How does Stranger Things end? Season 5 finale explained

by

Okay, so the Stranger Things Season 5 finale is finally here, and wow, what a ride! As a huge fan, I just finished watching and I’m still processing everything. I wanted to share a complete rundown of how that epic final battle went down, which characters made it through, and what I think the ending really means. It’s been an amazing story, and this finale definitely tries to wrap everything up!

During the second part of Season 5, the group from Hawkins learned that the Upside Down isn’t a separate dimension, but a gateway to a terrifying place called the Abyss. This is where the demogorgons and the Mind Flayer originally came from, and it’s also where Eleven sent Henry Creel years ago.

Additionally, the group discovers that Henry, also known as Vecna, is exploiting the kidnapped children to connect the Upside Down with the real world. They come up with a plan to prevent this, and Steve Harrington names it “Operation Beanstalk.”

Max will help Eleven and Kali enter Henry’s mind to try and defeat him, while the others will venture into the Abyss to rescue the children. It sounds like a solid plan, but considering everything that happens in Stranger Things, things are bound to get complicated. Be warned – spoilers follow!

Stranger Things Season 5 ending explained

The final episode of Stranger Things Season 5, ‘The Rightside Up’, concludes the fight against Vecna, rescuing the children he kidnapped and stopping the dangerous Abyss from destroying the world. However, this win comes with a heartbreaking price: Eleven must leave Hawkins and can never return.

Everyone unites to defeat the Mind Flayer and Vecna, saving their world from the threat of the Abyss. Thankfully, everyone survives, including Holly Wheeler and her friends. Now, all that remains is to blow up the gateway that links Hawkins to the Upside Down, finally closing it for good.

As the group leaves, Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) and her team are there to intercept them, determined to find El. Meanwhile, we see El standing by the gateway.

She tearfully says goodbye to Mike, explaining she must sacrifice herself to break the government’s pattern of exploiting people with powers to create more like them.

The bomb goes off, shutting the gate and appearing to kill El. But in the last scene, Mike reveals to Lucas, Max, Will, and Dustin that it was all a trick created by Kali right before she disappeared.

Actually, El escaped without anyone realizing it, leading Dr. Kay and his team to believe she was gone. Because they think Kali is also dead, they assume there are no more children left for them to use in experiments.

As such, everyone gets their happy ending, even if it means living a life without El. 

What happens to each character?

After the gate closes, the Stranger Things Season 5 finale fast-forwards 18 months. Hawkins appears to have fully recovered – the military has left, the quarantine is over, and there’s no remaining evidence of the supernatural events that once plagued the town.

As Robin puts it, “I think the Hawkins curse has finally lifted.” Here’s where everyone ends up:

  • Robin (Maya Hawke) has left Hawkins for college, making a brief guest appearance as Rockin’ Robin on WSQK Squawk radio station when she visits Hawkins during her break
  • Steve becomes a teacher and is later seen coaching a baseball team – a fitting full-circle moment for the former babysitter, with Derek (Jake Connelly) among his players
  • Max and Lucas are preparing for graduation and are back together, finally able to move forward without fear or guilt hanging over them
  • Dustin is also graduating and heading to college, and is revealed to be his class valedictorian
  • Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) are settled into family life with Will and Jonathan, their long fight finally behind them
  • Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) is studying filmmaking at college, while Nancy (Natalia Dyer) has dropped out to take a junior reporting role at the Herald
  • Holly, alongside Nancy and the rest of the Wheelers, attends graduation safe, happy, and free from Vecna’s influence
  • Mike initially avoids graduation, struggling with the weight of El’s disappearance and the future they planned together. After a quiet conversation with Hopper about choice, guilt, and acceptance, he decides to stop running and rejoin his friends, with Karen proudly watching on
  • Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan reunite on the roof of the radio station, promising to stay connected despite their diverging paths
  • Joyce and Hopper, realizing their children are grown and moving on, decide to leave Hawkins and start fresh. Hopper proposes, and Joyce says yes

As their time together winds down, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max share a final game of Dungeons & Dragons. Mike lets the group know that Eleven is still alive and shares his dream of becoming a writer, marking the end of an era for the friends in Hawkins.

Stranger Things Season 5 deaths

Okay, so everyone was worried about who would die in the Stranger Things finale, right? Well, thankfully, none of the main crew actually bit the dust! It was a little shocking, honestly. Though, Kali did sacrifice herself, which was a bummer, but it ended up helping save both the world and Eleven. And yeah, Vecna finally got taken care of, which was definitely needed.

Lieutenant Akers, played by Alex Breaux, is among the soldiers Dr. Kay loses when El defeats them after Murray disables the government’s sound-based weapon. Few people mourn Akers’ death.

As a huge fan, I was seriously stressed leading up to the final showdown! Everyone was theorizing about who wouldn’t make it – Steve, Dustin, even Will! The episode kept adding to the tension with so many close calls, like when Steve almost fell off that radio tower. It really felt like anyone could die!

Rather than having any main characters die, the Duffer brothers chose to let everyone survive. The finale also fondly remembered characters who died earlier in the series, like Eddie, Barb, and Bob, through flashbacks.

The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is now available on Netflix. You can also find out more about the show, including how the new season is breaking viewing records, a mistake that was corrected after it was noticed, and details about the music featured in Season 5.

Read More

2026-01-01 07:50