Stranger Things season 3 ending explained, before season 4’s Vecna fight

It’s been almost three years since we last got a dose of the Upside Down weirdness of Stranger ThingsThe same timeframe as between Stranger Things Seasons 1 and 3. That sort of delay is not unheard of in the new normal, but hoo boy, there’s a lot to remember about where the folks of Hawkins have been.

It’s not surprising that things are different for almost everyone in the country. Stranger Things 4. So we’ve put together a refresher on where we left off with Eleven, Will, Mike, Max, Lucas, Dustin, Erica, Steve, Robin, Nancy, Joyce, Hopper — OK, you get the picture.

[Ed. note: There’s gonna be spoilers for Stranger Things season 3 here, as you might’ve expected!]

Season 3 was mall season

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It’s been long enough you might’ve forgotten: In an homage to the burgeoning mall culture of the 1980s, much of Stranger Things 3’s action takes place at the new Starcourt Mall. Unfortunately, the new shopping complex also happens to be a front for a secret Soviet research base (it was the ’80s!), under which the Russians have built the first Key — a portal to the Upside Down — on American soil. According to one Soviet, although there may be more Russian Keys than the Hawkins Key, none of them have had the same success as the Hawkins Key.

Robin, Dustin and Erica discover the Key. They inform Hopper. Hopper devises a plan for breaking into the base to deactivate it along with Joyce and Murray. Murray is the conspiracy theorist, but he’s allowed in as a loophole because he speaks Russian.

Their plan is thwarted when Hopper has to face a Russian hitman right beside the machine. Joyce was unable to join her in the control room in time for the stoppage of the machine so the two exchanged a thoughtful glance. Murray was able to take Joyce to the debris to make sure she didn’t get stung by angry Soviet soldiers.

Everybody’s long-distance now

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Eleven and the Byers moved out to California after the events at Hawkins’ mall, meaning that not only is Will split up from the D&D group, but so are the couples Jonathan and Nancy as well as Eleven and Mike.

Just before they left, El and Mike promised to see each other at Thanksgiving and Christmas; El also told Mike “I love you” officially, so when we left them in season 3 they were cruisin’ right along. Jonathan and Nancy did not make any such promises. However, Nancy offered to let him stay in her basement.

“No, not the American.”

Two Russian guards fed a prisoner to the Upside Down creature in a teaser video. However, they don’t grab the poor savage until one guard waved the other off to unlock a second cell.

Is there any other interpretation than Jim Hopper actually being alive? I dunno, but let’s see what the Stranger Things season 4 promo says.

OK, well that was quick: Yes, he’s definitely alive and captured by the Soviets. Season 4 will have more information.

Billy took the sacrifice of himself

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Billy became possessed by an Upside Down creature and was able to return to himself. El mind-melded him with his memories of childhood, which he shared with him. His reconnection with his humanity led him to end the Mind Flayer’s attacks on the other kids. The monster eventually stabbed him in the heart.

Although they weren’t close at all, Max was hit hard by it.

Eleven has lost her power

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After the Mind Flayer bit her and left a piece of itself lodged inside of her, Eleven’s powers vanished. Though it was presumed to be a side effect of the bite, she still didn’t have her powers as the Byers set off for California three months after the battle. When season 4 picks up in California, she’s still struggling to figure out who she is outside of her superpowers.

Dustin’s got a hacker girlfriend, Suzie

Dustin spoke all season about the long-distance relationship he had with his camp girlfriend. The team discovers that she is real and a computer whiz in the last hour.

It’s high time for the Stranger Things Kids to go to college!

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Yes, they’ve all aged a lot in the three years (our time) since we last saw them! But in-universe, it’s been about six months since the end of last season, and Stranger Things 3This took place during the summer 1985 just as the youngest children started high school. It will be worse than fighting off multiple Upside Down monsters. It’s the ’80s, so probably!

Erica got Will’s D&D shit

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After risking life and limb to uncover the truth of Starcourt Mall alongside our plucky heroes, Lucas’ younger sister, Erica, became an instant fan favorite and also more invested in her brother’s social life — or, at least, the nerdy, possibly alien parts of it. Dustin and Lucas presented Erica with the D&D books Will left behind (he said he definitely didn’t want to find any D&D friends in California, which is a nice gesture but not entirely smart, in this writer’s opinion).

Many doctors have seen Eleven!

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This isn’t a season 3 thing, since much of that plot was localized around the Russian invasion and the mall. But in season 1 we were introduced to Dr. Martin Brenner, a scientist at the facility that raised El; he built himself up as a father figure to her so as to make her more compliant with the experimentation, so she called him “Papa.” In the end, she finally saw through his manipulation and left him to be attacked by the Demogorgon. He was for some time presumed to be dead but Brenner was still alive at season 2. By then he had already been replaced by the Department of Energy’s Dr. Sam Owens, who ultimately took a far more sympathetic approach to Eleven and Hopper.

Considering Dr. Owens pops up in the trailer for season 4, suffice it to say that the season will be revisiting El’s past.