- - Is This “Stranger Things” Character Actually Alive? What Show Creators Meant by That Ambiguous Ending

Colleen KratofilJanuary 1, 2026 at 6:30 AM

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Courtesy of Netflix

Linnea Berthelsen as Kali, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, and David Harbour as Jim Hopper in 'Stranger Things' season 5

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 5, Volume 3.

Stranger Things finale premiered on Dec. 31

Netflix revealed what the show's creators wanted the viewer to take away from the ambiguous ending

The hit show ended its five-season run with a two-hour episode

Stranger Things has come to an end, and its final moments left one major possibility up in the air.

In the Dec. 31 two-hour finale of the hit Netflix show, the final scene brought on some additional questions about the fate of its main character.

As the crew, including Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink), gathered in Mike's basement for a game of Dungeons & Dragons, Mike opened up the possibility that Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who was presumed dead, may actually, be alive.

David Harbour as Jim Hopper and Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in 'Stranger Things' season 5

Just as the Hawkins crew was triumphant in their quest to defeat Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), their celebration was cut short when they were apprehended by the military as they exited the Upside Down. Eleven followed through on the plan devised by her sister, Eight a.k.a Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), and stayed in the Upside Down to kill herself as it explodes. According to Eight, it was the only way to stop the military from creating more people with their abilities or create new worlds.

After a tearful goodbye to Mike, Eleven disappeared as the crew's explosives destroyed the Upside Down. Viewers were left to assume she died, and as the episode jumped ahead 18 months later, a grieving Mike wanted to skip his high school graduation because he was "not ok with moving on."

Hopper (David Harbour) helped him realize he needed to stop "blaming himself" and "find a way to accept what happened" and "live the best goddamn life you can."

Following graduation, the crew met in Mike's basement, like old times, for a game of D&D. At the end, Mike told a tale where Eight actually saved Eleven, and she escaped to live a tranquil life.

He explained that Eleven and Eight devised a plan to make everyone believe Eleven was dead, to trick the military. Eight "cast a spell from far away, a spell of invisibility" and the person they saw die was an "illusion." Mike said he wants to imagine Eleven disappeared to a "land somewhere far away."

The show cut to Eleven walking up a mountain overlooking three waterfalls, where she found "peace and happiness" in a small village where no one knows she's alive, Mike said. When Max and Lucas asked if it's true, Mike said we don't know, but "I chose to believe that it is." They all agreed with him that they believed too.

According to Netflix's Tudum, the creators, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, "have left it up to viewers to decide what they think happens to Eleven."

As the Tudum recap states, “she lives on in their hearts, whether that’s real or not,” Ross said, referring to the Hawkins crew.

In an interview with Variety earlier this season, Matt explained that the ending wouldn't be a "bloodbath."

“I’ve said this before: The show is not Game of Thrones,” Matt said. “I’m hoping it surprises people. But there’s no Red Wedding, if that’s what you’re asking," he said, referring to a massacre on GoT. “That would be depressing.”

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Speaking to PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere, executive producer Shawn Levy said the finale is "as good as any TV series finale I've seen in my life."

He teased the ending again speaking with PEOPLE before Volume 2 dropped. "You will get outcomes that are deeply satisfying, but many of which are completely surprising."

"I just want to assure all of the people around the world who have walked the long road with us for nearly a decade, this finale is what you've been waiting for."

All three volumes of Stranger Things season 5 are streaming now on Netflix.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”