[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 4 finale of Stranger Things, “The Piggyback.”]
For a show already known for killer needle drops, Stranger Things Season 4 took things to a new level with its season finale. In the epic-length Episode 9, “The Piggyback,” our heroes decide to venture into the Upside Down to take down the malevolent demon known as Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). The plan: Use Max (Sadie Sink) as bait to lure the demon into making a psychic attack, while the rest of the gang attacks Vecna’s comatose body.
Vecna isn’t defenseless, though, as he’s guarded by an army of demonic bats. That’s when Eddie Munsen (Joe Quinn) — and his guitar — come into play. Eddie pulls out an amp and electric guitar and, with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) headbanging beside him, rips into Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” from the top of an RV (Apt song choice, my dude), and the sound successfully draws the bats away, allowing the rest of the team to attempt their attack on Vecna.
The character of Eddie, a loud and proud metalhead who heads up the high school’s Dungeons and Dragons group, The Hellfire Club, already represented the ways in which heavy metal culture and D&D blended together in the 1980s. In fact, Joe Quinn immersed himself in the musical genre to prepare for the role, and the costume department even used a Dio back patch from Ronnie James Dio’s estate for his wardrobe.
But the “Master of Puppets” scene takes the character to a whole new level — as Dustin says afterwards of the moment, “Most metal everrrrrr!” Watch a short excerpt below, thanks to a Tweet posted by the official Stranger Things account, and retweeted by the band.
🤘LET THE SHOW BEGIN. VOL 2 IS NOW STREAMING 🤘 pic.twitter.com/QDO89bnNay
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) July 1, 2022
In other Metallica news, the band was recently forced to cancel an appearance at the Frauenfeld Rocks festival in Switzerland due to COVID within the Metallica camp. They had hoped to immediately reschedule the performance, but conflicting schedules between the promoter and venue means the concert is nixed for good.
The band also just launched a music lesson partnership with Yousician where guitarists can practice and play along with the members of Metallica. The first Metallica Yousician course is now available, with the remaining nine set to roll out in the coming weeks. Head to the Yousician website to sign up.
Stranger Things Season 4, meanwhile, is streaming now on Netflix.
