(Credits: Netflix)

The Upside Down may no longer be a source of trouble in Stranger Things on Netflix, but Dustin Henderson remains a victim of his habits.

After giving Vecna his final blow and saving the world from fading into oblivion, Hawkins returns right back to order and the kids? They finally have their moment of normalcy, thanks to their high school graduation.

While the ceremony feels nothing out of the ordinary, that’s only until our very own valedictorian, Dustin, steps up to the podium for a mic drop moment that definitely wasn’t cleared by the administration.

Not only does he address and criticise the makeshift hierarchies existing within the academic four walls, but he even admits that merely pretending that the last six years were normal would be downright ridiculous.

Dustin concludes the graduation speech by ripping off his gown and unveiling a Hellfire Club t-shirt as Erica Sinclair blasts off confetti, leaving his fellow peers beaming with pride. Although to some, the speech may come across as over-the-top, those who know simply know that it was an honorary nod to his Hellfire brother, Eddie Munson.

Earlier in Stranger Things season four, Eddie joked that his graduation plan was rather simple: “look Principal Higgins in the eye, flip him off, and snatch his diploma.” So, given that Eddie could never carry it out, Dustin does it on his behalf, revealing a Hellfire Club tee under his gown that reads “Hellfire Lives.”

In a conversation with Tudum, Ross Duffer clarified, “A lot of it was inspired by Eddie – even at the end, where he rips the diploma and flips off the principal, which is something that Eddie said he wanted to do. A lot of it is honouring Eddie and what Hellfire had been.” However, in addition to the Eddie tribute, the speech echoes a larger idea at the crux of the series.

“So much of the show is [about] unlikely friendships,” Matt Duffer explains, highlighting bonds like that of Dustin and Steve’s. “The point of Dustin’s speech is that because of everything that happened, it thrust people together who never would have interacted in the first place and enriched their lives because of that.”

While Dustin has given plenty of moments throughout Stranger Things that live rent-free in the audience’s heads, with the graduation speech, he undoubtedly sealed the tomb of tributes in the ultimate way.

Dustin’s full speech from ‘Stranger Things’ finale:

“I just wanted a normal childhood, but that childhood was stolen from me. It was stolen from us. And this past year, if you want to know the truth, I’ve been pretty pissed off about it. But then I thought back to the past six years, and I realized that even though there was a lot of bad, there was so much good, too.

There’s this game I like to play. It’s called Dungeons & Dragons. And in this game, there are two types of chaos classes: chaotic good and chaotic bad. Now, bad chaos brings anarchy, destruction, war. But good chaos can bring innovation, change. And this school, frankly, it needed to change because we were so divided into the jocks, the nerds, freaks. And in the chaos, all those walls broke down. And I made new friends. I made friends who were never even supposed to be my friends. And this wasn’t just me. I saw this happen with so many others. And when you get to know people who are different from you, you begin to learn more about yourself. You change, you grow. I’m a better person now. I’m a better person because of them, because of my friends.

So 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 gonna do their damnedest 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. What is this? We look like Roman senators. 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. Screw everyone and everything trying to hold you back and tear us apart, because this is our year!”