Stranger Things: Does Eleven Get Her Powers Back?

Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has been through the wringer on "Stranger Things." From an isolated childhood imprisoned in Hawkins Lab to numerous battles with the forces of the Upside Down, lost parents (and surrogate parents), and bullying, at the end of "Stranger Things" season 3, things get even worse with the loss of her powers. That last blow comes at the hands of the reconstructed Mind Flayer. The monster leaves a piece of itself embedded in her after an attack, and when Eleven's friends help her remove the Mind Flayer shard, her supernatural abilities appear to be gone.

Much of "Stranger Things" season 4 is spent trying to get those powers back. Without them, and without Hopper (David Harbour), she falls into a pit of despair, struggling to fit in with normal kids. When a new Upside Down menace arises in the form of Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), the mission to restore her powers becomes even more urgent.

Eleven is tricked into reuniting with Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), the man responsible for all of her childhood torment, in an effort to get back to full strength. The violent history between the two characters forms much of the emotional underpinning of "Stranger Things" season 4, leading to a crescendo moment when Brenner meets his end. His efforts ultimately prove successful in returning Eleven to her former strength, but the details of how remain a bit mysterious. Let's take a closer look.

Throughout the "Stranger Things" timeline, we see that the Mind Flayer's physical being can be a corrupting influence, tied into the larger, twisted ecosystem of the Upside Down. When Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is rescued from the Upside Down at the end of season 1, he returns with some physical infection still afflicting his body. This allows him to be tracked and manipulated by the Mind Flayer. Similar infections afflict the "flayed" in season 3.

This core principle is the trigger of Eleven's power loss. Near the end of season 3, she is wounded by the Mind Flayer and suffers a similar infection. When that infection is removed and healed, she is still left without the use of her powers. It's possible that her abilities are tied into her greater vitality, which would make sense, but this likely isn't the only reason her powers vanish after the attack, or the reason why they stay gone for so long.

As is explored in season 4, El also suffers an immense amount of psychological and emotional trauma, both at the end of season 3 when she feels so powerless and throughout her life, which all builds to that moment. The loss of Hopper in particular proves a difficult block for her to get over, blending her physical loss of power with the guilt of not being strong enough to protect the people she cares about.

When the Vecna threat arises, Dr. Owens (Paul Reiser) enlists Eleven for a secret program meant to help her get her powers back. She agrees, only to learn upon arrival at the top-secret underground site that it's her former captor and tormentor, Dr. Martin Brenner, who's heading up the project. Brenner hopes to restore Eleven's powers by breaking through her repressed memories and past traumas via sensory deprivation therapy. For reasons that aren't entirely made clear, the procedures begin to work, and Eleven forms a reluctant partnership with him.

Things come to a head when Eleven sees that her friends in Hawkins are in danger, prompting Brenner to lock her away while continuing his experiments. In the end, though, her abilities return to full power in a climactic escape sequence where Brenner dies and Eleven protects her friends from coming to harm.

Once again fully juiced-up, she returns to Hawkins to help in the fight against Vecna. It remains to be seen just how powerful Eleven will become in "Stranger Things" season 5.