Stranger Things
Created by: The Duffer Brothers
Stars: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven / El), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna / Henry Creel / One), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vicky Dunne), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Robert Akers), Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay), Joe Chrest (Ted Wheeler), Sherman Augustus (Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan), Clayton Royal Johnson (Andy), Hunter Romanillos (Chance)
Season 5 – Episode 4
Episode title: Chapter Four: Sorcerer
Director: The Duffer Brothers
Original release date: November 26, 2025
Episode plot: Hopper and Eleven infiltrate the military base intending to kill Vecna, but they are ambushed by a squad of soldiers. After defeating them, Hopper and Eleven discover that the captive inside the base is actually Eleven’s sister, Kali. Max explains to Holly that they are trapped inside a strange realm formed from Vecna’s memories, nicknamed “Camazotz”, where Max has remained ever since her brief death. Will’s group is attacked by a Demogorgon until Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan arrive and chase the creature into the Upside Down. The military gathers all children in Hawkins who could be potential victims and detains them. Will experiences a vision revealing where Vecna is holding Holly, along with a plan to abduct more children, prompting the group to form a plan to infiltrate the base, locate the targeted children, and smuggle them out of Hawkins. Demogorgons burst from the Upside Down and attack the base just as Vecna appears, slaughtering the entire military before taunting Will for failing him as his former spy and using Demogorgons to kidnap the children. As Vecna retreats back into the Upside Down, the Demogorgons nearly kill Mike, Lucas, and Robin until Will reveals newfound powers and kills the Demogorgons.
* * *
Stranger Things – S05E04 – Chapter Four: Sorcerer | Transcript
[child panting]
[Joyce] Hey.
[Derek grunts]
[Joyce] I know you’re scared, and I know you’re angry, but I promise you, we are here to help you.
[Derek grunting]
[Joyce] Hey, Derek, Derek. If you keep doing that, you’re gonna hurt yourself. Just calm down so we can talk, okay? Do you know who I am?
[Derek] An evil child kidnapper.
[Joyce] Okay, I understand why you would think that, but I’m not evil. I’m just a mom, a regular mom. That’s my son, Will.
[Derek] Zombie boy.
[Joyce] You know why they call him that?
[Derek] Because he died and came back to life.
[Joyce] But what people don’t know is that when he went missing, he was taken by a terrible, scary monster. And now, that scary monster is after you.
[Derek] Yeah, I know. Mr. Whatsit told me, which is why you need to let me go.
[Joyce] No, no. Mr. Whatsit is not who he says he is, okay? He is lying to you. All these monsters, they work for him. That’s why we took you here to this barn. We thought this barn was safe, but he’s found us. So we have to move you again, somewhere he can’t find you. So if I untie you, will you cooperate and come with us? Please?
[Derek nods]
[Joyce] Okay, great. You’re a very brave kid, Derek. I want you to know that. Very–
[Derek yelling]
[grunting]
[Derek] Let me go! Get off of me!
[Will] Derek. Please! The door! Get the door!
[Derek] Help me! Let me go! Get off me!
[Will] Stay down!
[Derek] Get away! Somebody help! I’m being kidnapped! Get away from me! Let me go!
[Will] Mom, the rope! I need the rope!
[Derek] Let me go! Eat dirt!
[Will] Ah!
[Erica] Come try us, dipshit!
[Derek] Shit!
[Robin] Dude! She’s not lying to you, okay? Mr. Whatsit is a very bad guy. He sent the monsters after you.
[Derek] Suck my fat one!
[Robin] Jesus! What?
[Erica] You just signed your death warrant, dipshit!
[Derek] You’re a psycho, and you’re going to jail!
[Joyce] There is a monster coming! We’re trying to help you.
[Derek] La, la, la, la.
[Will] Derek, please!
[Joyce] You gotta come down.
[Derek] I’m not listening. La, la, la, la.
[chattering continues]
[distant clicking]
[foreboding music playing]
[Demogorgon snarling and panting]
[Demogorgon shrieking]
[Joyce] Stay back!
[Demogorgon roaring]
[Joyce] You want him, you’re gonna have to come through me! [grunting]
[Demogorgon snarling]
[Demogorgon shrieking]
[Will screaming]
[Dustin] [laughing] Yeah, we got him! We got him!
[transmitter beeping]
[Dustin] It flipped! It’s headed back towards us!
[Jonathan] Come on. What are you doing, man? We gotta turn around!
[Steve] Wait. Gates are like Peanut Butter Boppers, right?
[Lucas] What?
[Steve] The outside is, like, crunchy and tough. But bite down on it, it gives way to a gooey, creamy core.
[Jonathan] Dude, what the hell are you talking about?
[Steve] I drive fast enough, the beamer can punch a hole into the gate, and then we can track the Demo on its home turf in the Upside Down. Follow it back home.
[Dustin] We’re losing the signal!
[Jonathan] We won’t be able to follow anything if we crash!
[Steve] We won’t crash if it’s like a Bopper!
[Dustin] It’s almost gone!
[Nancy] Do it.
[Jonathan] Oh my God! Oh my God! Jesus.
[Dustin] Oh my God! Oh my God!
[Steve] I got it! I got it!
[Dustin] Oh God, no! It’s not gonna work.
[Jonathan] We’re not gonna make it!
[Dustin] It’s not a Bopper. Stop!
[Jonathan] Slow down! Jesus Christ!
[Dustin] Shit! Oh my God!
[Steve] Hang on!
[all screaming]
[Dustin laughing]
[Dustin] We did it! Woo!
[all laughing, chattering]
[Nancy] Signal?
[Dustin] Strong!
[Jonathan] Oh my God!
[Dustin] We got you, son of a bitch! We got you!
