to see or feel anything as Eleven looks on from her mindspace.
In episode 7, Vecna is revealed to be Henry Creel (played as a youngster by Raphael Luce), the son of Victor Creel (Robert Englund) and his wife Virginia (Tyner Rushing) shown in the 1950s flashbacks.
Max attempts to hold on, telling Lucas that she's "not ready to die" but she succumbs to her injuries and ends up dying in Lucas's arms.
At his empire's height, Vecna was betrayed and destroyed by his most trusted lieutenant, a vampire called Kas the Bloody-Handed, using a magical sword that Vecna himself had crafted for him, now known as the Sword of Kas.
Vecna as Billy tells Max: "[L]ate at night, you have sometimes wished to follow me. Follow me into death. That is why I am here, Max, to end your suffering once and for all" — alluding perhaps to suicidal feelings Max hasn't mentioned.
The previous year, Fred had crashed a car and accidentally caused his friend's death; Fred was haunted by survivor's guilt ever since, making him a perfect target for Vecna. Fred, like Chrissy, reported the curse's symptoms to Ms. Kelley; he first reported the symptoms the day after Chrissy first did, on March 15.
However, within the red smoke of Vecna's Mind Lair, it wasn't the song itself that saved her, but the memories it conjured up. What broke through to Max was the happy, loving memories of her friends, particularly Lucas and Eleven, and these were what truly allowed her to break free of Vecna's grasp and escape.
In the visions of her trauma induced by Vecna, Chrissy's mother appeared both mentally and emotionally abusive towards her daughter - and it's implied her comments about Chrissy's figure caused her daughter to develop her eating disorder.
Vecna lives in the Upside Down and preys on people's past traumas and guilt. The monster curses its victims, making them relive their trauma in progressively more gruesome ways until it violently kills them. (And we mean, like, really violently.)
Vecna's Hand
This is a reference to the D&D character Vecna, for whom this Vecna is named; the D&D Vecna has a monstrous hand infused with dark magic. The design of Vecna's hand is also a nod to Freddy Krueger, the Nightmare on Elm Street villain who had a huge influence on this season in general.
Then there were the three poor teens of Season 4. Vecna's first big credited kill was Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien). He followed that murder with canonically terrible driver Fred Benson (Logan Riley Bruner) and basketball star Patrick McKinney (Myles Truitt).
"Vecna seems to be actually intrigued by Nancy being able to figure him out, to be able to get this close to the truth... I think this is more Vecna's narcissistic traits that pull him to Nancy, why he wants to give her this information."
In episode 4 of season 4 of Stranger Things, "Dear Billy," Vecna tries to kill Max. Her friends use the beautiful power of music, specifically "Running Up That Hill," to bring her back.
Max is powerless to do anything, watching as her stepbrother is taken apart by the Mind Flayer. Although they did not have the best relationship, Max feels defeated and, eventually, became clouded with enormous guilt.
In going over the fates of many major characters, the creators confirmed Max's fate at the end of the season, assuring Max is alive in Stranger Things, but is in a bad way. See what the Duffers explained below: “Right, she's braindead, but she's alive.
Physically, yes. Lucas tells his friends that Max is in a coma, and we see her wearing casts on her arms and legs. The Duffer brothers have also confirmed that at the end of Season 4, Max is alive yet "brain dead, blind, and all of her bones are broken." The big mystery is where the redhead is mentally.
Breakup. After being pushed away by Mike, Eleven breaks up with him and spends some much-needed girl time with her new BFF Max. They later reconcile after Mike reveals that he only avoided Eleven because Hopper had threatened him and tells El he loves her which she reciprocates.
Based on all the gut-wrenching and action-heavy trailers for Stranger Things season 4 volume 1, it looks like Max, played by Fear Street actress Sadie Sink, now has mind powers while Eleven, played by Enola Holmes' Millie Bobby Brown, still does not.