Yes, Max Mayfield was definitely cursed by Vecna in Stranger Things 4; he targeted her due to her profound guilt and trauma over her brother Billy's death, marking her to be his next victim to open gates to the Upside Down, though her friends' intervention with music saved her life, leaving her in a coma with her consciousness trapped in Vecna's mindscape, as explained in later seasons.
Vecna possesses and kills Max before Eleven overpowers him, while Steve, Nancy, and Robin severely wound his physical form before he escapes. Although Eleven revives Max, her brief death opens a fourth gate to the Upside Down, causing cracks in Hawkins, which allow the Upside Down to begin infiltrating the city.
Through his "curse" power, Vecna began tormenting and killing various Hawkins residents; with every murder, a new gate would open at the site of the victim's death. Vecna took the lives of Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson, Patrick McKinney and Max Mayfield.
The book Runaway Max does explain why; she simply kept trying to runaway to her dad after her mom married Neil, plus Billy got in trouble for attacking Max's friend, which he blamed on her. So it seems that they just moved to Hawkins for a fresh start.
Vecna prays on those dealing with trauma, which is why Max, who recently lost her brother, Billy, was the perfect victim.
Billy Hargrove
Upon remarrying Susan and becoming step-siblings with Max, Neil forced Billy to address Max as his sister instead of step-sister. The abuse Neil endured on Billy resulted in his son secretly taking out his anger on Max.
There's no single "saddest" death, as it's subjective, but Eddie Munson, Bob Newby, and Alexei (Smirnoff) are consistently cited as the most heartbreaking due to their heroism, innocence, or tragic circumstances, with fans often debating Eddie's heroic sacrifice vs. Bob's pure-hearted loss or Alexei's joyful demise. Other significant sad deaths include Barb Holland, the first major character loss, and Billy Hargrove's complex redemption.
Before they embark into the Upside Down, Will comes out as gay to his family and close friends, explaining that Vecna showed him visions of his failed and distant relationships with his loved ones after they learnt the truth.
But more importantly, as she states in one or more of her monologues, much of the depression she was feeling was a result of knowing that she wanted him gone. She would fantasize about him dying in a car crash, etc. So, when he was killed, she was consumed with grief from her dark desires that ended up coming true.
Billy Hargrove and Max Mayfield from Stranger Things are step-siblings. Billy is Max's stepbrother, a relationship that came about when Billy's father, Neil Hargrove, married Max's mother, Susan Hargrove. This makes them a part of the same family, despite not being related by blood.
Yes, according to the show's creators, Mike did realize that Will's "crush" in his coming-out speech referred to him, even though it wasn't explicitly stated in dialogue; his reaction shots and subsequent apology scene were designed to show he understood the depth of Will's feelings, though the payoff for their storyline was minimal in the finale.
According to Max, Neil could not get over his son's death and eventually decided to leave her and her mother.
When it was revealed that Billy had accidentally killed Susie, he arranged it to take the fall and be framed for Susie's murder and Tori's kidnapping. Billy was then led into a forest and beheaded by Dean at his own request.
001, also known as Henry Creel, became Vecna after Eleven banished him to the Upside Down (Dimension X) where his body was mutated and burned by its energy, transforming him into the monstrous entity that terrorizes Hawkins. He was originally a powerful psychic child who killed his family, then became Dr. Brenner's first subject (001) before being cast into the parallel dimension, where he eventually grew powerful enough to control its creatures and become the Mind Flayer's emissary.
The Mind Flayer repeated the same process on a larger and more complex scale with human beings, possessing Billy Hargrove and others; these possessed humans came to be known as "the Flayed". They were led by Billy and Heather Holloway, and had their minds hijacked by the Upside Down's hive mind.
Yes, Will Byers develops powerful psychic abilities in Stranger Things 5, allowing him to tap into the Upside Down's hive mind, control Demogorgons telekinetically, and manipulate things connected to it, similar to Vecna but by borrowing power, a development stemming from his original possession and connection to the Mind Flayer.
In the ensuing fight, Billy breaks a plate over Steve's head, pins him to the ground, and repeatedly beats him, but is stopped from doing serious damage by Max, who injects him with the rest of Will's sedative.
Specifically, we see Billy displaying symptoms of dependent personality disorder with his inability to make decisions that might be counter to what Nurse Ratched or his mother expect from him.
The idea that Max could've saved Billy somehow was just her survivor's guilt talking. Regardless of whether the Flesh Golem impaled him, he was always going to die along with the rest of the flayed when Joyce closed the gate.
The Duffer Brothers, confirm that in the coming-out scene, Mike realized he was Will Byers' crush. I liked this scene, Will putting his biggest fear — rejection of self — on the line before (most of) the people he cares about.
Billy's queer coding becomes more blatant during his interactions with Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), especially when they first share a scene in S2E2 (“Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak”) at a Halloween party. At this party, Billy takes Steve's place as “Keg King” and does a stare off with Steve about it.
While Robin appreciates Steve as a friend, it is revealled that she was not obsessed with Steve because she liked him, but rather, envied Steve for being able to naturally charm women, specifically her crush Tammy Thompson, and wished she had the same pull.
The first character to say the "f-word" in Stranger Things was Will Byers, who uttered it during a heated argument with his friends in Season 1, shocking viewers as he was typically soft-spoken, with later significant uses by characters like Billy Hargrove.
The "worst" Stranger Things episode is subjective, but Season 2's "The Lost Sister" (Chapter Seven) and Season 5's "The Bridge" (Chapter Seven) are consistently cited as the lowest-rated by fans and critics, with "The Lost Sister" often criticized for its slow pace and spinoff potential, while "The Bridge" drew mixed reactions for its pacing and Will's storyline.
Despite her limited appearance, Jennifer was shown to be kind, silently crying at Will's funeral, showing she cared for her peer or had an unrequited crush on him as suggested by Dustin.