[thunder cracks]
[Demogorgon roars]
[Will screaming]
[Joyce] Will!? Will!
[Will gasping]
[Joyce] I’m right here, Will. It’s okay. I got you. I got you. I got you, sweetie.
[synth theme music playing]
Uh, hockety-pockety? Oh, yes, yes, that’s right.
♪ Hockety-pockety wockety wack ♪
♪ Odds and ends and brica-brac ♪
I’ll be with you in just a minute, son.
What?
Packing’s almost done!
[orchestral music continues on TV]
Shush! Jelly!
[pounding on door]
[soldier] Alan Miller?
[sputtering] I’m sorry, what is this about?
[soldier] It’s your daughter, sir.
[somber music playing]
[Jonathan] Our boy’s taking us on a shortcut through Roane Cemetery.
[Nancy] That’s almost at the county line.
[Jonathan] Doesn’t this thing get tired?
[Dustin] Unfortunately, it looks like the opposite. I think he’s speeding up.
[Steve] Wait, what?
[Dustin] I’m losing the signal.
[Steve] You’ve gotta be shitting me!
[Nancy] Can you go faster?
[Steve] Let’s see.
[engine revs]
[tires screeching]
[Steve] Henderson, you’ve gotta talk to me here. What do you got? Henderson, what…
[Dustin] Wait, I’m picking up interference.
[Steve] How is that important right now?
[Dustin] It means I can’t hear the signal.
[Steve] Well, then listen harder.
[Dustin] What do you mean? You wanna put these on?
[Steve] I’m driving!
[Dustin] You do the driving. I do the navigating.
[Jonathan] What is that?
[Nancy] I don’t know.
[Nancy] Steve, slow down.
[Steve] Is he ahead of us or not?
[Nancy] Steve!
[Jonathan] Steve, watch out!
[Nancy] Steve, watch out!
[Steve] Shit!
[Nancy screams]
[splattering]
[Joyce on walkie-talkie] Jonathan, it’s Mom. Answer me, please. Over. Jonathan, please answer. Jonathan, Nancy, Dustin, it’s Joyce. Please answer me.
[Robin] Hey. Any luck? Well, on the plus side, I guess that means they made it through. Do you wanna see where they’re headed?
[Joyce] What is it?
[Will] I don’t know, but I could feel it’s important to him.
[Derek] To Mr… Whatsit?
[Will] His real name is Henry.
[Robin] AKA Vecna.
[Erica] AKA One.
[Derek] That’s too many names.
[Erica] Why won’t you just zip it and listen, dipshit?
[Will] I had this feeling he didn’t want me there. I wasn’t supposed to see it.
[Robin] You’ve never been this close to the hive mind before. I mean, that thing was, like, feet away. Sometimes at The Squawk, when a signal comes in too strong, it overloads the whole system. I think that’s what this was, an overload. You didn’t just tap into the hive mind. You jacked right in to the goddamn control center.
[Joyce] And Holly. Where was Holly?
[Will] Holly. Holly, she was… She was attached to this… this spire. And she became a part of it somehow, like it was doing something to her. And… And there were others. There were three others.
[Erica] I thought Vecna was just coming for dipshit.
[Will] So did I. But I only knew about Derek because he walked right past me.
[Robin] Serendipitous timing.
[Erica] You hear that? Serendipitous.
[Derek] I don’t know what that means.
[Robin] I’m really not loving all of these extra spires. I mean, night one, Vecna kidnaps Holly. Night two, he takes three more.
[Will] He’s escalating. And he’s coming for more.
[Robin] Eight more, if this is accurate, which brings him to a total of 12.
[Joyce] What does he want with them? And why kids?
[Erica] And why 12?
[Will] I don’t know. But we have to stop him before he takes any more and buy Dustin and the others time to find this place, to find Holly.
[Robin] If we can pinpoint his exact targets, we could get them out of Hawkins.
[Will] And out of Vecna’s reach.
[Erica] Did you forget we’re quarantined?
[Mike] That’s not all. There’s another problem. On the way here, we saw soldiers load Debbie Miller onto a bus with a bunch more kids. We followed them for two blocks more, and they loaded more kids onto it.
[Lucas] I don’t think they were taking them to school.
[Mike] Vecna’s not the only one that wants these kids.
[Dr. Kay] Eleven was at the Wheeler house the same night Holly was taken. Twenty-four hours later, we’ve got three more missing kids. There’s 73 children in Hawkins between the age of nine and ten. If the pattern holds, our next target will be from this group.
And you believe Eleven has taken these kids? For what purpose?
[Dr. Kay] Killing them, protecting them. The reason doesn’t matter.
These children? Where are they now?
[Dr. Kay] Arriving at the MACZ any moment, which is where I want you.
I should be looking for Lt. Akers. I find Akers, I find–
[Dr. Kay] You’ll find a dead man. Report to the MACZ, Colonel. That’s an order.
Major General. With all due respect, these kids are in danger. To use them as bait seems…
[Dr. Kay] Seems what, Sergeant?
Reckless.
[Dr. Kay] It’s only reckless if you fail to protect them. Are you telling me you can’t protect them, Sergeant?
No, ma’am.
[Dr. Kay] Good.
[birds chirping]
[Max] I’m sorry for scaring you. I haven’t seen anyone in… a really long time, so… I guess I got excited. Good news is it doesn’t look that deep. Not enough for stitches. I bet it stings though, huh? You can talk to me, you know. I won’t bite. You do remember me, right? I’ve been to your house. Like, a lot.
[Holly] You’re Max, Max Mayfield. You skateboard and never take off your Walkman.
[Max] That’s me.
[Holly] But…
[Max] How am I in here when I’m in a coma in Hawkins General? That’s a very reasonable question.
