Everything We Know About Stranger Things Season 5’s Ending (& All the Spoilers That Are Out There)

Buckle up, because we’ve reached the most anticipated moment of all. Vol. 2 of the final season of Stranger Things has recently dropped, and fans are, once again, in full frenzy, discussing the new episodes, the major theories, and the answers that have already been delivered. The final episode of one of the most acclaimed shows of the last few years, titled “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up,” is scheduled to premiere on the last day of the year with a runtime that’s practically feature-length. That alone signals that, beyond being a major event, it’s very clear that everything that still hasn’t been explained finally will be — it was always just a matter of timing.

But we also know that when it comes to understanding why things happen in this show, there’s so much information that it can be hard to keep track of everything. And sometimes, the sheer impact of the scenes and moments is a lot to process. That’s why we’ve brought together several details about what’s already been confirmed and what fans can reasonably expect about the final episode. After nearly a decade, Stranger Things is finally coming to an end, so here’s everything you need to know about what to expect from this point on.

What’s Confirmed for the Final Episode of Stranger Things

Back in 2022, Season 4 completely shifted the tone of the show, officially introducing Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) as the terrifying villain the gang wasn’t truly prepared to face. The finale did exactly what audiences needed to send expectations for Season 5 through the roof. Since then, three years have passed with the internet endlessly rewatching the series, reopening debates, and creating countless theories about the long-awaited conclusion. And ever since Netflix announced the release dates for the final chapter, the Duffer Brothers, along with the cast, have been repeatedly asked in interviews and promotional events about what fans can definitively expect.

In short, Vol. 2 (and especially Episode 7) shows the gang finally putting their plan to defeat Vecna into action, as they enter the Upside Down — which we now know is actually a wormhole. From this point forward, we’ll see the characters split into groups, each with specific roles to make the plan work: accessing the point where realities nearly converge, invading Vecna’s mind with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and then destroying the wormhole from the inside. This is Stranger Things‘ final battle. So, with that in mind, what can we say for sure about what’s coming next?

The Duffer Brothers have revealed that the ending has been planned for years, and that everything the show built toward was always meant to culminate in this carefully constructed moment. According to them, all the questions fans have been asking for so long will finally be answered, without leaving loose ends. “For as long as I can remember, we knew what the final scene was going to be, and we always felt confident in that,” Matt Duffer told The National. “It provided us with a North Star. Even as we continue to work on the show and you get fan feedback, we always felt like this was the right end and the inevitable end.”

Plus, early reactions to the final season highlighted that it would feature deeply emotional moments and remain coherent with everything the show has established since the beginning. Finn Wolfhard revealed that the final day of filming was “incredibly emotional,” while David Harbour said the entire cast cried uncontrollably, adding that it was the best episode they’ve ever made. Meanwhile, Bower set expectations in another direction, teasing that the series conclusion will be dramatic and unpredictable.

So, we already understand the epic scale Stranger Things is aiming for. But the question that never goes away is: who is going to die? That’s the hardest part to predict, even though fans have created several theories, interpreting small clues to figure out which characters are most likely to devastate audiences. Every season has featured at least one major death, and so far, none have occurred in the final season. But the showrunners have also addressed this topic, though they chose to reassure everyone rather than tease anything specifically alarming. According to them, Stranger Things isn’t comparable to Game of Thrones, so if deaths do happen, they’ll serve the story and won’t exist purely for shock value.

What Vol. 2 Has Clearly Set Up for the Stranger Things Finale

The first seven episodes of Season 5 closed several lingering threads and wrapped up character arcs, such as revealing where Max (Sadie Sink) has been all this time, the fate of Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan’s (Charlie Heaton) relationship, what the Upside Down truly is, Dr. Kay’s (Linda Hamilton) project, the nature of Will’s (Noah Schnapp) powers beyond his sexuality, Vecna’s plan involving the children, among many other revelations. Still, some crucial questions remain, and they’re essential to fully understanding Stranger Things as a whole. So based on what the final season has shown so far, the biggest question is how these remaining answers will shape the show’s grand conclusion.

