'Stranger Things' Season 5 Finale Ending Explained — Including Who Dies
- - 'Stranger Things' Season 5 Finale Ending Explained — Including Who Dies
Mike BloomJanuary 1, 2026 at 5:28 AM
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WARNING! This article spoils the events of Stranger Things Season 5, now available for streaming in its entirety on Netflix. Please do not read further if you do not intend to know what happens in the series finale.After nine years, 42 episodes, and countless pop culture references, Stranger Things has finally come to an end. The nostalgic horror series was an absolute game-changer for Netflix back in 2016, immediately pervading pop culture through Christmas lights and Eggo waffles. The seasons following continued to amp up the mayhem and mystery. Many new characters joined the fray, from wisecracking teens to enigmatic adults. We eventually left the small town setting of Hawkins, Indiana to go to Chicago, California, and even Russia. And we slowly began to learn more about the mysterious dimension of the "Upside Down," and the true evil that lives inside it.The second batch of episodes in Stranger Things' final season, which aired Christmas Day, saw the entire main cast reunite to come up with one last brainstorm. Their plan: Take a final voyage into the Upside Down to take down Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) before he can merge the desolate "Abyss" world with our own. It was a full-party mission, complete with a jam-packed action scene, a couple of big deaths, and one final twist. It's safe to say Stranger Things made sure 2025 went out on a high note.Here's everything to know about the ending of Stranger Things Season 5.
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Who died in the Stranger Things finale?Kali
While Kali (Linnea Berthelson) made a surprise reappearance in Season 5 after being MIA for years, it's clear she wouldn't be here for long. She revealed Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) had attempted to harvest her blood in order to continue the program that Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) had started. And so she entered the Upside-Down with a suicide plan to destroy themselves along with the world, ensuring the cycle was broken. When the Army busted into the alternate Hawkins Lab, Kali was held at gunpoint, and was shot in the chaos following Murray (Brett Gelman) blowing up a chopper. Sadly, she died with her sister crying over her, though perhaps it was not without granting one last request.
Vecna/Henry Creel
Come on, you didn't think the bad guy would really make it out of the finale alive, did you? The finale finally cracked the case on the origin story of how Henry Creel became corrupted into becoming One and eventually Vecna, which we'll get into more detail about below. But our heroes arrived on his turf, the Abyss, for the final battle. Vecna had succeeded in his mission to bring the Mind Flayer to life. But he was ultimately done in by the connections that had made him so powerful in the past. His link to the Mind Flayer meant, when the creature suffered from an ambush, so did he. And Will (Noah Schnapp) was able to take control of him one last time, leaving him susceptible for one fatal push from Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). The finishing blow, however, came from Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), an axe, and one iconic line: "You f—ked with the wrong family."
Eleven...maybe?
While our heroes may have left the Upside Down, they were immediately thrown into a much more dangerous situation. Dr. Kay and the military finally had Eleven in their sights, ready for progress to continue. It was then that El heeded Kali's words, bidding a tearful goodbye to Mike (Finn Wolfhard). "You understand me. Better than anyone else has. From the day we’ve met, you’ve seen me." And it seems nobody in Hawkins would see her again, as the exotic matter keeping the "bridge" of the Upside Down active detonated. The entire plane was wiped out, with no sign of the gate, or El, to be seen.
(L to R) Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, and Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley in 'Stranger Things'Courtesy of Netflix
Related: Why ‘Stranger Things’ Star Millie Bobby Brown Decided to Adopt a Kid at 21: All About Her Family With Jake Bongiovi
Did Eleven die in the Stranger Things finale?
It certainly seemed like it on the surface, given how any sign of the Upside Down is gone without a trace. But, in one final D&D session to close out the show, our intrepid storyteller indicates that may not actually be the end to her story. As Mike brings his campaign to a close, he talks about what happens to each of the party members. And, for the portal-hopping mage (a class assigned to El in the very first season), she did not perish in the battle against the deadly vampire as they surmised.We then see a series of theoretical events that lead to an alternate ending for Eleven. In this version, Kali had not actually died on the floor alongside her sister. As Mike noted, El could not have used her powers to close the gate while in range of the power-suppressing military equipment. Rather, Kali used the last of her strength to make her invisible, as she escaped into the night. The Eleven that everyone traumatically watched disappear into the collapsing Upside Down, it turns out, was merely an illusion.In this version, El goes off to live the secret life that Hopper (David Harbour) promised to her to avoid the suicide run in the first place. We see her walk through some sort of grassy highlands where she finds a small town surrounded by, you guessed it, three waterfalls. At last, she has found a place where she won't need to look over one shoulder, and to perhaps give a chiild the life she could never have.Now, did Eleven actually fake her death? As even Mike said, it's purely a theory. We'll have to get word from creators Matt and Russ Duffer to see if there is any clarification, or if they'd rather let the mystery be.
