Stranger Things season 4 shocked viewers when it killed Eddie Munson, and while fans want justice, it would lessen his sacrifice. Eddie was brought into the Upside Down madness when Vecna took Chrissy in front of him. He spent most of the season hiding and running from the townspeople that believed he killed Chrissy. In the end, Eddie chooses not to run but to stand and fight to give his friends more time to take down Vecna. After watching the heroics of Nancy, Robin, and Steve, he no longer wanted to run.
There have been many deaths that have shaken Stranger Things fans, but not since Barb has a death created such a response. Barb was just an innocent bystander that Vecna took before viewers even knew who Vecna was. Fans wanted “Justice for Barb,” but it never came. Eddie’s death wasn’t just hard because he became a fan favorite but also because he sacrificed himself for a town that believed he was a Satanic cult leader. Only his uncle and friends knew who he truly was.
Eddie's Death Is More Meaningful If Hawkins Never Learns The Truth
Part of what makes Eddie’s death so gut-wrenching is that Hawkins doesn’t know why or how Eddie dies. He didn’t have to go on a suicide mission to help his friends. Steve even told him and Dustin not to be heroes. He could have followed the plan and, after distracting the Demobats, went back with Dustin. He chose to help his friends save a town that hated him. That’s what makes his death so meaningful. If Hawkins learns what he did, that takes away the impact of his sacrifice.
Dustin Already Told The Only Stranger Things Character That Matters
The only other person in Hawkins that knows what a sweet young man Eddie was, is his uncle. Most things in Hawkins are covered up, and only those within the group know the truth, but Dustin tells a version of the truth to Eddie’s uncle because he deserves to know how Eddie died. He deserved to know that Eddie sacrificed himself. No one else needs to know what happened to Eddie. He can go on being assumed dead by the rest of the residents. It will never matter as much to them as it did Eddie’s uncle to know what happened. And his uncle didn’t deserve to be in the dark like Barb’s parents were.
Stranger Things Season 5 Revealing Eddie's Sacrifice Undermines A Key Theme
Many strange things happen in Stranger Things, but the Hawkins residents believe whatever the government says to cover it up and carry on with their daily lives. Only when other people are pulled directly into it do more people get let in on what’s really going on. Dustin didn’t even tell Eddie’s uncle the entire truth of what happened. It would be odd for the whole of the Hawkins community to learn what’s really been happening in their town after they’ve been kept in the dark for so long.
The residents also probably like being kept in the dark about what’s happening. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they all knew weird things happened, but they didn’t talk about it. They only acknowledged it when they awarded Buffy the Protector Award at the Prom. Sunnydale was also happily living blissfully ignorant. It works well for a supernatural show because it would be hard to explain to everyone what’s really happening. No one would believe it if they were told the truth unless they have been confronted with it. And even Eddie had a hard time grasping the concept of what had happened, even though he saw what happened to Chrissy with his own eyes.
Officials may be calling what happened to Hawkins an earthquake, but as Vecna continues to try to take over the human world, the government will have to come up with more cover-ups to keep it under wraps. As Mr. Wheeler said at the end, the news was calling it a doorway into hell, and that actually isn’t too far off from what the Upside Down is. Will Stranger Things have to break its social compliance theme as things continue to get worse? Hawkins was only too quick to blame Eddie and his Dungeons and Dragons club, Hellfire, for the murders, so the government can likely keep them believing more rational, if still ridiculous, claims of what’s going on.
