Stranger Things 5, Volume 2Opens in a new tab brings us one step closer to Stranger Things‘ series finale. And that means a lot happens in it, including surprise cameos, heartbreaking moments, joyful reunions, and more. If you don’t want to know anything about that, head back to our spoiler-free review of Stranger Things 5, Volume 2Opens in a new tab, instead.

Max Is Alive Again on Stranger Things 5, Volume 2

FINALLY, Max Mayfield is officially alive again on Stranger Things 5, Volume 2. Even though the Duffer Brothers had been tempted to kill her off back in Stranger Things 4, she edged past death with her leg and arm snapped, her eyes near-blinded, and her mind trapped in Vecna’s mind prisonOpens in a new tab. But in a very emotional series of moments that stretch throughout all of Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, Max returns to life once more, in a coma/curse no more.

Admittedly, we suspected that Max would survive Stranger Things 5 alive, but we did have our doubts at moments. With her real body in a coma/curse/trance for so long, and her brain spending a lot of time in Vecna’s mind prison, it was possible Stranger Things could have decided she was too far gone to live after allOpens in a new tab. But we are so glad that Max isn’t dead on Stranger Things 5. We need her alive! As does her Party if they hope to defeat the monster who kept her away from her friends for so long.

Max Manages to Escape Vecna’s Mind Prison with the Help of Holly

So, how did Max finally manage to escape Vecna’s mind prison and return alive to the real world? Well, it all comes down to Vecna kidnapping Holly Wheeler of all children and taking her into his mind lair. Since Max and Holly knew one another, Max was able to get Holly onboard to help her in Stranger Things 5, Volume 1. Then, in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, it’s Holly that pushes Max not to give up and surrender to living in the mind prison.

Max learned from her own journey through Henry’s memories that a portal to the real world can only be accessed from Vecna’s actual lair, the place outside of his memories that looks like the broken Creel House in the Upside Down. The portals to get to this place are located in the most traumatic memories contained by the prison. Max entered her worst memory right before she was almost able to escape to the real world in Stranger Things 5, Volume 1. The two girls try to reach that portal via Holly’s memories, but Henry catches them right as they are about to enter. Max only survives that encounter because Will remotely takes over Vecna’s body for a moment. Holly and Max then flee back to the cave, Henry/Vecna’s worst memoryOpens in a new tab, which he still refuses to go in.

Since they are in Vecna’s most traumatic memory, Holly reasons that there should be a portal to his lair, and she pushes Max to search for one—which they eventually find, allowing Max to finally escape Vecna’s Mind Prison once and, hopefully, for all.

Max Never Really Needed Kate Bush and “Running Up That Hill” to Escape Vecna and Return to Life; She Just Needed Lucas

Lucas! Dear, sweet Lucas. Lucas never gave up hope that Max would return to him alive in Stranger Things 5. 18 months after Max slipped into her coma, we see him loyally playing Kate Bush’s “Running Up that Hill” to Max in Stranger Things 5, Volume 1. Even as Demogorgons surround Lucas, Robin, Vickie, and Max’s lifeless body, he refuses to stop playing Kate Bush’s song. It’s a risk, but he feels in his core that Max will come back to him. It turns out he’s right. But also, he’s wrong. Because Max coming back to life in Stranger Things 5 was never about “Running Up That Hill.”Opens in a new tab Sure, music helped pierce into the Upside Down, but it was Lucas, all along, that ensured Max would be alive again on Stranger Things.

As Max explains to Holly in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, episode 6, finding the portal out of Vecna’s mind prison isn’t about a song or even a boyfriend. It’s about something real, something special that makes her feel home. For Max, it was always Lucas.

When Max finally wakes up in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, episode 7, she tells Lucas that she never needed the music, only him.

Has Max Recovered Fully in Stranger Things 5, Volume? Max Isn’t Blind, But She’s Not Completely Healed Either

It’s not yet clear if Vecna’s curse has done permanent damage to Max. When she first wakes up, Max can’t see well or really move her muscles. As Vickie explains, that’s to be expected since Max was in a curse-coma-trance for so many months. Max eventually regains her sight in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, so she is not blind in the series, but she remains in a wheelchair for the rest of Stranger Things 5 after she wakes up alive.

Max, Lucas, and the Rest of the Party Reunite in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, as They Prepare to Defeat Vecna

The physical consequences of Vecna’s curse on Max are far less important than the main point. Max is alive in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2! But she didn’t just reunite with Lucas. She reunited with all of her friends. Joyfully, the seventh episode of Stranger Things 5 shows us Max reuniting with Eleven, Dustin, Mike, Will, and the rest. It really does bring us to tears. (Especially her two hugs with Will, both for very different reasons.) The Party has missed Max and really needs her; it isn’t complete without her.

And now that Max is alive and kicking once more, we’re certain she’ll be a great help in defeating Vecna once and for all in Stranger Things 5. After all, she knows his mind better than anyone at this point. And she knows an important truth about him, Henry/Vecna/One is still just a human underneath it all. He’s a sociopath, but he’s a human. And like all humans, he has vulnerabilities and things he’s scared of. Max has come to understand those intimately. Now she’ll use her knowledge to help guide Eleven through his mind as Eleven remotely enters it in the hopes of defeating Vecna once and for all—Max, Kali, and Will by her sideOpens in a new tab.

Max’s Journey From Surrendering to Death to Wanting to Be Alive Is a Beautiful One on Stranger Things

Max’s return to life on Stranger Things 5 had us sobbing at multiple points. But the most beautiful part of all is that, in the end, she fought to stay alive on Stranger Things 5. She stubbornly persisted against the odds so that she could return to her friends.

In Stranger Things 4, Max was a shell of a person. She wouldn’t let anyone in. She wouldn’t let anyone help her with her pain and grief. Max was disappearing into nothing. And that’s exactly what made Vecna mark her for death in the first place. Max had given up on her lifeOpens in a new tab, in many ways. And it was only as she died in Stranger Things 4 that she recognized she didn’t want to die. In Stranger Things 5, we see that realization come to life. Especially as Max speaks to Holly about how she can escape from Vecna’s mind prison, her journey comes full circle. On Stranger Things 5, Max goes from wanting to die to pushing someone to have hope that they can stay alive. We truly feel her fierce resilience and her beautiful strength. Max Mayfield is back, and she’s going to LIVE and love.

What’s next for Max, we don’t yet know. But we hope it’s a long, happy life with Lucas and the rest of her found family. Grief and guilt dissolving into joy.

Stranger Things 5 Volumes 1 and 2 are now streaming on NetflixOpens in a new tab. Stranger Thing 5, Volume 3, or Stranger Things 5: The Finale will arrive on December 31 at 5pm PT/8pm ET.

Rotem Rusak is the Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist. Max’s beautiful journey made her tear up so many times. The story is a great reminder to keep running up that hill!