Max Mayfield is a character many fans have a soft spot for in Stranger Things, enjoying her blunt honesty and the close dynamic she shares with the main cast. At the end of Season 4, fans were heartbroken to discover she had fallen into a coma at the hand of Vecna, seemingly trapped somewhere else.
With the recent release of Stranger Things Season 5’s first four episodes, fans are now extremely eager to find out if Max is still alive and if she will finally wake up and help her friends save Hawkins. Everything you’ll need to know about Max’s current state and what could happen next has been outlined in the guide below.
SPOILER WARNING: This guide covers content that may be considered spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5. Proceed with caution.
Is Max Still Alive & Does She Wake Up in Stranger Things Season 5?
As of Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 4 (the part 1 finale), no, Max has still not awoken from her coma. However, this does not mean that all hope is lost, or that Max is dead or gone. In fact, it’s quite the opposite!
Holly Wheeler is kidnapped by Demogorgons after befriending Henry Creel/Vecna under the alias of ‘Mr. Whatsit’. As to where she is taken, well…this is a mystery, at first. The next time viewers see her, she is seen enjoying her time at a bright, beautiful property and being promised pancakes for breakfast. That beautiful property, though? Well, it is soon revealed to be Henry’s main headquarters – his home.
Henry, or ‘Mr. Whatsit’ it appear to have chosen Holly (perhaps as his next Vessel, like Will), earning her trust through acts of affection and kindness. He has just one rule: she must never wander through the woods.
So, when Holly receives a letter in the mailbox while Henry is away, she is surprised to find that he has instructed for her to meet him at a cave, marked on a map at the other side of the woods. Holly is confused at first as to why Henry would draw her a map to the one place he forbade her to explore, but either through childish naivety or simply an overwhelming want for her friends and family to be ‘saved’ (as promised by Henry), she decides to follow the map.
Henry has also previously used the mailbox to communicate with Holly, build trust, and give her gifts, so that probably made her believe the letter was genuinely from him, too. It’s a good thing that this paid off, because when Holly finally reaches the marked location, she discovers that it was never Henry who sent the map at all…it was Max!
This is the first confirmation we’ve had in Season 5 that, despite not being ‘awake’ in her physical body, Max’s consciousness remains completely intact within this strange world. In addition to this, Max also offers more insight on where she and Holly both are – a memory, one of Henry’s memories, to be exact.
Max goes on to explain that she has been wandering through Henry’s memories in attempts to escape him, with the music the crew has been playing for her in the real world helping to guide her to safety. She even came close to fully escaping via this method, which means that while currently unsuccessful at ‘opening that door’ and getting back to her physical body, as she phrased it, Max has been fighting to survive every step of the way.
Whilst fleeing Henry/Vecna, Max ran into this cave at the end of the woods, where she first met up with Holly. Much to her shock, whatever memory is linked to that cave terrified Henry so much that he refused to come after her. Max has used this spot as her sanctuary for survival ever since, even collecting things to ‘personalize’ her space in fear that this may be her fate for good. Bu the arrival of Holly? That has changed everything for Max.
Why Holly is Max’s Best Chance at Waking Up in Stranger Things
Now that Holly has arrived in this world of memories, Max reveals that the ‘third door’, escape, has now been reopened. They forge a plan to work together, planning for Holly to travel back to Henry’s house before he knows she’s missing, playing dumb. However, behind closed doors, it’s likely Max and Holly are going to be a new dynamic duo here, teaming up to form some kind of great escape. As a result, Max should (hopefully) wake back up in her physical body.
This is also supported by earlier foreshadowing in a conversation Holly had with her older brother, Mike. Whilst noticing she had become fearful, and was struggling with everyone going on in Hawkins, Mike gifted Holly her own DND minifigure, dubbing her ‘Holly the Heroic.’ Mike goes on to explain that Holly the Heroic is a Cleric, capable of casting Spells to heal herself and her friends…as well as the Dimension Door Spell.
In DND, Dimension Door is a Spell that enables you to open a door to any plane of existence that you can visualize. Now, this may seem like just some fun flavor text in an otherwise sweet sibling moment on the surface. However, in Stranger Things, everything is tied to DND, and the characters ‘classes are often key to main events in the plot.
This was seen yet again in the Season 4 finale, where Will unlocks new powers over the Demogorgons, following a conversation with Mike in which the latter tells him, “I know you’re a Wizard, but you seem like more of a Sorcerer. Your powers aren’t learned, they’re innate”.
If the same foreshadowing rings true for Holly Wheeler, then she may be one of the most pivotal characters of the final season. It’s very possible that she will end up using/unlocking some kind of escape for both herself and Max from Vecna’s prison of memories. This is supported by the fact that Max has already stated that the third “door” has suddenly reopened with her presence, which means there’s most certainly a link between ‘Heroic Holly’ and the Dimension Door.