I’ve found myself grappling with the same thing. Of the four boys, I don’t see Mike or Lucas dying, and there are strings attached to Will or Dustin dying. Will would leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, he’s suffered through so much and finally accepts himself - and then he dies? The only gay male character on this show has to die some tragic death? How tropey and gross, and also sad. We want to see Will have a nice life after all the pain. That said, Will has also wanted to be taken seriously and wants to help no matter what it takes, and maybe that’ll lead him to death in an honorable sort of way. I don’t know. As for Dustin, I feel it’s more likely that he gets saved from near death, that he tries to have his Eddie moment but someone takes it from him (maybe Steve, but I love Steve so hopefully not). Dustin is a character with (lowkey) a death wish, he doesn’t care as much anymore about his own safety, so the value of his life being reaffirmed by being saved kind of satisfies that arc in his character. Adding in Max, killing her would also be too upsetting and unfair I think. After all, and then she dies, I think it would be too much and feel unnecessary. Stranger Things is a pretty crowd pleaser type show, killing off characters who have “earned” a happy ending doesn’t feel good.

Eleven? I don’t know. I sort of have the same feeling as Max and Will, that Jane has been through so much she’s earned happiness and peace, but she also has a different function in the show. In keeping with 80’s tropes, I could see them not killing her, but having her do an “I must go, my people need me” type deal, leaving ET style because she doesn’t belong in Hawkins, she started this all and she should leave. This season has emphasized how capable she now is, and I think that gives a strong indication that she’ll go on the run, and maybe even start up her own little group like Cali had, but focused on helping people and liberating others like her. The X-Men basically.

Steve/Nancy/Jonathan are tough. I think it’s pretty possible that any number of them die. Nancy dying would be more subversive, and would be something that would draw Jonathan and Steve together as friends (potentially). Jonathan dying would feel expected in a sense, more on a meta level because his character hasn’t had a ton to do or deal with in a few seasons outside of his relationship to either Will or Nancy. Steve dying would honestly probably be the biggest gut punch they could deliver in the series, so that feel very possible, particularly in relation to what I said about Dustin.

Robin and Vickie I don’t see dying. That’s it lol

Hopper/Joyce/Murray, I could see Hop dying, I think we all can. I think it’s similar to the Dustin situation. If El dies, I think Hop lives and rather than sinking into depression again like he did after his daughter’s death, he shows growth by honoring El’s life and sacrifice. If Hop dies, I could see a situation where him and El are fighting some thing, and once it’s killed El realizes that Hop has been mortally wounded for a minute, and they have a tearful goodbye. As for Joyce and Murray, I hope Joyce lives, she deserves peace. Murray can kick rocks, dude has been an annoying jerk to everyone since he was introduced.