Stranger Things officially comes to an end on Wednesday, Dec. 31. We've been waiting for this day for so long. Honestly, I can't believe it's finally here.
Within hours, we will know how Stranger Things 5 ends, and we'll all have plenty of thoughts and feelings to process about it. It's going to be so wild. I don't know if I'm actually ready for this, but it's been a long time coming.
Heading into the finale, there are three endings that, I think, will satisfy most fans. Obviously, not everyone will be happy with how it ends, but there are some endings that will feel better than others.
I picked the three most satisfying endings for Stranger Things 5, so let's get to them.
1. Eleven and the gang team up to defeat Vecna, and everyone lives happily ever after
This is the ending that I want to see. To me, these characters have all suffered enough, every single one of them. It would be such a fulfilling ending to see the heroes win one last time, defeat Vecna on his turf, and then continue living the best way that they can.
Overall, I feel like this is the most likely ending of Stranger Things. The Duffers are not cruel people. We've invested so much in these characters, and I think most fans want to see a happy ending for this '80s story. Were there movies like this with unhappy endings in the '80s? I don't think so.
I want to see the show go out on a high note with some good feelings to end the series. Personally, I would be very happy if almost all the main characters lived and only thevillains or morally questionable characters died in the finale.
If we don't get this ending with like 30 Return of the King-style fade-to-blacks, I'm not going to be a happy camper.
2. Hopper, Eleven, or someone else sacrifices themselves for the rest of the characters to live
I would say this is the second-most likely scenario for the Stranger Things 5 ending. We lose one or two incredible main characters, like Hopper, Eleven, Steve, or someone else in the final battle with Vecna while everyone else survives.
Throughout the show's five seasons, I've been wondering how this show would ever completely close the gate to the Upside Down. For most of that time, I didn't know what the Upside Down was. I thought that if Eleven created the Upside Down, she would be the only one who could actually close it from the other side, which means that she would either die in the closing of the gate or live, like Vecna, on the other side.
Ultimately, I'm glad I was wrong about that, but I do think the Duffers are laying the groundwork for someone to sacrifice themselves to save the rest of the gang and the world. Hopper has been ready to do that for three seasons, basically. Eleven has Kali in her ear, telling her that it's time to end this.
I don't think it's likely that Hopper or Eleven will actually die in the finale to save everyone. Instead, I think there's a small chance it could be Steve, but I still don't even think that's very likely given that we just had that scene with Dustin and Steve
3. Killing Vecna breaks his spell and restores the timeline
There are a lot of theories about the Stranger Things 5 ending involving illusions, Vecna, and things basically being manipulated by Vecna the whole time, since this all started way back on Nov. 6, 1983, when Will Byers went missing.
I don't subscribe to a lot of those theories, but I will say I would be interested in Vecna creating some sort of alternate timeline that restores itself once he's dead and gone. It's not a unique ending, but I think it leads to something most fans want to see: a happy-ish ending for Stranger Things.
Basically, I would love if these characters can go back to normal life but also retain the memories of what happened and what brought them together. I have no idea if that's possible, but I also don't really understand how life continues with Vecna bringing another world so close to Hawkins via a wormhole anyway,
If the Duffers could pull off an ending that makes everyone, outside this core group, forget what happened, and bring back a world where Hawkins wasn't destroyed, that would be pretty satisfying to me. Is it possible? I have no idea!
We'll see how Stranger Things 5 actually ends. I hope, so much, that the Duffers pull this off. I'm not giving up hope yet!