Stranger Things Season 5’s Surprising Returning Character After 8 Years Away, Explained

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The first part of Stranger Things 5 kicks off the final chapter of the Duffer Brothers’ thrilling story. This new season has a lot to wrap up, including the secrets of the Upside Down and what happened to Max Mayfield after the events of Season 4. While starting to answer these big questions, the episodes also surprisingly resolve a plot point some viewers might have overlooked. In a welcome surprise, a powerful character from earlier in the series returns, joining the fight against Vecna.

Warning: Spoilers below for Stranger Things 5, Volume 1

The latest season quickly reveals that the U.S. military, under the command of the determined Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton), has secretly constructed a research base in the Upside Down. This poses an immediate danger when a military team investigating a strange, organic wall finds Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Hopper (David Harbour). The soldiers use a powerful sound weapon that overwhelms Eleven with intense psychic pain – a weakness she’s never experienced before.

During the battle, Hopper successfully disabled the weapon and captured Lieutenant Akers, the patrol leader (played by Alex Breaux). While questioning Akers with her psychic abilities, Eleven discovered a hidden base with a heavily guarded door. Though she couldn’t see what was behind it, she sensed it was the source of the military’s new weapon and realized they were holding Vecna captive, trying to use his powers against her. This discovery led Eleven and Hopper to embark on a risky mission to sneak into the base, locate the secure room, and destroy Vecna for good.

The most intense moment of the mission arrives when Hopper volunteers for a dangerous, likely fatal, task. Eleven realizes he’s carrying explosives, intending to use them as a last resort to defeat Vecna. He shares a touching goodbye and goes into the heavily guarded area prepared to sacrifice himself for Eleven. Distraught at the thought of losing another father figure, Eleven rushes to the door, only to be shocked when Hopper returns safely. He leads her inside, revealing the real source of the military’s power: not Vecna connected to the machines, but Eleven’s sister, Kali Prasad (Linnea Berthelsen), also known as 008, who was a fellow test subject at Hawkins Lab.

Stranger Things Season 5 Brings Back Kali, Eleven’s Sister from Season 2

I remember when Kali first showed up in Season 2 – the episode, “The Lost Sister,” really split fans. She was like Eleven, another kid from Hawkins Lab, but her power was different – she could create incredibly realistic illusions and mess with what people perceived as reality. We saw her leading a group of other outcasts in Chicago, and they were tracking down the people from the lab who had hurt them, getting revenge. But after that one episode, her story just… stopped. We didn’t hear about her again. Then, Season 4 revealed that young Henry Creel had basically wiped out almost everyone else in the lab, and it felt like that completely closed the door on any possibility of other survivors like Kali. It was a pretty definitive ending to that whole storyline, honestly.

Bringing Kali back in the fifth season of Stranger Things is a surprising decision that shows the creators are determined to resolve all remaining storylines before the show ends. As the only character still connected to the secrets of Hawkins Lab, Kali’s special abilities could be crucial in defeating the ultimate villain. Vecna traps his victims by creating illusions and mental worlds, and Kali’s power to create illusions herself could be a key way to fight back.

The first part of Stranger Things Season 5 is now available on Netflix. The second part will be released on December 25th, and the series finale will air on December 31st.

I’m really on the edge of my seat wondering how Max and Holly are going to get out of Vecna’s head! What are your theories? Let’s all discuss it over in the ComicBook Forum – come share your thoughts now!

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2025-11-27 05:11