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This article contains major information spoilers for the series finale of “Stranger Things.”
‘Stranger Things’ is finally over, bringing with it the end of an era. The stakes were higher than ever in Season 5, Episode 8, titled “The Right Side Up,” in which Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her friends went inside the Upside Down one last time. Although their plan is risky and convoluted, the goal is twofold: kill Vecna and destroy the Upside Down, thus closing the bridge between Hawkins and the Abyss. With the Abyss high in the sky, part of the group climbs a tower, while Eleven and Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) enter the Upside Down version of Hawkins’ lab to help corner Vecna. Amid this chaos, the army closes in on their hideout in Hawkins, where Max (Sadie Sink) remotely guides El and Kali through Vecna’s memories.
As for Holly (Nell Fisher) and the abducted children, Vecna/Henry (Jamie Campbell Bower) has put them in a trance, as he uses them to amplify his abilities and merge the Abyss with the real world. Before El, Max, and Kali reach it, they travel through a high school memory involving a young Joyce, whose play leads directly to the false reality where Vecna is babysitting the children. This brief sequence refers to the previous piece, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”, but does not introduce full-fledged characters like Patty Newbywhose fate is linked to that of Henry in this spin-off story.
Meanwhile, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and co. Come close to death after the tower almost collapses, but the group makes it inside the Abyss and heads to where the children are trapped. It is at this moment that the Mind Flayer’s husk comes to life, revealing the true nature of his relationship with Vecna.
How was Vecna defeated and what was her connection to the Mind Flayer?
The mineshaft that Max and Holly discover in Vol 2 revealed a traumatic memory involving a young Henry (Raphael Luce) killing a man with a briefcase in self-defense. In the present, Henry/Vecna is forced to confront this memory, in which he sees that his younger self opened the briefcase and was contaminated by particles belonging to the Mind Flayer. “The First Shadow” reveals that the man inside the cave was a Russian spy, who had taken “something… from beyond our world” while trying to escape. This key context could potentially explain gaps in the story that are not explained here. When Will (Noah Schnapp) witnesses this memory through Henry’s eyes, he sympathizes with him, saying that he was just a child manipulated by the Mind Flayer, a “vessel” just like him. Will begs Henry to fight back and not give in.
However, “Stranger Things” doesn’t take the cop-out route by giving Henry/Vecna a redemption arc. While we are meant to sympathize with the child Henry, he made an active choice to work with the Mind Flayer after becoming Vecna. Henry rejects Will’s olive branch, stating that the world is a cruel and twisted place, and that it was never controlled by the creature (nor did he control it). Instead, it was a symbiotic relationship, as he could have resisted it if he wanted to (like Will), but he chose not to.
Cut to the Mind Flayer wreaking havoc in the Abyss, prompting Nancy to serve as bait to lure him to the others, who are waiting to reach his critical points from a height. El arrives to save the day, fighting Henry in the belly of the beast to permanently destroy their connection to the hive mind.
Who dies in the final confrontation against Vecna and the military?
Two major character death simulations are used to heighten the tension during the final battle. The first is when Steve (Joe Keery) almost falls from the high tower. After dropping him, we think he’s done for, but Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) saves him in time. The other is when Nancy lures the Mind Flayer towards the canyon, finding herself in a dead end as he grinds on the rocks and is about to kill her.
That’s when his friends hit him with bombs, makeshift weapons, and flares, using this attack to weaken Henry. In the belly of the beast, El and Vecna fight viciouslybut the first impales him on a tooth-like spike (with the help of a last-minute power boost from Will). Joyce (Winona Ryder) is the one who cuts off his head and deals the final blow.
As for the actual deaths, Hopper (David Harbour) learns of El and Kali’s suicide pact, but convinces El that his life is worth living and that a fulfilling future is possible for someone whose childhood (and autonomy) was taken away from him. This obviously applies to Kali as well, but she later dies from a gunshot wound, saying her story was always supposed to end here. It leaves a terrible aftertasteas Kali was never done justice as a character because her interiority always revolved around El, and not her own motivations. Even his death is used as a pivotal moment to actualize El’s eventual fate, which is revealed in the lengthy epilogue.
Once everyone returns to Hawkins, the army surrounds them near the rift. El escapes, bidding a tearful goodbye to Mike (Finn Wolfhard) before sacrificing herself. She’s standing inside the Upside Down, which is definitely exploding.
What happens at the end of the Stranger Things series finale?
All is now well in Hawkins, but grief lingers while Eleven’s sacrifice still seems important. The graduating class of 1989 and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) give a graduation speech that would make Eddie Munson proud. Nancy, Steve, Jonathan and Robin (Maya Hawke) discuss their successful careers and plan to stay in touch. Joyce and Hopper are ready to start a new life together, while Max and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are still a strong couple. The kids head off to college, but before leaving Hawkins, they engage in one final “Dungeons & Dragons” campaign, where they are able to succeed with a sort of magical deus ex machina.
That’s when Mike shares a theory about Eleven. He says she didn’t actually sacrifice herself that day, but instead chose to fake her death. For what? End military attempts to steal his powers. He theorizes that the dying Kali helped El achieve this, using “an invisibility spell” (which functions like a removal stone in “D&D” terms) while she projected an image of herself inside the rift. We see Kali cast an illusion during the battle, so Mike uses this logic to deduce that El is safe. We cut to a shot of Eleven walking alone on a cliff and looking at three waterfalls, just like she and Mike had dreamed of. Whether this is in Mike’s mind or in reality remains ambiguous.
This ending, while hopeful, feels empty and open-ended, considering the wild journey everyone has been on for years. For better or worse, this is the end of “Stranger Things,” which sports a series finale completely devoid of narrative risks, twists or significant surprises.