[branch cracks]
[tense music playing]
[Max] We should get going. It’s not safe here. Come on.
[Holly] Where are we going?
[Max] My home.
[Holly] Well, I can’t go far. I came here to meet Henry. Do you know Henry?
[Max] You could say that.
[Holly] He left me this note. See? And he told me to meet him right here at the X. I think he’s in trouble with the monsters.
[Max] Henry is a lot of things, but in trouble with the monsters is not one of them.
[Holly] But the note says…
[Max] I know what the note says.
[Holly] How do you know he’s not in trouble? He said hurry!
[Max] Holly, I know what the note says because Henry didn’t write it. I did.
[tense music cuts out]
[Holly] [spluttering] I don’t… I don’t understand.
[Max] I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lie. I… I just… I had to make sure that you came here.
[Holly] You’re one of them, aren’t you?
[Max] One of what?
[Holly] The monsters.
[Max] Do I look like a monster?
[Holly] I don’t know. Maybe you’re in disguise. You’re dressed weird, and you’re in a coma.
[Max] Okay. Well, would a monster know that your brother tried to get a mohawk until your sister stopped him, saving him from possibly the greatest social humiliation that a freshman has ever experienced at Hawkins High?
[Holly] What color was this mohawk?
[Max] Hot orange. And personally, I think the use of the word “hot” is a bit ironic, but… People say I’m too negative. I just think I’m honest.
[ethereal music playing]
[Max] Come on. Welcome. … Hey. It even comes with a view.
[Holly] Where are we?
[Max] In a memory. Which exists inside a world of 1,000 memories. I know it might look nice, but it’s not. This place, this world… It’s a prison.
[music becomes unsettling]
[Max] Henry’s prison.
[panting]
It’s okay, sweetie. These are the good guys. They’re going to keep everyone safe. Just try and think of this as a field trip. Mmhmm. A learning expedition.
[Erica] Cargo has arrived. I repeat, cargo has arrived. They’re taking them into a barracks second from the library.
[Joyce] Tunnels. Yeah. See? The north tunnel of the MACZ runs right underneath the barracks.
[Lucas] Lucky break.
[Robin] Bound to happen one of these days.
[Mike] Gonna need more luck if we want this plan to work. If we’re right, the military is trying to protect these kids. So this barracks is gonna be heavily guarded. We have to dig up into the barracks, unnoticed, grab the kids, get them to Murray, smuggle them out of Hawkins.
[Will] All before anyone notices they’re gone.
[Robin] Dick.
[Will] What?
[Robin] What? Oh. Sorry. Did I say that out loud? I thought I was talking in my head. But you guys know Tom, Dick, and Harry, right? Seriously? None of you have seen The Great Escape?
[“Theme from The Great Escape” playing]
[Robin] Basically, it’s about these POWs, right? And they’re stuck in a barracks just like this one. They need to escape, so they dig these tunnels, and they call their tunnels Tom, Dick, and Harry. They have to hide the tunnels from the Nazis. So they put Tom in this dark corner, and they put Harry under the stove, and they put Dick in the washroom. And personally, for us, I like Dick. Oh, um… Sorry. The washroom. I actually don’t even… Never mind.
[Joyce] Okay, say we go with Dick. How do we find the washroom?
[Will] And how do we get the kids to it?
[Lucas] How do we know which kids are being targeted by Vecna?
[Mike] We use an inside man, someone who could get into the barracks, measure the distance to the washroom, find out which kids have seen Mr. Whatsit, and somehow avoid the military all together.
[Robin] Well, that’s a lovely plan, but isn’t it a tad…
[Lucas] Mission Impossibley.
[Robin] Yeah. I mean, Mike, who are you gonna get to do this? Bond? Magnum?
[Mike] No, no, we don’t want a superspy. We want the opposite. We want someone no one would suspect. Someone that could just walk in, no questions asked. The one kid the military failed to wrangle.
[Derek] What?
[thunder rumbling]
[hand aggressively slams wall]
[Hopper] Two grunts in the tower by the west gate. One more in the tower by the east gate. One, two, three, four on the ground. I hope to God you’re right, and Vecna is in there, because we might just die trying to break in.
[Eleven] I am right.
[Hopper] You can’t be right about everything. Your theories aren’t exactly lining up.
[Eleven] Why not?
[Hopper] You heard kryptonite. If Vecna’s in there, he doesn’t have his powers. If he doesn’t have his powers, how could he have anything to do with Holly’s kidnapping?
[Eleven] You can ask him before I kill him. How high is that fence?
[Hopper] Hey, you’re not jumping that.
[Eleven] Why not?
[Hopper] Because this is not training. This is a real-world situation. And that roof is metal. You hit that on a jump, you’re gonna alert the whole damn base.
[Eleven] Not if I time it with the thunder.
[Hopper] [laughs sarcastically] Yeah.
[Eleven] It’s seven seconds.
[thunder rumbles]
[Eleven] One, two, three, four, five, six…
[thunder rumbles]
[Eleven] Seven.
[Hopper] Okay. You got lucky.
[Dustin] Hopper, do you copy?
[Nancy] Dustin!
[Dustin] Over. This is Dustin. Hopper, do you copy? This is Dustin.
[Hopper] Hey, hey, it’s Hop. I copy.
[Dustin] Holy shit! Okay. They’re alive!
[Nancy] El! Ask about El.
[Dustin] El. Is El with you? Over.
[Eleven] Yes. I’m here. Over.
[Dustin] Okay. Yay. Terrific. I don’t know if you’re caught up in something important, but…
[Nancy] Dustin. Come on. Meet us!
[Dustin] Meet us at Roane Cemetery church, please.
[Hopper] Roane Cemetery. How the hell are you contacting us from there?