What is Vecna's origin story? How is Vecna connected to the Mind Flayer?
After briefly revealing a bit of Henry Creel's origin story earlier in Season 5, "The Rightside Up" finally unearthed everything that happened. As we know, a young Henry had stumbled upon a terrified scientist in a mineshaft, who shot his hand. In retaliation, he beat the man to a bloody pulp, before turning to the briefcase he held so dear. Inside was a mysterious stone, with black and red webbing resembling a gate. And when Henry held it, we caught sight of a presence we haven't thought of in quite some time: The Mind Flayer.As it turns out, just as Will had been a vessel for Vecna, so Vecna had been a vessel for the Mind Flayer. The creature urged the boy to "Find me," as he put him in a painful trance, taking over his body. The scientist urged caution, warning it will consume him and everything. But, in his first act as a conduit, he killed him with his new psychic abilities. And so the Henry Creel we know and love was born.When Will discovered this information, he attempted to reason with Vecna, saying he too was just a pawn in someone's game. "It wasn't you. It was never you." But we're a long way from Return of the Jedi, and Vecna is no Darth Vader. The root-covered man rebuffed the opportunity to switch sides, saying the Mind Flayer merely showed him how broken the world is, and how it needed to be remade."It needs me," he affirms. "And I need it. We are one.” And so they went down as one together, courtesy of our heroes.
Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna in 'Stranger Things'Courtesy of Netflix
Related: Stranger Things’ Jamie Campbell Bower Reveals the Meme He Cannot Quit (Exclusive)
How did Stranger Things end?
Following the events of Vecna's death, and Eleven's disappearance, a whopping 18 months pass. Hawkins seems completely back to normal, with any military presence gone. In fact, it's graduation day for the party, an event that has brought everyone back together for the first time in almost a year. And, over the course of the near hourlong epilogue, we find out what everyone has been up to, and where they'll be off to next:
While Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) doesn't have any "nuggets" yet to call his own, he's found his calling around them. He's not only the Hawkins Little League coach, but also the sex ed teacher (and a very easy grader at that). He remains the only one of his peers to remain in Hawkins after the gate closed.
Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) never applied to Emerson. But he did get into NYU, where he's studying to be a filmmaker. As happy as he is to see his friends, he's simultaneously using every opportunity he can to plan for his magnum opus, The Consumer.
Speaking of Emerson, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) went there for a short amount of time. But, speaking to the independent streak we've always seen in her, she dropped out to truly start her journalism career at the Boston Herald.
Robin (Maya Hawke) is currently attending Smith College, more than happy to be surrounded by women. Unfortunately, it seems like her and Vickie (Amybeth McNulty) weren't meant to last, as we near nothing about her, nor is she with the group on the top of the radio station.
Hopper and Joyce celebrate officially being empty nesters by finally having their dinner at Enzo's. Hop presents her with an opportunity to head east and start anew, with a possible opportunity to work in Montauk. But that's not the only question he's prepared to ask, as he proposes! Regardless of where these two will go, it's safe to say it will be together.
Max (Sadie Sink) has made a full recovery from the coma Vecna had put her in during the Season 4 finale. She and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are bantering and more hopelessly in love than ever. According to Mike, they'll eventually settle down together.
Dustin heads off to college (and assumingly a prestigious one, considering he was class valedictorian). But that streak of wild child hasn't left him anytime soon, as he's always good to stop his studies and go on a wayward adventure with Steve.
Will travels far and wide to a new city. Given the fact that Hopper mentions both boys will be in New York City, and the concentrated LGBTQ+ population compared to the rest of the country, it's assumed he went to the Big Apple with his brother. There, we see Will sit down at a bar with a friend, finally feeling comfortable in his own skin.
And Mike, naturally, will keep telling stories. We even get a shot of him sitting at a typewriter, no doubt recounting plenty of what he encountered over the past five seasons. He can say, firsthand, truth is stranger than fiction.
Related: Every 'Stranger Things' Season, Ranked
This story was originally published by Parade on Jan 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the TV section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
