Trama

With selfless hearts and a clash of metal, heroes fight from every corner of the battlefield to save Hawkins - and the world itself.

Vecna makes his move on the real world, and while the groups fight against him, he tells Eleven that she may think she and her friends think that they've won despite their losses, they're only facing the beginning of the end and it's all Eleven's fault.—Gislef

In Russia, Dmitri works on Katrinka parked outside of the church while nearby, Murray negotiates with Antonov. Dmitri sabotages the engine by secretly removing a part and then tells the others that it's fixed, and then he gets in the helicopter and tries to start it without success. Murray runs over and accuses Dmitri of trying to break the helicopter and get them captured again, and Murray insists that he isn't. Dmitri insists the sound is good and guns the engine.

Inside the church, Jim picks out clothes from Dmitri's black market stash while Joyce looks on. They separate to undress and change clothes, and Hopper changes bandages. Joyce looks at the scars on Hopper's back, then goes over and asks what they did to him. Hopper says that the scars aren't that bad, and being in prison gave him time to think about who he is and what he's done. He says that he shouldn't have sent Joyce the message for help, and she tells him she made the trip willingly and would do it again. They joke about the date they had planned, and Hopper says that he's been on a prison diet and dreaming about a decent meal. The conversation turns to what they would do after the date, and they kiss. The phone rings, interrupting them.

In Hawkins at the RV, the group goes over their plan to break into Vecna's lair. Nancy insists that nobody deviates from the plan no matter what, and then they go into Eddie's trailer home. They go through the gate to the Upside Down, and Steve tells Eddie and Dustin to abort their plan to draw off the bats if anything goes wrong, and the rest of them will take care of Vecna. Eddie tells Steve to make Vecna pay.

In California, the group stops at a payphone and Jon tries to book a flight without success. El looks at a nearby AAA billboard showing a girl , and has memories of her own childhood. Jon hangs up in exasperation, and El says that she has a way to protect Max from there. She suggests that she can go into Max's mind from there, and fight Vecna from there. They figure they need a bathtub of salt for El's sensory deprivation, and Argyle tells them that he knows where he can get it and drives them off.

The trio at the Creel house find a place where their electrical lamps flicker, indicating Vecna on the other side, Erica runs out to a playground across the street and climbs up a structure.

At the abandoned diner, Jason practices his shooting, and one of his teammates tells him that they got a lead at the Creel house.

In Russia, Jim tells the others that he talked to Ellen on the phone, who said El went to Hawkins to fight evil, along with Joyce's kids. Joyce figures the vortex they saw in the lab means a portal is open in Hawkins, so they have to go home. Murray points out that they can't get to Hawkins in time, and Joyce figures all they need to do is destroy the particle vortex at the prison. Jim hands out Yuri's guns and a flamethrower, and tells Antonov to get Yuri in line and get the helicopter in the air, while the rest of the break into the prison.

Argyle drives the group to a nearby Surfer Boy Pizza and convinces his friend, who works there, to give them the salt in return for pot. They make a tub out of a freezer, while in Hawkins, Dustin and Eddie reinforce a trailer with metal sheets and chain link. Eddie grabs his guitar. In the Upside Down, Robin goes ahead while Nancy and Steve lag behind. Steve finally admits that he dreamed of Nancy being his wife in the future. Before Nancy can say anything, Robin comes back and tells them that they were going the wrong way and leads them on to the Creel house. The structure and Erica's light in it is nearby.

Jim, Joyce, and Murray drive back to the prison and there's no guards in sight. The trio get in through the tunnels and hears gunshots inside the prison. At the village, Antonov watches Yuri and asks him if he was always a coward. He remembers Yuri as once a brave man who fought the Chinese, and wonders what happened to that man. who lost his bravery to drink and cards. Meanwhile, Antonov is working with the Americans because of Vecna, who threatens the world.

Max and Lucas sit in the Creel House, listening to Kate Bush. They "talk" by writing on pads so Vecna doesn't hear them, and they say that they're glad each other is there. Lucas invites Mas to a movie and she accepts. Erica signals them with a flashlight and Lucas responds, and Erica tells the others on the Upside Down. The lamps in the house flicker, and Max turns off music and calls out to Vecna. Max's lamp flickers, leading her and Lucas upstairs.

At Surfer Boy, Mike makes a pair of blinder glasses out of a pizza box and El, watching, chuckles and takes his hands. They say that they missed each other and Mike starts to talk about his feelings, and Argyle drops the pizza he cooked in front of them. Will is in the kitchen and watches them. Jon notices and talks about how Will doesn't come to him to talk anymore. He admits that it's his fault, but he misses Will and now they need to talk more than ever. Jon promises that he'll always be there for his brother, and Will says the same. Will breaks into tears and they hug, then they go tell El that it's time.