[Dustin] Right. You don’t know. We’re in the Upside Down.
[Hopper] What?
[Dustin] Long story short, we’re here to track a Demogorgon using our telemetry tracker, only to then hit a wall. Literally. Now, Steve’s beamer is stuck, so we need El to come and pry it loose using her powers so we can resume the search for said Demogorgon which will, in theory, lead us to Holly. Does any of this make sense? Do you need additional details? Questions? Concerns? Over.
[Hopper] You hit a wall? What kind of wall, exactly?
[Dustin] Uh… it’s a bit… hard to describe. Sort of…
[Nancy] Huge?
[Jonathan] Disgusting.
[Steve] Smells like Henderson’s armpit.
[Hopper] We hit the same thing, but not at the Roane Cemetery. We hit it a quarter mile southeast of the old Hagen Bridge.
[Nancy] That’s the opposite side of town.
[Dustin] Fascinating.
[Hopper] We don’t know what it is, but we think Holly’s behind it. Don’t bother trying to break through. You can’t. We’re working on a solution.
[Dustin] Nancy.
[Nancy] Solution? What kind of solution?
[helicopter whirring]
[Nancy] Wait, what kind of solution? Hopper!
[Hopper] Listen, we gotta keep the airwaves clear, all right? We’ll come get you. Just stay put.
[Eleven] You think they’re safe?
[Hopper] I mean, compared to us? Yeah. Okay. Let’s go see if that training has paid off.
[Eleven] You’re gonna let me jump?
[Hopper] Let’s go before I change my mind.
[Max] Vecna’s curse, it never goes away. Never leaves you. With each victim that he took, he created a new gate.
[Holly] A gate to the Upside Down?
[Max] When he took me, he opened the fourth, final gate, splitting Hawkins in two.
[Holly] Wait, but if Mr. Whatsit… I mean Henry, took you, how are you here?
[Max] You mean, shouldn’t I be dead? It’s okay. It’s a fair question. I definitely should be. And for a moment… I was.
[bone crunching]
[Lucas screaming]
[Max] I don’t know how long I was gone. But then I felt something… calling to me.
[Max gasping]
[light buzzing]
[bell ringing]
[people chattering]
[“Sh-Boom” by The Chords playing]
♪ Life could be dream ♪
♪ If I could take you up ♪
♪ In Paradise up above ♪
♪ If you would tell me I’m the only… ♪
[Joyce] One night only. Don’t miss it. Tickets are only 50 cents. That’s two quarters for you poindexters.
Joyce! This that stupid play of yours?
[Joyce] I better see you there, Harrington.
Friday night? You wish.
♪ Life could be dream ♪
[Joyce] Nice shot, jerk.
♪ If only all my precious plans ♪
♪ Would come true ♪
[Max] Somehow, I was in another time. Hawkins. Thirty years ago.
[Holly] Time travel.
[Max] Only, I wasn’t actually there. Not really. I was just… an observer. And that’s when I understood. I was trapped inside Henry’s mind, his memories. Like a nightmare prison world ruled by an evil, psychopathic piece of shit.
[Holly] Like Camazotz.
[Max] Cama… What?
[Holly] Camazotz. From A Wrinkle in Time.
[Max] Never read it.
[Holly] You should. It’s amazing. Camazotz is like this dark planet that’s under the control of IT, which is this giant, disembodied, evil brain. Anyways, Meg’s dad—Meg’s the main character—he gets taken prisoner there. So, Henry’s kinda like IT, and you’re kinda like Meg’s dad.
[Max] Okay. Well… I don’t know if Meg’s dad would agree, but the way I see it, when you’re a prisoner in a messed up prison world, you really only have a few doors open to you. Door one, you take your own life. Door two, accept your fate. Or door three…
[Holly] You escape.
[Max] I chose door three.
[Holly] That seems like the best door.
[Max] So, I kept moving. From memory to memory. Only, this place is a maze. I became lost, turned around. I got so turned around, I actually ended up right back at the beginning.
[dark music playing]
[Max] And that’s when I heard her.
[“Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush playing]
[Max] I heard Kate Bush.
[Holly] Is she one of your friends?
[Max] You could say that.
♪ Do you wanna hear ♪
♪ About the deal that I’m making? ♪
[Max] Music has a way of finding you, even in the darkest of places. Lucas had used it before, to reach me, to guide me out of Vecna’s mind, back to the light.
♪ If I only could make a deal with God ♪
♪ And I’d get him to swap our places ♪
♪ Be runnin’ up that road ♪
[Holly] So, this music was coming from Lucas, from the real world?
[Max] Even after all this time, he hadn’t given up on me.
[Holly] If you follow this music, then what?
[Max] Then it would lead me out of here. Back home. At least, that’s what I thought. But then… everything went wrong.
♪ Oh, come on, angel ♪
♪ Come on, come on, darlin’ ♪
♪ Let’s exchange the… ♪
[loud ripping]
[tense music playing]
[soldier chattering on walkie-talkie]
[soldier] Hey! What the hell are you doing? Can’t you read, kid? No trespassing.
[Derek] Right, I see that, officer. It’s just… my school is missing.
[Derek grunts]
[soldier] Let’s go. Move it.
[Derek] Holy shit! Are those laser blasters?
[soldier] Might just be. And they’ll blast you if you don’t keep it moving.
Boys.
Can’t get me!
Boys! … All right. Absolutely not.
[soldier] Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. This is Private Chapman. You do exactly as he says. You got any questions, direct them to him.
[Derek] Where might I relieve myself?
[Murray] Breaking bar. Shovel. Five safety goggles. A surveyor’s wheel and… Hold for applause. Santa’s sleigh is ready for his reindeer. We got built-in benches, seat belts, foam padding. Everything a kidnapped child could desire.
