Stranger Things finally revealed Eleven’s fate in an epic season 5 and series finale. For a while, I wasn’t totally sure I was on board with how things played out for her in the end. But, after some coffee and contemplation, I actually like how things ended for Eleven.
After defeating Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) appears to stay behind in the Upside Down as the bombs go off and destroy it for good. Everyone believes she died, and that’s how she meant it.
Eleven is actually alive at the end of Stranger Things
As it turns out, they were wrong. Eleven didn’t die. Instead, she had a plan with Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), who lived just long enough to make it happen, to create an illusion that makes it look like Eleven sacrifices herself to stop Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) and the military. Then, Eleven flees to make sure that no one knows she’s alive. Only Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Max (Sadie Sink), Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) believe that she’s alive after Mike reveals what he thinks actually happened.
We see Eleven traversing the wilds of Iceland, looking at many waterfalls, and we know that Mike's telling the truth. Although there appears to be some things left up to interpretation, it's clear to me that the Duffers want everyone to know that Eleven is still alive, but she's alone. Again.
It’s been a long road watching Eleven go from the little girl in the woods to the hero sacrificing herself to save her friends and end a cycle of trauma and abuse.
She’s one of the most beloved characters in modern TV and film. I understand why some fans aren’t happy with Eleven’s ending. I specifically didn’t want her to sacrifice herself for her friends to live while she died, and for a while, it looked like that was going to be what happened.
Fortunately, in one of the most emotional scenes in the show’s history, we learned that wasn’t what happened. Eleven got a little pre-death assist from Kali to cast an illusion that makes it look like she died while she goes into hiding and starts a new life away from this story.
Heading into the finale, some fans did predict the big twist in the Stranger Things finale with Kali shielding Eleven from Dr. Kay, but I don't think anyone saw it playing out like this.
Eleven finally has a choice to become who she really is and not what she was forced to be
To me, after seeing it all play out, that’s probably the best we could have hoped for. This was probably always how this story was going to end. When the Duffers and writers chose to keep the main characters alive, they had to have some stakes, and losing Eleven in this way was really the only thing that made sense.
If she was still alive at the end, even if Dr. Kay was dead, there’s still a chance that Eleven would have been found, captured, and used by bad people. Again.
Eleven’s ending finally gives her the choice to pursue the life she wants. And, that’s the first time that’s ever happened.
Throughout five seasons of the series, someone has always needed something from Eleven. In season 1, Mike, who truly loved her, needed her to find his best friend. In season 2, they needed her to save their lives and close the gate. Then, in season 3, they needed her to stop the Mind Flayer. Even without her powers, she was able to do that by giving Billy (Dacre Montgomery) the strength he needed to fight back. Joyce (Winona Ryder) and the rest of the team helped, obviously.
In season 4 and 5, Eleven was the only match for Vecna and the Mind Flayer. Again, they needed her to save them. Even though she had help this time, and lots of it, Mike needed her to survive, as did Hopper, and they reminded her that they needed her alive constantly throughout the season. I believe they had the best intentions, but the pressure to always be someone for someone else is unsustainable.
Now, the only person Eleven needs is herself, and she can go explore and choose what she does next.
Giving her the choice to chart her own path is a great ending for this character who has had such a hard, traumatic, and arrested development.
Sure, the Duffers could have pulled another fast one somehow and let her live happily ever after? Yes, they could have. In a way, this is almost better, though.
Eleven deserved a happy ending, but now, she gets a chance to make it, even if we don't get to see it
I would have loved to see Eleven graduate with the gang, go to college, grow up with Max, stay with Mike, and just be happy living a normal life. That would have been great, and I'm still kind of bummed that we didn't get to see that ending, honestly. But, many of those things are still possible, if Eleven wants them to be.
We don’t know how exactly Eleven’s story ends, but this gives her the option to choose her own path for the first time in her life without thinking of everyone else. Would she reunite with Hopper, Mike, and everyone else in the future? I think that she would, and if she does, that, too, will be her choice.
While I understand it’s hard to imagine Eleven being robbed of the people who love her the most, she chose this path, a path that protects everyone, including herself and also everyone she loves. It’s not like she was abandoned this time. They would have ridden with her until the end. She made the most of a bad circumstance, and her future is finally hers for the first time.
It reminds me so much of Frodo's decision to leave the group behind in Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo knew he had to go on his own, and so does Eleven, even if it means leaving everyone behind.
Now, I know it's not going to happen, but I'm begging Netflix for the Eleven in Devon spinoff of Stranger Things to mirror Emily in Paris. But hey, at least it’s not Eleven in Heaven, because I thought she died for real in the finale. This ending is much better than that.