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Max Mayfield, played by young phenom Sadie Sink, was one of the best things of the Netflix megahit’s new season, as her grief and guilt after Billy’s death placed the teen into Vecna’s crosshairs. In Episode 4 of Volume 1, Max was the star of her own standout episode, which depicted her strength and bravery in the face of the Upside Down’s ultimate Big Bad.
In Volume 2, the redhead tapped into her well of bravery and her dangerous connection with Vecna during the Hawkins crew’s big attempt to take the villain down. In the finale scene, she finally opened up about her mixed feelings and guilt about Billy’s death while baiting the monster. Also, she found a non-musical way to briefly hold the villain off, by thinking of her happiest memory, which was being with Lucas at Season 2’s middle school dance.
Unfortunately, Max could only hold the villain off for so long. Also Eleven, who entered Max’s mind to face Vecna herself, was not strong enough to keep the monster from completing his ritual. Even though Vecna succeeded at his master plan, El was able to save Max, with mixed results.
Technically, Maz is alive. Max begins suffering the gory effects of Vecna’s ritual—which include the victim’s bones breaking and eyes bleeding—before Eleven taps into her power and blasts the monster away. As Eleven holds him off, Nancy’s group flambés Vecna’s physical body in the Upside Down. When Max is knocked out of the trend, she’s already lost her eyesight and all her legs and arms are broken.
As Lucas says later, Max’s heart doesn’t beat for a full minute, during which Vecna’s fourth gate is created and the barrier between Hawkins and the Upside Down is ripped open.
Physically, Max is alive. Lucas tells his friends that Max is in a coma, and we see her wearing casts on her arms and legs. The Duffer brothers have also confirmed that at the end of Season 4, Max is alive yet “brain dead, blind, and all of her bones are broken.”