[Joyce] Foam padding?
[Murray] Don’t want to break any eggs en route, now do we?
[Derek] I’m in. Do you copy? Repeat, I’m in. Do you copy?
[Joyce] Yes, yes, we copy. We copy. Where are you?
[Derek] Bathroom. Back stall. 45 of my paces from the front entrance.
[Joyce] Good job. Now round up anyone who’s seen Mr. Whatsit, and we’ll be there soon. And remember, you’re not Dipshit Derek. You’re…
[Derek] Delightful Derek.
[Hopper] Okay, once you get that gate open, and I’m inside…
[Eleven] You lead.
[Hopper] That’s right.
[Eleven] And you?
[Hopper] I will destroy your kryptonite. Don’t worry. [softly] Okay. [exhales sharply]
[thunder rumbles]
[thunder cracks loudly]
[intense music playing]
[Hopper] All right, come on. Come on, you got this. You got this.
[thunder cracks loudly]
[Eleven grunts]
[Hopper exhales sharply]
[Hopper] Wait. You’re too early. You’re too early.
[Eleven grunts]
[clattering]
[Eleven grunts]
[Hopper] God.
[thunder rumbles]
[Eleven] Sorry.
[soldier grunts]
[Hopper] You trying to give your old man a heart attack? Nice job, by the way.
[Eleven] Hop?
[Hopper] Yeah?
[Eleven] Thank you.
[Hopper] For what?
[Eleven] For teaching me. And trusting me.
[Hopper] Always.
[Derek] The day of reckoning has arrived. With this in mind, I’ve been sent by Mr. Whatsit to gather the chosen ones. If you’ve been visited by Mr. Whatsit, speak now. And when night falls, follow me to the latrine, and I will lead you to our savior, to safety.
Derek’s gone mental.
[Derek] The monsters are coming, and you’re all gonna die. [laughs sarcastically]
[Debbie] Derek? Were you talking about Henry?
[Lucas] Any word from Derek yet?
[Joyce] Not yet. Just give him time. It hasn’t been that long.
[Lucas] I just can’t get over the fact that the fate of the world rests on Derek freakin’ Turnbow.
[Robin] When you look in the mirror, do you see a Navy SEAL looking back at you?
[Joyce] Sometimes people need someone to believe in them. And then they can do amazing things.
[Mike] Your mom and Robin are getting along better.
[Will] Well, it didn’t hurt that Mom scared off that Demo. Saved Robin’s life, everybody’s life.
[Mike] So, when your mom, when she had her axe, you could see her? Like, through the Demo’s eyes?
[Will] Yeah. And I was so close to the hive, it’s like I could feel what it was feeling, like this anger. That I was still in there too. And I was afraid. I was afraid for my mom.
[Mike] You wanted to protect her.
[Will] Yeah. But I… I just couldn’t. It was like this scary movie you just can’t turn off.
[Murray] [grunting] Open sesame. Oh. Well, have fun.
[Lucas] Thanks.
[Mike] Are you positive you didn’t?
[Will] Didn’t what?
[Mike] Turn off the scary movie. Protect your mom, not the other way around. No offense. I know she’s badass and everything, but you know.
[Will] Yeah, she’s 5’3″.
[Mike] Yeah! And Vecna likes to control the hive mind like a puppet master. So maybe when you tap into the hive, you can pull the strings too.
[Will] Except I’m not Vecna.
[Mike] You sorta are.
[Will] You’re trying to say that I’m evil and hellbent on destroying the world?
[Mike] Totally. No, I’m just saying that, you know, you’re like a wizard like him.
[Will] In D&D, Mike, not real life.
[Mike] True. In real life, you’re more like a sorcerer, because your powers don’t come from a book of spells. They’re innate.
[Will chuckling]
[Mike] Listen, as far as crazy theories go, I’ve had crazier. And with Eleven in the Upside Down, we really need some magic up here.
[mysterious audio distortions]
[Nancy] Working on a solution? I mean, if Hopper has a solution to get through this and to get to Holly, he should… he should share it with us!
[Steve] I just say we ignore the old man. We keep moving. Look for a door or something.
[Jonathan] Yeah, and just curious. This door of yours, it’s soft like a Peanut Butter Bopper?
[Steve] You got something to say, Byers, why don’t you say it?
[Jonathan] I’m just saying maybe you shouldn’t be making the calls from now on.
[Nancy] It was not just his call. It was mine because it’s my sister. And… I agree with Steve. Okay, we can’t just sit here. I don’t know about a door, but this wall can’t go on forever. There has to be a way around it.
[Dustin] There isn’t. This wall is a circle. A circle completely surrounding the Upside Down.
[Steve] Oh yeah? How do you figure that?
[Dustin] Because unlike you, I didn’t sleep through Algebra 1.
[thunder rumbling]
[Dustin] My telemetry tracker picked up a weird frequency coming from the wall, and it took me a bit to place, but I’ve heard it before. Rather, we have. Remember when we were out looking for Hop, and you heard that sound off of Irwin Road?
[Jonathan] Yeah. You said it was interference.
[Dustin] It was. But this interference, it wasn’t coming from a military broadcast or an EMI. It was coming from this wall, which is important, because that gives us three known locations. So, I connected the dots, measured the midpoints, drew the perpendicular bisectors–
[Steve] All right! Yeah, we’re not your teachers. We don’t need to see your work. We get it. You think it’s all a big circle.
[Dustin] I don’t think. I know. I triple checked, and my calculations are correct.
[Steve] Jesus… whatever! I still don’t see how this gets us closer to finding Holly.
[Dustin] Because it’s not about the circle. It’s about the center.
[Jonathan] The DOE. The Department of Energy.