El gets in the makeshift sensory deprivation tank and the lights flicker. She describes "seeing" Max and Lucas at the Creel house, and how Max's plan isn't working. Max takes off her Walkman, and tells Vecna that he was right and she wanted Billy to die. She can't forgive herself for thinking that, and now she hopes something terrible will happen to her, and she wants Vecna to take her away. "Lucas" hears her and asks if she has thoughts like that about him. He says that Max is sick, and maybe it's best that Vecna takes her.

In the real world, Lucas tries to make Max out of her trance. El tells her group that Vecna has Max. Meanwhile, Max hits "Lucas" with a candelabra and runs. Vecna reverts to his true form El tells Max that she's coming, then enters Max's memory of people skating and looks for Max.

Lucas signals Erica to tell the others that Max is in and they should initiate Phase 3. Robin tells Dustin and Eddie, and Eddie plays heavy metal on top of the trailer. The bats come from the house, and Nancy and the other two go in. Max tries to get out of the house, but the door is barricaded. Vecna approaches her and asks where she's going, and she runs. Meanwhile, Jason and his teammates drive up to Erica, and she runs.

Max comes to a room where Billy is sealed in and starts to break out. Erica runs and a team member finally tackles her, Dustin warns Eddie that the bats are coming. The two of them get into the trailer just in time, while Max finds herself in a memory of an empty gym at prom.

Jim and the others get into the prison and find that the particles have escaped. The trio find the dead scientists and guards. The warden is barely alive, and he says the monsters got out, while the particles got into the Demogorgons and Demodogs. The Russian dies of his injuries, and the trio see the creatures on the monitors.

Nancy and the others go into the house and find the inside covered in vines. They carefully pick their way without touching the vines. Meanwhile, El finds a young Max in the memory. Max doesn't hear El, who sees another memory of a prom table inside. Max is sitting at the abandoned prom, and the blood-filled balloons starting popping. Everything starts decaying, and thunderclouds form in both memories.

Lucas tries to signal Erica, but gets no response. He turns and sees Jason enter the room, and tells him that he should leave. Jason draws his gun on Lucas, and tells him to wake up Max. Lucas says that if he does, they all die. Jason doesn't care.

Jim leads the others to the pit and says that they have to lure the monsters there and lock them in. He'll be the bait, while Murray and Joyce lock them in and kill them. They find a single Demodog on the monitors and target that. Jim and Joyce kiss and then Jim leaves.

Eddie and Dustin arm themselves and wait for the bats to break in. The bats break in through a roof vent and the duo stab them. At the house, the trio make their way up the stairs and the house shakes. Robin steps on a vine, and it and others grab her and pin her to the wall. Nancy and Steve try to free her and get pinned as well. In Russia, Jim finds the Demodog and whistles to get its attention, then runs. It chase him.

In the trailer, Eddie slams a trashcan lid over the vent. The bats break in through another vent and Dustin climbs up the rope to the real trailer. Instead of following Dustin, Eddie runs outside to buy more time and rides away on his bike. The bat follow him. Meanwhile in the gym, Vecna tells Max that she can't hide from him and she summons good memories. Vecna tells her that her friends can't stop him, and it's time for her. He telekinetically pins her to the wall and advances on her.

Lucas tries to tell Jason what's happening, but Jason figures that if Chrissy needed help, she would have come to him rather than Eddie. Lucas tells Jason that he thought he wanted to be like him, but Jason is a psychopath. He jumps Jason, whose gun goes off startling the boy on Erica and lettering her attack him. Jason and Lucas fight, and Jason breaks Max's Walkman.

Vecna tells Max that she's braver than Billy, but still weak and fragile like him and the others, and she will break. El comes in and telekinetically suspends Vecna, then throws him across the gym. Meanwhile, Dustin climbs back into the hole and falls in, breaking his ankle, while the bats knock Eddie off his bike. He starts to run, then remembers his earlier cowardice, then turns and faces the bats.

Erica runs to the house. Meanwhile, Lucas and Jason continue fighting until Jason knocks Lucas down. Meanwhile, El helps Max up and they face Vecna. who is getting up. He says that he's glad El is there, and throws wooden shards at El. She deflects them and Vecna throws her around gym.

