Who dies in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2? All the deaths in order

26 December 2025, 20:35

By Katie Louise Smith

Here's all the characters that die in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2, who kills them and whose fate is left up in the air at the end of episode 7. [Spoilers ahead!]

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Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 delivers some pretty emotional moments (Max! Dustin! Will!) and some mind-blowing lore drops (Dimension X helloooo?), but how many characters die in episodes 5, 6 and 7?

Ahead of the final season's release, creators Matt and Ross Duffer warned fans that it would be "dark" and that this season would feature "the most violent death of any season".

Volume 1 already delivered some horrifying deaths but while some characters ended up in pretty dire situations, no major characters actually died. (Literally how are Karen and Ted Wheeler still alive?!) Can the same be said for Volume 2?

Here's a complete breakdown of every character that dies in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2, how they die, who kills them and whose fate is left up in the air until The Finale drops on Netflix on December 31st. (Major spoilers ahead—you've been warned!)

Read more: Stranger Things 5 finale episode runtime confirmed
Read more: Stranger Things' Noah Schnapp says he'd still be closeted if Will wasn't gay in the show

Does anyone die in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2?

WARNING: Major Stranger Things 5 spoilers ahead! Picture: Netflix

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for Stranger Things 5!

This article contains spoilers for episodes 5 through 7. If you haven't finished watching Volume 2 yet and don't want any spoilers, bookmark this page and come back once you've watched it.

If you are here looking for spoilers specifically, then scroll away!

Stranger Things' Duffer brothers have not filmed multiple endings

All the deaths in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2

Just like Volume 1, no major characters die in Stranger Things Volume 2 and there's actually quite a few that manage to escape near-death situations.

While no main characters are killed off, another batch of military soldiers are killed as well as quite a few demodogs. Here's the full list of deaths in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2.

In episode 5, several military soldiers are shown to have been killed by Kali as she attempted to escape the lab in the Upside Down.
In episode 5, we also find out that all of Kali's friends were killed by Dr. Kay's soldiers.
In episode 5, a demogorgon is brought back to life and killed again after the gang electrocute it.
In episode 6, a couple of military soldiers are killed by the demodogs in the hospital.
In episode 6, Karen Wheeler lowkey kills three demodogs after putting an oxygen tank in a washing machine that then explodes.
In episode 7, several soldiers are shot and killed in the MAC-Z by Hopper and Nancy.

Right at the end of episode 7, Vecna begins his master plan and traps all twelve children in a trance (including Holly and Derek). Their lives are now hanging in the balance.

There's also one other character that we still do not know the fate of yet... Ted Wheeler.

Karen Wheeler kills three demodogs by putting an oxygen tank inside a washing machine. Picture: Netflix

Does Ted Wheeler die in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2?

After suffering severe injuries at the hands of a demogorgon in Volume 1, Ted Wheeler is still seemingly in grave danger. However, Volume 2 doesn't offer any update on his condition.

At the end of Volume 1, we learn that Ted has been placed in an induced coma. He's presumably still in said coma, somewhere in the hospital.

Is Ted Wheeler dead in Stranger Things 5? Picture: Netflix

Does Holly Wheeler die in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2?

After teaming up with Max, Holly becomes desperately close to escaping Vecna's clutches. Both Max and Holly manage to find the exit in Vecna's mind, but while Max's takes her back to her physical body in the real world, Holly wakes up in Dimension X (or the Abyss, as Dustin has dubbed it).

Holly attempts to escape but Vecna wakes up and follows her. She manages to find a rift in the floor and she crawls into it, sending her hurtling through space and time before she ends up in the Upside Down.

Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and Dustin, who are at Hawkins Labs in the Upside Down, hear her screams but when they find her, she's stuck in mid-air. Just before they can do anything to help, she's sucked back up into the air.

Vecna manages to pull her back to Dimension X, drags her back into his lair, plugs her back into the hive mind and begins his plan. Along with the other twelve kids, Holly is now stuck in Dimension X and Vecna's mind.

Does Holly die in Stranger Things 5 Volume 2? Picture: Netflix

Do Jonathan and Nancy die in Stranger Things 5?

For the first time in her life, Nancy Wheeler makes the wrong call which puts her and Jonathan in deep deep danger at the end of episode 5 when she shoots the giant ball of matter hovering above the lab.

Her and Jonathan and knocked unconscious by the blast as the lab melts around them. They sinking down into a room and quickly discover that there's absolutely no escape. As the room fills with goop, the climb onto the table and seeming accept their fate.

Believing they're about to die, they hash out their relationship issues and Jonathan confesses that he was planning on proposing to her.

Thankfully, the room stops melting and solidifies just before they're completely consumed by the goop and trapped in solid matter. Jonathan and Nancy live to fight another day.

Do Jonathan and Nancy die in Stranger Things 5? Picture: Netflix

Explaining why they're so reluctant to kill off characters, Matt Duffer told The Hollywood Reporter: "It's not Game of Thrones. We're not in Westeros. I love Game of Thrones, but it's just a very different type of show than that."

"There's not going to be a Red Wedding situation. I think some things happen in the finale that are very surprising, but we're not trying to shock or upset anyone. I hope by the time people get to the end of the finale that it just feels like there's something inevitable about what happens, and that it doesn't feel painful but feels satisfying."

Thankfully, Steve Harrington made it out of Volume 2 alive despite all the speculation about his impending death. Fingers crossed he makes it to the epilogue in one piece.