Stranger Things 5 has left fans reeling from start to finish with its many unexpected turns, but nothing has quite shaken us up like Eleven's fate in the series finale. If you're wondering whether she lived or died, you're going to have to keep wondering. The Duffer Brothers purposefully left her fate ambiguous, and it's our decision to decide whether we believe in Mike's story.
However, there are a lucky few people who don't have to consider what the Stranger Things series finale presents and decide how they feel about Eleven's fate. While appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Duffer Brothers revealed to host Josh Horowitz that there are only three people who know exactly what happened to Eleven in the end.
"Ross and I know, and we were just talking to Millie [Bobby Brown] about it," Matt Duffer shared on the podcast about knowing Eleven's true fate. "But I think it takes away the power of the ending if you tell people what you were thinking as you were writing it."
Obviously, they weren't going to spill the beans in the moment and definitively announce whether Eleven lived or died. But now we know the three people to ask for future reference. Matt Duffer explained on Happy Sad Confused that they had been texting with Brown before the podcast and told her the truth during their conversation, but she's been sworn to secrecy.
Funnily enough, Horowitz joked that Brown might pass on the information to close friend Noah Schnapp, leading Matt to immediately text Brown and say "Don't tell Noah!" He might be the one to accidentally reveal the truth if he were to become the fourth person to hold onto that information.
In the series finale, once the group kills Vecna and saves the children, they crossover into Hawkins from the Upside Down portal and are met with the military waiting to capture them. Naturally, Dr. Kay's still in hot pursuit of Elevent. As the military apprehends them, they realize that Eleven has disappeared. She's back on the other side of the portal of the Upside Down, prepared to sacrifice herself as the bombs inside destroy the alternate dimension once and for all.
Later in the epilogue of the episode, Mike shares with the group his belief that before Kali died, she and Eleven devised a plan to fake Eleven's death. This would be possible if Kali used her powers to make everyone believe Eleven was back in the Upside Down to sacrifice herself, but it was a projection that allowed Eleven to escape. There's a chance she could still be out there, safe from being pursued by the government, and enjoying tranquility in a countryside with three waterfalls.
Rather than explicitly stating that the plan in Mike's story actually happened and Eleven's really out there, alone but no longer in danger, Stranger Things 5 kept the bittersweet ending up in the air for the most part. It's the best version of a hero's ending Eleven could have received, and if you really choose to believe, then she's still alive and could reunite with her friends someday.
Matt Duffer further explained on the Happy Sad Confused podcast their decision to present the audience with a choice about Eleven's fate: "We left it ambiguous for a reason. We want the audience to be in the shoes that Mike and the whole group are in, which is it's up to you to choose whether to believe or not, right? I mean, there's evidence that could point in both directions. So, that's the intent of the scene."
Clearly, they weren't trying to pull one over on us or avoid making hard choices in the series finale. Matt also spoke about Eleven representing the fantastical elements of Stranger Things, making it fitting that she left a little magical mystery behind just like when we met her. If they couldn't make a happy ending work, this bittersweet one is the next best thing. And now we know who knows what really happened.