Perhaps the most intriguing revelation of all is the true meaning of the Upside Down. For years, it was assumed to be an alternate reality. Learning that it’s actually a bridge between Hawkins and what we now know as the Abyss completely changed the game. And that’s where the danger lies — because for the gang’s plan to succeed, this bridge must be destroyed. So, in short, yes, it’s very likely that someone will die (or, at the very least, come terrifyingly close). And not to mention the fact that Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) tried to convince Eleven that they should both sacrifice themselves to truly end the nightmare. And while the final moments of Episode 7 make it clear that Eleven accepted the plan, everything about it is still uncertain. Stranger Things is great at delivering impact, but just as great at pulling off plot twists, right?

And speaking of plot twists, it’s impossible not to mention the increasingly popular theory surrounding Vecna. If we take into account what the play Stranger Things: The First Shadow reveals about Henry Creel’s backstory, it suggests he may only be a pawn, and that the Mind Flayer was the true enemy all along. On the other hand, something shown earlier in Season 5 contradicts this theory. Will the show follow the play’s storyline or change things up? Still, it’s already possible to get a general sense of where things could go. Besides, in a recent interview with Variety, the Duffer Brothers made it clear that he’s now the key piece of the story. After all, there’s still his real past (and the mysterious briefcase that Max and Holly (Nell Fisher) discovered in one of his memories) left to be explored.

And where does Will fit into all of this? Among fan discussions, he’s arguably the most central character of them all — and one of the most frequently predicted casualties. Now that he’s finally come out to his friends and family in a moment fans deeply cherished, Will has overcome his fears and gained the strength necessary to help execute the plan. Initially, his role is to disperse the obstacles that Vecna throws at the group. However, Vol. 2 also revealed that he is able to control Vecna’s mind long enough to prevent Max from dying. It’s unclear what else he will do beyond protecting everyone, but one thing is certain: without Will, the plan will never fully work.

Set Photos May Have Leaked Spoilers for the Stranger Things Conclusion

When filming the finale of a series this massive, keeping everything under wraps is incredibly difficult. On the other hand, in today’s world of advanced technology and AI, a lot of leaked material is questionable. Still, images believed to be from the final episode of Stranger Things circulated online, showing Mike (Wolfhard) and Hopper (Harbour) together. On the surface, that seems harmless. But fans quickly noticed the absence of Eleven, which feels odd, given how central she is to both characters. Hopper’s outfit also stood out, as he’s wearing his sheriff’s uniform for the first time in several seasons. Naturally, this led to one major theory: Eleven’s death.

However, there are other possibilities when you take a closer look at the details in the background of these images. Time travel has long been discussed by fans, and now that the Upside Down has been confirmed as a wormhole, those theories feel more grounded. Science has always been central to the show, so a logical explanation could be either a time jump where Hawkins has been restored to normal or a direct reference to Donnie Darko (and it actually makes a lot of sense). How?

The 2001 cult classic explores theoretical physics concepts that align surprisingly well with where Stranger Things might be heading. The film centers on a parallel reality that exists temporarily and is revealed to be an unstable wormhole. If left uncorrected, it collapses and destroys the real world. To stop this, the protagonist (who can manipulate time) sacrifices himself by traveling back in time and erasing the alternate timeline, preventing the wormhole from ever forming. As a result, everyone who was destined to die survives, except for him. And this could serve as inspiration for Eleven’s fate: the Upside Down is unstable (a wormhole linking two worlds), and she is the chosen one who sacrifices herself, triggering a temporal reset that sends Hawkins back to before Will’s disappearance on November 6, 1983.

Obviously, for that to work, Mike would need to be de-aged, and since the show already did something similar with Will earlier this season, but using a child actor, it’s also possible that what we’re seeing is simply a time jump. Alternatively, the series could end by cutting to a different timeline where everything is intact, but subtly different, because none of what we watched ever truly happened. Either way, it’s something to take with a grain of salt. But with the set images, it does seem likely that something happened to Eleven, especially considering Hopper appears to be comforting Mike.

Neither the Duffer Brothers nor the cast have publicly commented on the exact context of those photos or confirmed their narrative significance. The only thing that has been said about the ending is that it wasn’t designed to please everyone. “I’m hoping it’s universally loved,” Ross Duffer shared. “Obviously, though, everyone has different expectations and things they want out of it. But the goal isn’t to please everyone. This is just what feels inevitable and right to us.” So with that, all that’s left to do now is wait anxiously and see how the show’s legacy will ultimately be defined.

The final episode of Stranger Things arrives on Netflix on December 31.

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