Warning! SPOILERS for Stranger Things season 4 volume 2.
A surprising detail makes Eddie Munson's Upside Down song even more tragic in Stranger Things season 4. At the end of volume 2, there's a climactic battle in the Upside Down, where the characters work together to finally kill Vecna. However, sacrifices are made in the process. At this point, a brand-new lovable character dying is a hallmark of watching Stranger Things, but that likely didn't prepare viewers for Eddie's death, one of volume 2's saddest moments.
Eddie was introduced at the start of Stranger Things season 4 as a metalhead flunkee and dungeon master who had been in his final year of high school for a while. The audience grew to love the drug-dealing truant through season 4, and the kids spend the bulk of volume 1 hiding him from the townspeople who blamed him for the death of Chrissy Cunningham, Vecna's first victim. Through this, viewers learned about Eddie, his motivations, and what kind of guy he was. As the season moved forward, it became clear he was an earnest, lovable, vulnerable kid whose father didn't pay enough attention to him.
Much like Bob before him, Eddie gets an entire character arc, and in the end, sacrifices himself to save the others, succumbing to the creatures from the Upside Down. During the battle against Vecna, it is Dustin and Eddie's responsibility to attract the deadly bats so that people can enter the "murder house" safely. Eddie finds his electric guitar, which he says looks like she was always meant for this, and decides to put on "the most metal concert ever" to lead the bats to the trailer where he's stationed. He fulfills his part of the plan by playing "Master of Puppets" by Metallica, sending every bat in the Upside Down barreling toward him.
What Eddie's Upside Down Song Secretly Reveals About The Character
Given that Eddie is basically playing the bats as his puppets, this is a fitting song. However, it is by no means an easy one to learn. This song takes some serious practice, especially when it comes to the solo Eddie plays. As pointed out in a Eddie's likely to have practiced the song quite a bit from the very moment that it came out to nail it as perfectly as he did in the Upside Down. It's worth ing that Eddie is reviled in Hawkins because he is seen as a troublemaker and is the prime suspect for the murder of Chrissy. So, not only is Eddie a good, under-parented kid with his heart in the right place, but he ends up sacrificing himself for people who hate him.
As Eddie dies, surrounded by Upside Down bats that are eating him alive, he even says "I didn't run away, right?" This is what he blamed himself for doing when Chrissy died in front of him. Ultimately, Eddie's death and choice of song help reframe him as a dorky, D&D-playing metalhead who spent most of his time alone in his room learning long and complex songs on guitar. Eddie was never a negative character at all, so his death, especially considering he was wildly hated, makes the Stranger Things season 4 ending that much sadder.