Stranger Things 5: How Dustin's Finale Speech Pays Homage To Joseph Quinn's Eddie Munson

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Hellfire Club lives!! The series finale of Stranger Things was released on Netflix on December 31. The eighth and final episode of Season 5 was titled The Rightside Up, and it featured the last battle between Hawkins and Vecna with mostly satisfactory results. The show's epilogue also contained a nice callback to the iconic Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn, who was introduced in Season 4. His good friend Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) made sure to honour his memory at a very special occasion, and the moment was cheered on by the rest of the characters and the audience too. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Eddie Munson and Dustin Henderson friendship

Eddie and Dustin become friends along with Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolhard) and the rest of the Hellfire Club at Hawkins High. The group plays Dungeons and Dragons like it's a religion, and the younger boys look up to the cooler and older Eddie. In his introductory episode, Eddie, who has been held back several times, believes he is finally going to graduate in 1986 and that it's going to be his year. He states, "I'm gonna look Principal Higgins dead in the eye, I'm gonna flip him the bird, I'm gonna snatch that diploma, and I'm gonna run like hell outta here."

In Season 4, however, after Vecna kills a fellow student named Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien), Eddie becomes the prime suspect. He goes on the run and helps the Hawkins gang fight Vecna. Eddie is killed by the Demobats in the Upside Down as he is trying to help buy extra time for Dustin and the others to escape. Dustin is devastated by Eddie's death and spends much of his time in the fifth season provoking bullies and getting beat up. He even picks a fight with his other best friend, Steve Harrington, played by Joe Keery. Eventually, Steve and Dustin do make up, and they make it out alive, ready to move on in their lives in Hawkins.

How Dustin remembers Eddie at his graduation

In the Stranger Things epilogue, it is shown that Dustin is the valedictorian in the Class of '89, with his friends Mike, Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), and Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink). When it comes time to give his speech on the stage, Dustin's words are quite familiar. They echo back to the speech that Eddie gives the then-freshman hanging on his every word. Talking about the changes the town of Hawkins has seen over the past few years and the future his fellow graduates have to look forward to, Dustin shares, "I'm not pissed off anymore, but I am worried, worried, because now that the chaos is over, Principal Higgins and every square like him is going to do their damnest to put everything back in order. And I don't want order, which is why it's pretty hypocritical that I'm even wearing this thing. I mean, we look ridiculous."

He proceeds to remove his orange gown and adds, "I mean, it's not who I am. I don't think it's who any of us are. So honestly, just screw it. Screw the school, screw the system, screw conformity, and screw everyone and everything trying to hold you back because this is our year!" The graduates and most of the assembled crowd cheer him on. Dustin then drops the microphone and flips off Principal Higgins just like Eddie said he would. Wearing an Eddie-inspired "Hellfire Lives" shirt beneath his gown, Dustin honours his friend who laid his life down so that he could survive. His rebellious turn at graduation in front of the whole town and the principal is something Eddie would have cheered on himself if he were there to witness it. Writer-directors Matt and Ross Duffer make sure to have a full circle moment in the series finale for Dustin and the rest of the gang. Not only does Dustin remember his friend, but he also makes sure everyone else does too.