Sadie Sink explains Max's ultimate fate in Stranger Things Season 5 new episodes

Stranger Things finale is upon us, and questions and curiosity are doubling every day about key characters' fates.

One such integral character in the show is Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink.

Speaking to Vulture, the actress talked about Max's fate in the final season. Max has been one of the characters who brought a blend of heart, fun, and her signature brand of harp humor.

In Season 4 of Stranger Things, Max was already in a very vulnerable situation, bordering on survival and peril. In Season 5 stakes are even higher.

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Stranger Things' Sadie Sink explains the fate of Max Mayfield in the latest episodes

Sadie Sink spoke about Max’s journey in Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2, including an unexpected development with Mike’s sister, Holly Wheeler, in a recent conversation with Vulture. Where Season 5 Vol 2 takes us, they are both trapped inside Vecna’s mind, which is much like a prison.

Max tried to escape it, but she missed the chance by the breadth of a hair. This place is referred to as Camazotz. Max and Holly try hard to find a way out of a space designed to isolate and break them.

Max and Holly eventually pass through many memories to finally reach a space where a doorway appears. Lucas is on the other end, holding the comatose Max’s hand and playing her favorite song. But Holly did not yet have a door for her. So, the two have to split paths.

Max manages to wake from her coma and return to the real world, where she reunites with Lucas Sinclair, while Holly is left behind to face Vecna alone, realizing she is far removed from both Hawkins and the Upside Down.

Sink noted that it was Holly’s courage that gave her strength and not Lucas's alone. She highlighted how Stranger Things always leaned on young characters overcoming overwhelming odds through inner resolve rather than unbelievable superpowers.

She said,

"It’s really fitting, especially to see someone so young possess so much strength and resilience. That’s what the show has always celebrated and stood for — young kids persevering through these huge obstacles and coming out as heroes at the end. Also, to not have it be some huge, otherworldly thing. I mean, obviously they’re in a realm, and they’re running through the red void or whatever, but it’s coming from somewhere from within that gives them the power to find their exit."

This theme is one of the backbones of Stranger Things. Will, Eleven during their respective fight against inner conflicts and Season 4's Hopper in Russia all rely heavily on inner strength and intellect.

Stranger Things Season 5 Vol 2's Episode 7 shifts focus to Max and Lucas’s reunion, one of the season’s most emotional scenes. Max reveals that while “Running Up That Hill” helped her survive Vecna before, it was Lucas who truly saved her.

Sink explained that Max and Lucas of Stranger Things have always shared an understanding that doesn’t need further description. Max has been a character troubled by loss and literally life and death situations many times over, yet Lucas never gave up on her.

He was there until Max found a way back to him and the others.

Their reunion lands harder because of how long they’ve been separated. With Max absent for much of the season, their relationship exists only in memory and conversation, making their moment together feel earned and complete.

In Sadie Sink's words,

"They’ve always had a unique ability to understand each other and accept each other wherever they’re at. For Max especially, she hasn’t had a lot of consistency in her life. People have always disappointed her, or she’s gotten close to someone, and then that person has been taken away.

She added,

Throughout all of that, Lucas has been the only one who’s stayed with her, even in times when she’s tried to push him away. That’s just them. Max waking up is one of my favorite scenes in the show because you do forget about Max and Lucas, especially this season. She’s in a coma. You’re not seeing them together.

Max was introduced in Season 2, and ever since, she has experienced many challenges. One of the most tragic moments of Stranger Things appeared when Lucas saw Max get severely injured by Vecna and thereby slip into a coma.

But Lucas and Max ultimately reunited in the hospital. Both Caleb McLaughlin and Sadie Sink give compelling performances to make the scene one of the most impactful moments.

Even the Duffer brothers admitted to being emotionally affected by this scene. The actress mentioned,

They’re just kind of talking about each other, so it’s emotional seeing them reunite and realizing, Oh my God, these two have been through so much together. There’s something that feels very complete about them, and it’s meant to last."

What awaits the couple is yet to be seen, but for now, fans have soaked hankies in tears watching the wholesome moments of Max and Lucas. The finale airs on December 31, 2025.