5 terrifyingly convincing theories about the Stranger Things finale

How will Stranger Things end? After the first four episodes of the fifth season were released at the end of November, the series returns with three more episodes on Christmas Day, while the finale is scheduled for New Year’s Day. The eighth and final episode, titled The Rightside Up, will also be the longest of the season, running two hours and eight minutes, and although for now we can only speculate about what is in the script, the one thing that is certain is that Matt and Ross Duffer drew inspiration from the endings of shows that shaped them as creators, from Friday Night Lights to The Sopranos. “The best finales stayed true to themselves,” Ross said in a recent interview. “Shows that try to be too clever, I think, can go wrong very quickly.” Although the series has already become cult, Stranger Things’ permanent place in the annals of TV history very much depends on its final act.

So what would be the perfect ending for this eighties-inspired sci-fi adventure? Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her friends prepare for a final showdown with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) in the first batch of episodes that has been released. It is hard to imagine that they will lose by the finale, but will everyone in the cast make it out alive? How will they defeat Vecna and, more importantly, what will all of this ultimately mean?

To find some answers, we explored superfans’ theories developed over the years, analyzing every Dungeons & Dragons campaign and every lyric of the song Running Up That Hill in an attempt to predict as accurately as possible how Stranger Things will end.

Related: The ’80s films that shaped Stranger Things and the references you likely overlooked

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Vecna is not the main villain in Stranger Things

Although the Netflix series strongly positions Henry Creel as the main villain to be defeated, the Broadway prequel stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow strongly suggests that Creel’s transformation into the evil Vecna stems from the corruption of the Mind Flayer. The story follows a young Henry in Hawkins, Indiana, around 1959, who is suddenly transported to Dimension X while visiting a cave in Nevada. While trapped in Dimension X, he is altered by the Mind Flayer, which pressures him to carry out its wishes upon returning to our world.

Since Henry is essentially a victim of a greater threat from the Upside Down, many fans believe that he will actually help our heroes defeat the Mind Flayer in the finale, and that there will be a strong redemption arc for Henry.

Nothing is real

Given how deeply the series is rooted in the Dungeons & Dragons games that the core group plays together, many theorists believe the show could end with the revelation that the entire story actually took place within their game. “Nothing that happens is real,” some of the biggest fans write. “It all takes place within their Dungeons & Dragons game.” We are not sure what that would mean for the ending of Stranger Things, but it feels like too easy an out. As the Duffer brothers have said, they are not interested in trying to be too clever.

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Which character is most likely to die?

For now, a tragic ending is being predicted for Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and Eleven. Honestly, I cannot imagine either of those happening, but the Stranger Things fan community is convinced that someone from the core group will not make it out alive. In the fourth episode, Will used his new powers to destroy Demogorgons, and it looked strikingly similar to the way Vecna used his powers to kill people in Hawkins. Because of that, Will could die when Vecna and the Demogorgons are finally defeated by Eleven. The same possibility exists for Eleven, in an attempt to seal off the Upside Down.

Does anyone actually have to die?

No, they do not! Despite the fact that a large part of the fandom believes someone will not survive the series, it is entirely possible that the group manages to save Hawkins without sacrifice. What is with everyone’s obsession with characters dying? We can have tension without death. Besides, Stranger Things usually kills off a new supporting character, not someone from the main cast. The Duffer brothers would only kill a main character if it had a meaningful and worthy impact on the story, right? Let us hope so.

Is this really the end?

Once the series ends, it would be tempting for the Duffer brothers to consider making a lucrative sequel at some point. Stranger Things entered the Netflix Top 10 in 93 countries, while the fourth season became the first English-language series to surpass one billion hours viewed on the platform. Still, despite its enormous popularity, twins Matt and Ross Duffer have ruled out a continuation. “This really is the end of the story of Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Steve, and all of those characters, and especially of Hawkins,” they said. “There really is nothing left worth exploring. The story is closed, and the ending would not have a strong impact if we left it slightly open for some kind of sequel.”

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