[Nancy] That’s…
[Dustin] Hawkins Lab. What are the chances that the center of this wall happens to be in the place where all of this started, where the Upside Down was created?
[Jonathan] So, the lab created the wall?
[Dustin] No idea. But I think we should find out. Don’t you?
[Max] The music, it led me to a new memory. Only, something was different about this memory.
[disorienting audio distortions]
[Max] I was there. It was the day that Henry cursed me. It was his first memory of me. I know, as if this goddamn place wasn’t heady enough, right? But I still had the music to guide me. So I followed it. And it led me through new memories. [voice breaking] Terrible memories.
[Max] Let go!
[Billy/Mind Flayer] Follow me into death.
[growling]
[Max] And it felt like they would never end. But then eventually, they did. It was the night that Vecna killed me.
[“Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush resumes]
[Max] The night he took me prisoner.
♪ Yeah, yeah, yo ♪
♪ Do you wanna know ♪
♪ Know that it doesn’t hurt me? ♪
[Max] I’d finally found it.
♪ Do you wanna hear ♪
♪ About the deal that I’m making? ♪
[Max] The way out.
[distant rumbling]
♪ It’s you and me ♪
♪ And if I only could ♪
♪ I’d make a deal with God ♪
♪ And I’d get him to swap… ♪
[hopeful music playing]
[Max] And I was so close.
[heart monitor beeping]
[Max] So close that I could feel his hand on mine. And it was like I was there. Like I was with him in that hospital.
[“Running Up That Hill” continues in distance]
[hopeful music rises]
♪ Come on, Angel ♪
♪ Come on, come on, darling ♪
♪ Let’s exchange the experience ♪
[heart monitor gets louder]
[music ends]
[Max] No. No.
[cassette rewinding, whirring]
[Max] Lucas! Lucas! Lucas! Lucas!
[intense music playing]
[Henry] Hello, Max.
[music ends]
[Max] I ran. And I kept running.
[intense music resumes]
[Max] I’ll never forget the look on his face that day. Â He was scared. [shuddering] More than scared, he was terrified. There’s something about this cave… this memory. He won’t come in. In here, I’m safe. So I turned it into my sanctuary. My home. I took door two. Shitty door two.
[Holly] Accept your fate.
[Max] That was, until you showed up. And now door three is back.
[Holly] Escape.
[Max] I have a plan, a plan to get us out of here. And it’s gonna take time, more time than we have now. Henry will return to his house soon. And when he does, he cannot know that you’re gone.
[Holly] You want me to go back there? Back to him? Back to Henry? No, I…
[Max] I know. It’s scary. But if you wanna get out of here, if you wanna escape Camazotz, this is the only way. It’s the only way.
[Holly] Tell me what I need to do.
[clicking]
[Will] Hey, wh…
[Robin] Hey.
[Will] Hi.
[Robin] Do you, um, by any chance, remember Tammy Thompson?
[Will] Yeah. Isn’t she that terrible singer?
[Robin] [laughs] Yeah. But in the ninth grade, I thought that she sounded like Whitney goddamn Houston. I mean, the first time I saw her, oh my God, like, time slowed down. It was like a scene from some lameo movie. You know, her hair blew in the wind, and she just looked perfect. So goddamn perfect. And, uh, it was right then and there that I knew she was the one. That with Tammy, I would finally be able to be myself, you know, all of myself. Because there was always this part of me that kind of scared me, you know? But I thought that if Tammy loved me, all of me, you know, I wouldn’t be so scared anymore. And then he showed up, Steve “The Hair” Harrington.
[Will] [chuckles] Oh God.
[Robin] You probably can guess the rest. Tammy fell for him hard. And my entire fantasy life with her, along with the rest of my life, pretty much imploded before my eyes. I mean, my grades plummeted. I got grounded. I had to stay home every weekend doing chores. But then one day, I was cleaning bat shit out of my parents’ garage, and I found this 8-millimeter film reel. You know? And it was just from this silly movie that I made in fourth grade, but I got it up on the projector, and all of a sudden, I was looking at this little version of myself. And that little me, I could hardly recognize her. You know, she was so carefree and, like, fearless. She just loved every part of herself. And that’s when it hit me. It was never about Tone-deaf Tammy. It was always just about me. I was looking for answers in somebody else, but… I had all the answers. I just needed to stop being so goddamn scared. Scared of… who I really was. Once I did that, oh, I felt so free. It’s like I could fly, you know? Like, I could finally be…
[Will] Rockin’ Robin.
[Robin] Yeah. Rockin’ Robin.
[Lucas] Hey, guys! Take your time, will ya?
[Robin] Did you finally hit Dick?
[Mike] Hit the Dick. Yep. Let’s just hope it’s not too hard.
[Lucas] If it is, I’ll soften it.
[Akers] Hey! Hey! Hey! Take me to Kay.
Damn it! Damn it!
[Hopper] Make a sound, it’ll be your last. Nod if you understand.
[intense music playing]
[Hopper] Move! Move it! Come on, let’s go! Come on!
[lock beeping]
It’s not working.
[Hopper] How do we get through?
I don’t have clearance.
[Hopper] I didn’t ask if you have clearance. I asked, how do we get through?
You can’t.
[Hopper] Dr. Kay, your boss, she got clearance?
I don’t know.
[Hopper] You don’t know. Thanks for your help. [grunting] Plan B.
[doors creaking]
[power cuts]
[alarm blaring]
[Eleven] Stop! Stop!
[Hopper] El!
[pulsing]
[Hopper] El!
[Eleve] Stop!
[soldiers chattering]
[Mike] We’re through.
[Robin] Oh, shit.
[clanging]
[clanging continues]
[pipe creaking]
[creaking grows louder]
[Mike] Oh, shit.
