Topics: Stranger Things, Netflix, Film and TV, News
Warning: this article contains spoilers for seasons 4 and 5 of Stranger Things
A small tribute was paid to Eddie Munson in the finale of Stranger Things.
As fans of the show will know, fan favorite Eddie tragically died at the end of season 4 in a dramatic and heroic way.
To recap, Eddie went to the Upside Down with other members of the crew in a bid to try and defeat Vecna. Max is in the Creel House and baits Vecna into coming to find her while Nancy, Steve, and Robin plan to try and attack Vecna's physical body.
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Elsewhere there's a huge swarm of Demobats that need occupying, so Eddie stands of the roof of the Upside Down version of his house and plays the electric guitar at full volume to get their attention.
Eddie was supposed to escape alongside Dustin but when he realized the others needed more time to get to Vecna, he sacrificed himself to continue distracting the Demobats. Ultimately he was injured by the monsters and he died in Dustin's arms.
Here's a bit of reminder for you:
Dustin and Stranger Things fans across the globe were undeniably devastated when Eddie died. In season five Dustin goes on to do everything in his power to keep his late friend's memory alive and continues to wear the Hellfire Club tee to school.
But the real tribute to Eddie that you might have missed came in Dustin's valedictorian speech at their graduation.
In a scene in season four, Eddie spoke of graduating and his plan to flip the bird to the school principal before grabbing his diploma and 'running like hell'.
Of course Eddie tragically didn't make it to his graduation, so Dustin carried out his wishes and stuck his middle finger up at Mr Higgins as he rounded off his unconventional speech.
Discussing this moment, Ross Duffer confirmed that the speech was inspired by Eddie.
"A lot of [the speech] was inspired by Eddie — even at the end where he rips the diploma and flips off the principal, which is something that Eddie said he wanted to do," Ross told TUDUM.
"A lot of it is honoring Eddie and what Hellfire had been. A lot of what Hellfire represents and a lot of what Dustin’s talking about is one of the major themes of the show, which is that this is a story about outsiders and outcasts. It’s about banding together and embracing your otherness to defeat the evils of this world."
Matt Duffer added: "The point of Dustin’s speech is that because of everything that happened, it thrust people together who never would have interacted in the first place and enriched their lives because of that."
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