[Shaun]

Re: the speculating who dies thing, I think it'll be less of a bloodbath than some think.

Spoiler:

Every series has indeed had deaths, but they've always largely been new characters who last less than a season (Bob, Barb, Chrissy, Eddie, Alexei).

Even with the chance to kill off a side character in these first four episodes like Karen or Ted, they still left it ambiguous and it looks likely that (at least) Karen will survive.

Now they've brought back Kai / 8, I could see her being used in this way... a familiar face, somewhat, sacrificed for the greater cause and another spurring point in Eleven unleashing her full rage and powers.

But as for the main cast... I really can't see anyone going aside from Steve or Will. Or of course Vecna.

It doesn't make thematic sense for them to end the series on a bum note, ie. "Vecna wins = everyone dies"... so assuming that the evil is defeated, I think it'll be with minimal main character deaths. I don't think any others of the core 6 friends will perish (Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max or El) and of the older crew I can only really see Murray kamikaze-ing himself with his truck for the greater cause and dying a hero's death.

The one that confuses me the most from this first volume of the final season is: Steve. He's been steadily built up as this antihero, the former bully who had a massive redemption and became one of the show's most loved characters. However, in these first four episodes he is completely uncharacteristically an asshole: to Dustin (who it must be painfully obvious is going Through A Lot????), to Jonathan, to everyone really. I don't get why the writers have done this unless they're setting him up for a sudden heroic sacrifice in the last episodes.

I see Jonathan and Nancy getting their happy ending, Joyce and Hopper being endgame, and Erica terrorising the neighbourhood for teenage years that will make the Upside Down look like Chuck-E-Cheese's...