[creaking fades out]
[scoffs]
[kids chattering]
[Derek] I want you to close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Breathe in and out. As you continue breathing, I want you to picture yourself on a beach. The water is blue. Blue as a Smurf. You listen to it lap the sandy shore, like a dog slurping from his bowl. [slurping] It’s called visualization. Mom does it when she’s out of Valium.
[walkie-talkie beeping]
[Derek] [whispering to Debbie] Go.
[tense music playing]
[door creaking]
[pounding]
[straining]
[exhaling sharply]
[Lucas] Howdy.
[walkie-talkie beeping]
[Derek] Feel the sand under your butt. It feels cool and soft.
[Lucas] …time. There you go. Good job, good job. All right.
[Robin] Hey, sweetie. Um, what’s your name?
[Debbie] Debbie. Do you work for Mr. Whatsit?
[Robin] Mr. Whatsit. Oh. Um, yes. Of course. I’m one of his elves. You know, like a… a magic elf.
[walkie-talkie beeping]
[pipe creaking]
[Lucas] Right here. A couple more steps. All right. Yes, okay. All right. Great job. Step by step.
[water trickling]
[Mike] Shit.
[alarm blaring]
[intense music playing]
[music stops]
[Eleven groaning]
[Dr. Kay] Eleven.
[Eleven moaning]
[Dr. Kay] I have been looking for you for a very long time. My name is–
[Eleven] Dr. Kay.
[foreboding music playing]
[Eleven] I know who you are. I know who you’ve taken. And I also know… that you and your men… are going to die.
[[Akers] What the hell?
[steam hissing]
[both grunting]
[blade ringing]
[burning]
[screaming]
[creature screeching]
[Hopper groaning]
[Dr. Kay] It’s best not to struggle. The greater the perceived threat, the more aggressive its response.
[Mary] Miss Robin, what about the others?
[Robin] Uh, just Robin. And don’t worry. They’re right behind us.
[boy] Something’s wrong, isn’t it?
[Robin] No. No, siree. Everything is going exactly according to plan.
[Mike] Airlock! Wrap it with your jacket. I got it.
[Will] Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Here. Try it…
[Mike] Hey. Sorry. Bit of a plumbing problem here. Are you by chance looking for Mr. Whatsit? Right through there.
[Will] Right there.
[both straining]
[walkie-talkie beeping]
[Derek] There’s a little breeze in the air telling you a secret. You look up at the sky, searching for clouds, but all you…
[Mike] Mr. Whatsit? … Shit!
[Ashley Klein] Officer! Officer!
[Private Chapman] Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, calm down. What’s going on?
[Derek] Shit-balls.
[Lucas] Good job, man.
[Mike] Lucas! We’ve been spotted!
[Lucas] No, no!
[Joyce] Get ’em out of here. Go.
[Lucas] What about the others?
[Joyce] Just go! Go, go, go!
[Lucas] Damn it! Okay, come on, guys.
[clicking button]
[beeping]
[Derek] Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move!
[Private Chapman] Hey, stop right there!
[Derek] Ashley Klein is a snitch!
[Private Chapman] Hey! Open the door! Open the goddamn door!
[Dr. Kay] So you’re the reason. The reason she’s been so hard to track. The thorn in my side. And after all that effort to hide her, you bring her here, of all places? Why? Why risk her life for the other? What do you know that I don’t?
[Hopper groaning]
[Dr. Kay] It’s actually holding back, if you can believe it. That heat you feel… weakens it.
[Hopper panting]
[Dr. Kay] But in the cold, it thrives.
[Hopper straining]
[Dr. Kay] I can stop it. But you’re gonna have to start talking.
[Eleven] [grunting] [panting]
[Hopper] Go to hell.
[loud bang]
[Eleven straining]
[Dr. Kay] In your current state, I’m afraid that won’t work.
[Eleven yelling]
[Dr. Kay] Not the sharpest, are we?
[Dr. Kay] You’re too late. Cavalry’s on its way.
[Hopper] That’s all right. I’ll be quick.
[pounding]
[Robin] Grocery delivery.
[Murray] Where’s everyone else?
[Robin] Coming.
[Joyce] Come on, sweetie. Come on down. Come on. You get down here right now, or a monster’s gonna eat you.
[Private Chapman] Open the door! You little shit!
[soldier] Get out of the way!
[Private Chapman] About goddamn time!
[Joyce] I got you. That’s good. Good, good.
[Private Chapman] Hey there. Where do you think you’re going?
[Hopper yelling]
[Eleven] What are you doing?
[Hopper] Hey, you gotta go. You gotta go. Come on. We’re gonna get to the woods. The kryptonite shit can’t get you there.
Hop, we can’t. We can’t leave. We came for Henry.
[Hopper] Hey. You take this compass. You’re gonna follow it northeast. That’ll take you to the graveyard. You’re gonna find Nancy and the others. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey. Hey.
[Eleven] What is that?
[Hopper] It’s just a failsafe, okay? It’s a failsafe.
[Eleven] No.
[Hopper] I gotta make sure he goes down with me.
[Eleven] No. No, Hop.
[Hopper] It’s the only way. It’s the only way. I’m not gonna risk losing you. I will not risk it.
[Eleven] Hopper. No.
[Hopper] Listen, I want you to know something. From here on out, I want you to know how proud I am of you. I am so proud of you. I am so proud of what you’ve overcome.
[melancholy music playing]
[Hopper] I’m proud of who you are.
[Eleven] No. No. No, Hop. Hopper!
[Hopper] I love you, Jane.
[Eleven] Hopper! No! Hopper!
[music builds]
[Eleven] [groaning] Hop! Hopper! Hopper! Hop! Hopper!
