Is Eleven alive? That's what everyone wants to know after watching the Stranger Things finale, "Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up."
Well, I have some good news: Eleven is alive. She has to be, and there are a few things that happen in the finale that point to that conclusion, even if the Duffer brothers weren't willing to completely reveal that she is still alive.
The Duffers have chimed in about Eleven's ending, and they revealed their reasoning for keeping it a little bit ambiguous. Viewers can choose their own adventure with Eleven's fate. While I've already explained why Eleven's ending actually makes sense for her story, some fans aren't convinced that Mike's version of events is correct.
If you want to believe Eleven sacrificed herself in the Upside Down and died, I'm here to tell you that you're wrong. You are overlooking several key moments from the finale that confirm Eleven is actually alive.
Thanks to the help of sleuths online and rewatching the El's final moments like 15 times, I shared seven reasons why Eleven is still alive in Stranger Things.
Kali definitely reconsiders asking Eleven to sacrifice herself
The first hint that something is up with Eleven's story is when Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) seems to have changed her mind about how to end this while hearing Hopper's speech to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) about fighting one more time and not sacrificing herself at the end of this. There's a moment where it is very obvious that Kali realizes that she's miscalculated.
We've seen Kali before. We know how she was back in season 2, and now, she's seen things that no person should see and experienced things no one should experience. She wants nothing more than to end this once and for all. She even convinced Eleven that sacrificing herself is the right thing to do, like five minutes earlier.
Kali could have easily killed Hopper (David Harbour) if he was actually going to jeopardize this mission to end this once and for all. She understood, I think, at that moment, that Eleven could have a future, and she wanted to give her sister a chance to make that happen, if she could.
Why would the Duffers show Kali had a change of heart? The only logical conclusion is that she changed her mind to then help Eleven. The Duffers had two hours to tell this story in the finale, and I don't think, with that little time, they would waste it showing Kali's emotional arc for fun. They brought her back for a purpose, and I think this was it. She gives Eleven an out.
Eleven was with Mike and the group when the military pulls them from the truck
Everything seems great as the group exits the Upside Down. It's basically a party until Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) and the military interrupts looking for Eleven. It happens really quickly, but the last shot of Eleven before she's in the Upside Down is her being pulled off the truck with Mike (Finn Wolfhard). Then, Mike gets thrown up against the truck, and he can't find Eleven.
You're telling me that Eleven got all the way from the truck to back inside the Upside Down with no one noticing? She can't teleport. She does have other powers, like flight, basically, but someone would have seen her go from the truck to the Upside Down just like we watched her jump into the Mind Flayer in the Abyss.
If she was at the truck with Mike and the military was looking for her, the only realistic explanation is that someone intervened to shield her, somehow.
Eleven couldn't have used her powers with the hedgehogs running
The other part of this was what made Mike realize what actually happened at graduation. Eleven could not have used her powers with the hedgehogs, the supersonic machines that were used to stop her powers from working. These things were so strong that she could barely move at all when turned on just hours earlier, but she somehow just used her powers with them on to get back to the Upside Down? I don't believe that at all.
The only explanation that makes sense is, again, Eleven had some help to get out of the situation. Then, once she was out of range, she was able to invite Mike into her mind as she just learned how to do, thanks to Kali. Sure, Eleven needed to learn how to do that to stop Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), but it seems too convenient for that to be the only reason that happened.
Bottom line: if Eleven couldn't use her powers, there's no way she could have escaped that situation without help.
Eleven tells Mike he's always seen the real her
When Eleven and Mike meet in the Void, Eleven tells Mike to try to understand her decision, to explain it to the others, and to thank them for being so kind to her. She also tells Mike, "From the day we met, you've always seen me.... the real me."
There are so many things Eleven could have said and so many phrases Eleven could have uttered in that moment, and she tells Mike that he's always seen the real her. He's the only one who has seen her. I believe that's the clue El left for Mike. It wasn't the only clue, and she couldn't be more specific for obvious reasons, but it feels like El left the smallest breadcrumb here for Mike to put it all together at some point in the future.
Eleven's tattoo is missing, and she's unbothered by the literal tornado around her
When the bombs explode and the Upside Down begins to be destroyed, Eleven stands still at the Gate. She opens her palms to the group as the gale force winds take everything in the Upside Down with them, but she doesn't even flinch.
Now, a couple of things. Eleven is missing the 011 tattoo on her left arm that's been there since the time we meet her at Benny's diner in the first episode. Where did her tattoo go? Is it too small to see? Or, is it that it's not the real Eleven and only a version of her from Kali's mind?
I'm going with the latter.
On top of that, Eleven is completely unmoved by forces that are literally taking out full buildings all around her. Her hair doesn't even move. She's completely unfazed. We've already seen Eleven take on these forces before when Nancy shoots the exotic matter. She's able to use her powers to keep her feet and save Hopper and Kali, but she's not able to hold back the wind and stop her clothing and hair from moving.
The only reasonable explanation is that this whole thing is an illusion pieced together by Kali, and Kali, because of her injury or proximity, can't maintain a perfect illusion.
Eleven's finger flickers in Mike's retelling
In Mike's retelling of the events, we see Eleven's finger starts to flicker. And, we know, when Kali casts an illusion over long distances, the illusion starts to break down. We saw the exact same thing happen when Kali casts the illusion so she, Hopper, and Eleven can get out of the Upside Down lab and go to meet Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and Steve (Joe Keery) at the church in episode 5, "Shock Jock." Dr. Kay notices Kali's finger flickering just like Eleven's.
The Duffers perfectly set up that moment episodes earlier, and then, they paid it off at the very end.
Even if Eleven or Kali told Mike how her illusions break apart, he couldn't have known how exactly that would happen with Eleven. The finger flickering is basically the smoking gun of sorts.
All of this evidence is pointing to one conclusion: Eleven is alive and well at the end of Stranger Things.
The Duffers wouldn't kill the abuse survivor at the very end in such a cruel way
Last but not least, I don't think the Duffers, who care very much about these characters and their stories being told the right way, would send such a callous message to the world. Eleven, who has been literally tortured for five seasons, with some bright spots in her life along the way, should not need to die in order to stop a cycle of abuse. You realize what kind of message that sends, right?
And, I'm not saying it's all about the message, but the Duffers couldn't even kill off any of the main characters over a five-season run. They killed Hopper, and then, they walked it back. They killed Max, and then, they walked that back, too. Of all the main characters, we really only lost Barb, Bob, Billy, and Eddie. Surely, they are not letting Eleven go out like that. There's just no way, morally, that they would do that. It's too sad, in addition to the terrible messaging.
But, keeping Eleven alive brings other problems, too. It simply doesn't work to allow Eleven to lead a normal life. If the military knew she was alive, they, for sure, would have used El's friends as bait or even kill them, as Kali said, if they got in the way. So, she couldn't walk out of the Upside Down and into regular life like the rest of these characters. Something had to happen, and that's why the best option was for Eleven to go live a life somewhere away from everything and everyone she loved.
Plus, it solves another problem for the Duffers. Keeping Eleven alive keeps the hope of a spinoff alive in the future. They don't want to make that show, and they don't want anyone else to make that show right now. Now, the Duffers can move on to other projects without being constantly bombarded about that's next for these characters.
If they choose to bring this show back to life in the future, there's an easy entry with Eleven's story. In some ways, you can say that the Duffers left the door open, but only three inches.