STRANGER THINGS 5 Finale Pays Off Eddie Munson in a Way Fans Loved
The finale of Stranger Things 5 delivered an emotional gut punch that longtime fans saw coming but still weren’t ready for. In a season already heavy with consequences and closure, the show carved out a powerful tribute to Eddie Munson, the fan-favorite character played by Joseph Quinn whose death in Season 4 still hangs over the story.
It’s a moment that doesn’t just honor Eddie, it completes something he never got the chance to finish. Eddie’s death hit hard when it happened, but Season 5 makes it clear that the loss never really faded, especially for Dustin Henderson.
Gaten Matarazzo plays Dustin with a quieter edge this season, showing how deeply Eddie’s absence affected him. That grief bleeds into Dustin’s look too. A mullet replaces his usual style, and the Hellfire Club shirt becomes a constant reminder of the friend he lost and the identity Eddie helped him embrace.
All of that builds toward the finale, which opens with what looks like a standard Hawkins High graduation. Dustin steps up to deliver the valedictorian speech, calmly acknowledging his friends in the crowd and pointing out that the threat of Vecna and the Upside Down is finally over. It feels reflective, almost restrained, until Dustin abruptly shifts gears.
Mid-speech, he pulls off his graduation robe to reveal the Hellfire Club t-shirt underneath. Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” kicks in, and the moment turns electric.
Dustin shouts, “Screw the school. Screw the system. Screw conforming. This is our year!” as Principal Higgins desperately tries to shut it down. The crowd erupts, cheering him on as chaos takes over the ceremony.
Dustin caps it off by grabbing his diploma, flipping Higgins the middle finger, and sprinting away with his friends. It’s loud, defiant, and deeply personal. It’s also a direct callback to Eddie’s own dream, one he shared back in Season 4 but never lived to see.
Eddie once told Dustin, Mike, and the Hellfire Club, “I’m gonna walk that stage next month, I’m gonna look Principal Higgins dead in the eye, I’m gonna flip him the bird, I’m gonna snatch that diploma, and I’m gonna run like hell.”
Eddie was always the outsider, someone who refused to play by Hawkins High’s rules and paid the price for it. His clashes with students like Jason Carver made him an easy target, but Eddie never backed down from who he was. Seeing Dustin carry out that plan was awesome and it felt like Eddie finally getting his moment through the person who loved him most.
The finale sneaks in another subtle nod before the final confrontation with Vecna. Dustin hands Steve a modified garbage lid shield and weapon, a clear callback to Eddie’s improvised gear from earlier battles. It’s a small detail, but one that helps reinforce how Eddie’s influence still shapes the group’s fight.
Fans latched onto both moments, flooding social media with emotional reactions. One Reddit user summed it up simply, saying, “Yes. It was so Eddie. Perfect.”
Another added, “Absolute amazing tribute to Eddie the Banished.” The ending clearly struck a nerve for parents too, with one viewer sharing, “I have 4 kids and was watching the last episode on my phone as everyone else in the house had the tv and had to go to the bathroom to cry like a baby at the ending.”
Others were just overwhelmed by how personal it felt. “If I could scream and cry violently to express how this makes me feel it would alarm my neighbors, gonna journal about it instead,” another fan wrote.
The Stranger Things 5 finale didn’t bring Eddie Munson back, but it does something just as meaningful. It lets his spirit live on through Dustin, through rebellion, and through the idea that being different is worth standing up for. For fans who never stopped missing Eddie, it’s the kind of payoff that hurts in the best way.
@eccyreviews Did anyone else notice this in the stranger things season 5 Finale ❤️ #strangerthings #strangerthingsfinal #eddiemunson #dustinhenderson #fyp ♬ original sound - EccyReviews