Dustin limps out of the trailer and sees the bats swarming Eddie. Meanwhile, Vecna continues assaulting El, and knocking away Max when she comes at him. He lifts El into the air and tells her that he wants her to watch before he kills her, then he casts her into the other dimension. Vines pin her to a remnant of the house door, Vecna brings the unconscious Max there and vines suspend her, and El tells him that Papa is dead and she knows that Papa is the monster, not Vecna. Vecna tells El that Papa was just a mediocre man who sought greatness in others like them, but ultimately he didn't create Vecna, but El did. When El cast Henry into the other dimension, he explored it, and founds the particles and became the predator he was born to be. El inadvertently opened the door for him, freeing him. Vecna says that her friends have lost, and there's nothing she can do to stop Vecna. He promises that Hawkins and then the rest of the world will fall, and he'll remake it into something "beautiful".

Vecna goes to Max and tells her that it all will be over soon. Lucas sees Max's body levitate in the real world. In the real world, El goes into convulsions and Mike and the others put her on a nearby table. Mike tells El that he's there and she hears him, He tells her that he loves her, and he's scared that one day she'll realize she doesn't need him. Mike says that he knew her from the moment they first met, and right now she has to fight.

Lucas breaks free of Jason knocking him unconscious. Max's limbs snap, and a Demodog knocks Jim down. Elk breaks free and throws Vecna back, freeing Max. Joyce grabs a cattle prod and hits the Demodog on Jim, and they run as more Demo creatures run at them. They run into the pit, and Murray uses Jim's flamethrower on them. The swarm on Eddie collapse, and the vines holding Mike and the others go slack.

El pins Vecna and he says that she and her friends haven't won, but it's only the beginning of the end. Mike and the others find Vecna's body in the Upside Down and use the Molotov cocktails on it. In the pit, one Demogorgan survives and Jim decapitates it with a discarded sword. Lucas cradles the unconscious Max in his arms, while the burning Vecna advances on the trio and Nancy shoots him repeatedly out a window. At the prison, Yuri and Antonov arrive in Yuri's helicopter, while Nancy and others run out and find Vecna's body gone.

Dustin limps to Eddie and finds him dying from the bat wounds. Eddie smiles and says that he didn't run away this time, and tells Dustin to look after the "little sheep" for him. Dustin promises, and Eddie says that he loved Dustin and dies. Meanwhile, Erica runs up to the attic and Lucas tells her to call an ambulance for Max. Max says that she doesn't want to die, and Lucas tells her that she won't. El is psychically with them, and cries as Max passes out.

The house in the Upside Down collapses, as the clock in it chimes four times. A crack from Vecna's realm spreads through Hawkins. El tells Max that she's not going, and uses her powers to revive her.

Two days later, Argyle and the others drive into Hawkins as many citizens leave. Newscasters are reporting about the "earthquake". The California group goes to the Wheeler house and meet with the others there, Jon tells Nancy that they couldn't risk contact so he didn't call her.

Lucas is at the hospital reading to the comatose Max, as Erica looks on. Mike and the others arrive, and Lucas tells them that the doctors don't know if Max will ever wake. Max's heart stopped for over a minute, El takes Max's hand and tells Max to come, but Max doesn't respond.

Steve, Robin, and Dustin take relief donations to the nearby high school. They stay to help organize donations and make sandwiches. Vickie is also there and runs into Robin, and she rambles on about how her boyfriend left her when he saw Hawkins' devastation. She apologizes for talking too much, and Robin says that she knows what she means. Steve listens to them, and smiles.

Dustin sees Eddie's uncle putting up a "Missing" poster for Eddie. He goes over and tells Mr. Munson that his nephew refused to run, and died a hero.

Everyone goes to Jim's cabin, to clean it up so El can stay there. As they work, Jon tells Nancy that he's sorry he wasn't there. She says that she's glad he was with Mike and Jon asks if they're okay. Nancy asks about Jon's college application letter, and he claims that it didn't. Meanwhile, Will asks Mike if El talked to him, and he says that El said Brenner told her she wasn't ready. Will doesn't believe it, and Mike hopes that Vecna is dead and El will never have to face losing again. His friend says that now that he's in Hawkins, he can feel Vecna still alive, and he's not going to stop until he's taken everything and everyone. Mike assures his friend that they'll kill him. A government car pulls up outside.

El is cleaning up her room and finds an empty Coke bottle. She spins it and makes contact with Max's mind, but there's no consciousness there. El snaps back to reality, and Jim comes in from the government car. They hug and he assures her that he's there. They go outside and find Joyce reunited with her sons, and El goes to Joyce and they hug. Jim tips his hat to Agent Stinson, who brought them, and she leaves.

Will senses a presence, and looks up at the sky where thunder clouds are forming. Upside Down "snow" drifts down and the others notice, and everyone in town notices. El and the others walk to a nearby field, and find the "snow" coming from a corrupted plant. The Upside Down thunder clouds are coming from the cracks throughout Hawkins.