[beeping]
[Eleven] Hopper! Hopper! Hopper! Hopper!
[crying softly]
[heart monitor droning]
[doctor] Pulse ox is falling. Flatlining!
[chattering happily]
[lock beeping]
[Robin] All right, kids. Come on. Find a seat in the back.
[Murray] Hi. All right. Okay, let’s have some fun, huh? This is gonna be great, huh? Okay. Let’s get our seat belts on, hmm? Safety first. Come on. Time’s awastin’. Pretty comfy, huh?
[kid] Not really.
[Murray] [sarcastically] Oh, sorry.
[Erica] Robin, Lucas, do you copy? Over.
[Robin] Copy. It’s Robin.
[Lucas] Lucas. I copy.
[Erica] We’ve got a problem here at the MAC.
[Robin] What kind of problem?
[Joyce] Let go of me, you asshole!
[Lt. Sullivan] You want to explain to me what in God’s name is going on here?
[Mike] Get the hell off me.
[Private Chapman] We’ve got five missing kids, sir.
You’ve lost five kids?
[Lt. Sullivan] How is that possible?
[Private Chapman] This woman–
[Joyce] Joyce Byers.
[Private Chapman] She broke into the barracks. She’s been helping them escape through some kind of tunnel.
[Lt. Sullivan] I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?
[Joyce] Listen. These kids, they are not safe, okay? They are in danger.
[Lt. Sullivan] And why exactly do you think they’re here, ma’am? Hmm? They’re under our protection.
[Derek] If I may interject, officer. I’ve seen what’s coming. And no disrespect meant, but you and your men can’t protect shit!
[soldier] Private!
[Mike] Hey! Hey!
[Joyce] Get off him!
[Lt. Sullivan] Hey, Private! What the hell is wrong with you, Private? Keep your hands off him.
[footsteps approaching]
[Derek] Is that all the military does? Hit kids?
[Joyce] Will!
[Mike] Will! Will! Will!
[Joyce] Are you okay? Baby, are you okay?
[Will] [panting] They’re here.
[electricity crackling]
[guns cocking]
[loud banging]
[distant snarling]
[loud banging]
[Demogorgon growling]
[Lt. Sullivan] Take the nearest threat! Engage on sight!
[Derek] We’re all gonna die! We’re all gonna die!
[Mike] Guys! Guys! Guys! Get behind me! Get behind me!
[roaring]
Get back!
[intense music playing]
[soldier screaming]
[roaring]
Under the beds! Under the beds! Under the beds! Under the beds! Under the beds! Under the beds!
[screaming]
[Mike] Stay behind me. Stay behind me.
Move! Move! Move!
[Joyce] Will!
[Erica] We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack.
[Murray] We gotta go. We gotta go!
[Robin] What about the other kids? Shit!
[Lucas] [panting] Go, go, go, go, go!
[engine sputtering]
[Robin] Come on, shall we?
[Murray] We shall!
[snarling]
[loud gunshot]
[Mike] We’re getting out of here, all right? Eyes on me! Stay close!
[Mary] Okay, okay.
[Mike] Will, come on. Come on! Come on.
[Mary] Wait for me, please! Wait!
[Derek] I’m not ready to die!
[Mary] Wait up!
[Mike] Stay close!
[Mary] Derek! Hurry up, let’s go!
[Mike] Is everybody okay? Are you guys okay?
[Derek] Yeah.
[Mike] Okay. The Radio Shack. If we move quick enough, I think we can make it. Get into the tunnels and get out of here.
[Mary] Okay.
[Mike] Okay? Eyes on me. Remember? … Stop, stop, stop, stop! … All right, go!
[soldier] Get some!
[Derek] Go, go, go! Oh my God. Oh my God!
[roaring]
[Demogorgon screeching]
[Will] Just hold on, baby! Hold on!
[screeching]
[Robin] What the hell just happened?
Murray] I have no idea, but I love it! [laughing]
[Will screaming]
[power cuts out]
[Eleven gasps]
[powering down]
[alarm blaring]
[metallic banging]
[lock clicks]
[mysterious music playing]
[hopeful synth music playing]
[Eleven] Sister.
[Kali] Sister.
[foreboding music playing]
[low growling]
[screaming]
[screams]
[soldier] Unload!
[Lt. Sullivan] Watch out!
[screaming]
[sinister music rising]
[Robin] Murray!
[intense music playing]
[Murray] Son of a bitch! Oh, shit, shit, shit!
[Robin] Whoa! The kids!
[Murray] Hold on!
[Lucas] Move, move, move! Let’s go, guys! … Back up, guys! Back up!
[low growling]
[low growling]
[Joyce] Stay away from him! You stay away!
[Will] [panting] [groans]
[foreboding music playing]
[Vecna] Can you see them… William? Can you see the children? Do you know why? Why I chose them to reshape the world?
[Lucas grunting]
[Vecna] It’s because they are weak. Weak in body and mind.
[kid] Please!
[Vecna] Easily broken. Easily reshaped. Controlled. The perfect vessels. And you… Will. You were the first. And you broke so easily. You showed me what was possible, what I could achieve. Some minds, it turns out, simply do not belong in this world.
[dark music rising]
[Vecna] They belong in mine.
[music halts]
[Demogorgon screeching in distance]
[roaring]
[Robin] I was looking for the answers in somebody else, but… I had all the answers.
[boys laughing]
Do you wanna be friends?
[Robin] I just… needed to stop being so goddamn scared. Scared of who I really was.
[Joyce] [gasping] Wow! It’s so good!
[Robin] And once I did that, I was so free. It’s like I could fly.
[panting]
[distorted shrieking]
[hopeful music playing]
[crunching]
[music fades out]
[intense electronic music playing]
[music fades out]
