Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” Became the Perfect Soundtrack for an Unforgettable Eddie Munson Tribute in the Stranger Things Finale

iron maiden’s “the trooper” didn’t just show up in the stranger things finale as another needle drop. it landed like a final stamp on the show’s loudest, most misunderstood heart. after years of monsters, mall lights, and small-town panic, the ending understood something simple: eddie munson wasn’t only a character fans loved. he was a symbol for every kid who got judged first and understood last, and the finale decided to honor that with a song that marches forward even when the world is aiming straight at you.

for a series that always treated music like memory, this moment felt intentional in a deeper way. “the trooper” carries the sound of urgency and defiance, the kind of riff that doesn’t politely ask for space. it takes it. and in a story where hawkins spent seasons labeling certain kids as “danger,” the song’s pulse becomes a kind of emotional correction. it’s not saying eddie was perfect. it’s saying he mattered, and that the people who loved him aren’t going to whisper about it anymore.

the irony, of course, is that iron maiden has its own eddie — the band’s iconic mascot — a face that became shorthand for metal’s theatrical fearlessness. stranger things has always been obsessed with the idea of symbols: the demogorgon drawing, the clock, the upside down itself. so when the show pairs a tribute to eddie munson with iron maiden’s most battle-ready anthem, it feels like the writers are stacking emblems on purpose. it’s a way of letting eddie’s name echo twice, like a chant that refuses to fade.

reports about the scene describe it as a graduation moment where dustin honors eddie’s legacy, and that detail hits hard because it’s the most human kind of victory. not a monster defeated, not a portal sealed — just a kid standing in public with the truth. graduation is supposed to be clean and bright, a ceremony that pretends everyone followed the same map. but eddie never fit the map, and neither did dustin when it counted. setting that tribute in a formal, judgment-heavy space makes it feel like hawkins finally has to look at what it did.

“the trooper” is basically motion in musical form. it doesn’t drift. it charges. it’s all gallop and grit, like boots hitting ground before doubt can catch up. that’s why it works so well under a tribute: it refuses the soft-focus sadness that usually follows a death fans mourn. instead, it turns grief into posture. it turns remembering into action. the music says: yes, it hurts, but we’re still here. and if you’re going to remember him, do it out loud, not like a rumor.

it also lands differently because stranger things already gave eddie munson one of its most explosive music moments in season 4, when he played metallica’s “master of puppets” in the upside down. that scene was about distraction as heroism — drawing danger onto yourself so other people survive. the finale choosing another classic metal track for an eddie-centered moment feels like a deliberate rhyme, like the show is closing the loop: eddie’s world was loud, and the goodbye should be loud too, not sanitized for comfort.

there’s a special kind of sting in how eddie’s story worked: he was the guy everyone suspected, the guy adults talked about like a warning label. and yet, when the moment came, he was the one who didn’t run. that’s why a song like “the trooper” fits — it’s not about being safe. it’s about moving forward anyway, even when you’re scared, even when the odds are stupid, even when the people watching don’t understand what you’re doing. it turns “misjudged” into “unbreakable.”

@f41_stuff how we ALL reacted ✌️🥹❤️‍🩹#ironmaiden #strangerthings #netflix #strangerthings5 #fyp @Stranger Things @Iron Maiden ♬ The Trooper (2015 Remaster) – Iron Maiden

dustin is the perfect character to carry that tribute, because he’s always been the bridge between worlds: kids and adults, science and story, jokes and terror. when he remembers eddie, he’s not remembering a myth. he’s remembering a person who treated him like he belonged. that kind of belonging is oxygen, especially in a town that keeps trying to decide who’s “normal.” putting “the trooper” behind dustin’s moment is like giving him backup — a roaring wall of sound that says he doesn’t have to be polite about his grief.

and then there’s the metalhead detail that makes fans grin through tears: iron maiden’s “eddie” is practically the patron saint of heavy metal imagery, and stranger things has always loved the aesthetic of posters, album covers, and late-night headphones. so the tribute doesn’t just honor eddie munson in-story — it nods to the entire culture he represented. the show isn’t treating metal as a “phase” or a punchline. it’s treating it like identity, like sanctuary, like the soundtrack for kids who learned early that being different comes with a cost.

the finale goes big with music in more ways than one, leaning into the idea that the right song can feel like fate. it’s clear that “the trooper” wasn’t tossed in randomly. it was chosen as part of a closing statement: this story was always about outsiders becoming heroes, and the music becomes the proof. the show understands that sometimes sound can say what dialogue never could.

@vintageredone STRANGER THINGS SPOILER!! Song: The Trooper by Iron Maiden #fyp #fypシ #fypシ゚viral ♬ J 無音 – J

what makes “the trooper” feel perfect here is that it doesn’t play like a funeral. it plays like a vow. it has that forward-leaning energy that forces your shoulders up, even if your eyes are wet. you can almost feel the message underneath it: eddie’s name doesn’t get erased just because hawkins needed a scapegoat. memory is a fight, too. sometimes the bravest thing a character can do is refuse to let the world rewrite what happened.

fans responded instantly, because eddie munson became bigger than his screen time. he became the character people protect in their heads — the one they keep insisting deserved better. this moment isn’t just “remember him,” but “see him correctly.” it’s not nostalgia. it’s relief. it’s the story finally acknowledging the wound it created, and dressing it with something loud enough to feel honest.

it also marks how far dustin has come. early seasons gave him punchlines and gadgets and wide-eyed wonder. later seasons gave him consequences. by the time the finale arrives, you’re watching a kid who has carried too much, who has lost someone who understood him, and who still chooses to speak anyway. “the trooper” turns that choice into momentum rather than collapse.

stranger things has always loved the 80s, but at its best it used the decade as more than decoration. it used it as a pressure cooker, a time when moral panic was loud and labels stuck hard. eddie munson was built from that reality. letting metal roar during his tribute feels like the show pushing back against the very fear it portrayed, correcting the record not with speeches, but with volume.

in the end, a series about supernatural horror delivers one of its sharpest moments through something entirely human: a song, a memory, a public refusal to let someone be reduced to a rumor. iron maiden’s “the trooper” becomes the heartbeat under that refusal. it isn’t subtle, and it doesn’t need to be. because eddie munson wasn’t subtle either. he was loud, fearless, and finally seen.