Does Eleven get her powers back in Stranger Things Season 4? 

Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1 has been a roller coaster ride from the first scene. The introduction of the horrific villain, Vecna, and the chilling sequences leading to character deaths impressed the audience.  

Season 4 has also showcased incredible character arcs and progression, especially in Eleven’s case. After Season 3, she lost her powers and is now adjusting to the new school and environment.  

El is constantly bullied by her classmates, and in one scene, she even tries to summon her powers to teach those bullies a lesson, but to no avail. So, does Eleven get her powers back?  

Eleven regains her powers in Stranger Things season 4 volume 2. She had returned to Papa aka Dr. Brenner, who had ‘Project Nina’ in place to bring back Eleven’s powers. It worked and Eleven managed to come back stronger with her powers.

Early on in the show, we see that a new threat is taking over Hawkins. When Sam Owens, whom we had seen in the previous seasons, comes to know, he offers Eleven a choice to regain her powers. He tells her how they can work together to get her powers back to destroy this new threat. 

This leads El and all of us to Dr. Martin Brenner aka Papa, the man who started it all. Here, he tries to trace Eleven’s steps back to her traumatic childhood.  

His theory is that if she faces the past and remembers how she had gained powers the first time, she might be able to do it once again. So, Eleven is made to live through life-like simulations in her own mind. It’s almost like she is present in the past and reliving the complete memory.  

Here, we discover a new character named Peter Ballard, who befriends her and instills the idea of escaping from this facility. He even gets her to remove her inhibitor chip, which dampens her power.  

Once she does, he kills all the kids and the staff in the facility. This leaves Eleven terrified because she doesn’t want any of it. He tries to brainwash her by telling her how all these kids and humanity, in general, don’t deserve to live. Their systems and existence are a bane, and how evolved humans such as Peter and Eleven are meant to thrive.  

It is also revealed that Peter is 001. The very first subject of Dr. Brenner, who tried to instill his powers into the other kids just because he couldn’t control 001. Although this part might be true, she doesn’t buy any of it.  

She tries to stop him but doesn’t have her powers. Peter (001), who realizes he can’t keep El to his side, decides to kill her. He lifts her in the air and tries to break and disfigure her body. Eleven is full of rage and desperation to live kick at this moment, and she gains her powers.  

She overpowers 001 and telekinetically throws him against the wall. She then accidentally opens the first portal/gate to the Upside Down and chucks him into it. When she awakens, she wants nothing to do with any of this.  

It is revealed that Eleven did not have any memory of this incident when it actually took place in her childhood. Using this traumatic memory, Dr. Brenner tries to bring back Eleven’s powers, as this was the time when Eleven showed the most of her strength.

Dr. Brenner’s plan works, as Eleven regains her power and living the memory of opening the gate to the Upside Down and thereby, throwing 001 or Henry into this world. This is demonstrated when Eleven is able to raise the tank of Project Nina using her powers.

Later, she realizes that 001 is actually Vecna, who is behind the latest attacks in Hawkins. Once Eleven understands that her friends are in danger, she decides that she wishes to help them, without wasting any more time.

However, Dr. Brenner is against this plan though Dr. Owens supports El. Brenner tries to stop Eleven by trying to control her like he always did, claiming that he thinks she is not ready to face Vecna yet.

However, Eleven is adamant. Meanwhile, the police, who were looking for El after suspecting her to be the reason behind Hawkins’ attacks, reach the facility. Eleven is able to fight them as she manipulates a helicopter using her fingers alone!

Remember how Dr. Owens said that Eleven’s powers will come back to make her stronger? Seems like he was not lying because El definitely seems to be way stronger than she was before.

You can seriously have no doubts about it after watching the spectacular fight Eleven had with Vecna in the Upside Down (or in Max’s mind, to be precise). Using her powers, she is able to defeat Vecna, though Nancy, Robin and Steve also played an important role by burning him down alive in the Upside Down.

So, El’s powers are definitely back for good and she will need to use them quite a lot in the upcoming season, considering the ending of season 4. Hawkins is still in danger, and the hints were pretty clear.

But, as long as El is there to save the day, we’re all up for it! She has after all become a ‘superhero’ again, as she had promised Mike before leaving. Though for us, she was always one, wasn’t she?

About Stranger Things

Stranger Things is an American sci-fi horror TV series created by The Duffer Brothers for Netflix. 

Set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, the show follows the story of a young girl called Eleven, who has superpowers and her adventures with her group of friends. These dangerous adventurers include surviving in and saving a town that has an evil parallel universe attached to it called the Upside Down.

It stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Sadie Sink, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, and Maya Hawke. The show has been renewed for a fifth and final season.