After his newest batch of younger captives are freed, Vecna begins to awaken, which compels Joyce to method the monster, ax in hand. Joyce drives the blade into the enemy, putting till he’s lastly beheaded.
By itself, there’s nothing upsetting and even uncommon a couple of ultimate standoff between the massive dangerous and the heroes. Stranger Issues is basically a fantasy present, so even when we’re largely against violence in the actual world, we perceive {that a} sequence like Stranger Issues interprets conflicts between good and evil solely by way of spectacular fights. The issue is the best way the Duffers select to depict Joyce killing Vecna.
Earlier than every blow Joyce strikes, the Duffers minimize to a close-up on one of many primary forged members, accompanied by a flashback that reveals how Vecna harmed them. So when the digicam pushes in on Dustin, we see Eddie Munson getting killed. A push in on Holly is matched with a flashback to a demogorgon attacking Karen Wheeler. After every flashback, the digicam cuts to a close-up of the ax touchdown on Vecna’s neck.
One will get the sense that the Duffers intend the second to be cathartic, to remind us that so many individuals have suffered at Vecna’s hand and now that struggling can come to an finish. However as a substitute, the mixture of a mistaken carried out adopted by a blow of the axe makes the scene really feel like a celebration of retributive violence. Every member of the neighborhood is sure not by how they suffered, not by the best way they help each other, however fairly by the truth that they inflict violence on Vecna. Furthermore, the enhancing of the scene means that the sluggish killing of Vecna achieves some kind of stability by way of the violent act.
That presentation undercuts the cathartic feeling that the Duffers wish to obtain with the scene and the lengthy denouement that follows. Throughout the final 45 minutes of the finale, we see how the principle characters have discovered some kind of peace and even prosperity after the occasions of the present. No, they don’t wish to overlook what Vecna did to them or all that they misplaced—that’s the principle level of Dustin’s valedictorian speech. However they do wish to transfer on, not dwelling within the worry and struggling they skilled whereas Vecna was free.
By constructing Vecna’s demise scene across the rhythm of remembering grievances and Joyce’s ax strikes, the climax emphasizes retributive violence. It means that therapeutic doesn’t come simply from the various group of weirdos who make up the present’s heroes coming collectively, and even from overcoming Vecna and the Thoughts Flayer. As an alternative, the scene emphasizes the dismembering, suggesting that therapeutic comes solely by way of retribution by way of blood. It’s not sufficient to cease and defeat Vecna. He have to be methodically punished, ritualistically dismembered.
