When it comes to final seasons, Game of Thrones may not be the most esteemed show to emulate. The divisiveness of season 8 has been well-documented and discussed, but in its previous seasons, Game of Thrones proved time and again how to deliver excellent and memorable battles. From the Battle of the Blackwater, to the Battle of Castle Black, to the Battle of the Bastards — there are so many!
In terms of epic episodes, look no further than season 6, episode 9, "Battle of the Bastards," which remains one of the highest-rated episodes in the show's history — and television history, for that matter. It currently stands at a near-perfect 9.9/10 on IMDb from over 200,000 ratings. Those are pretty unprecedented numbers.
For Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer, Game of Thrones' Battle of the Bastards is held in the highest regard. In fact, when they penned the final arc of their show, they worked to try and replicate the magic of Game of Thrones. Speaking to Empire, they revealed that they want some of the show's big endgame set pieces to “evoke the same feeling” as "Battle of the Bastards."
As for how this materializes in season 5, Matt Duffer said, “Episode 4 and Episode 8 are just monsters,” adding that the former was “the most logistically insane shoot of our lives.”
If one thing is for certain, Stranger Things 5 won't pull its punches. “Now we’re in the final season, we don’t have to hold anything back,” Matt Duffer teased.
In addition, Ross Duffer revealed that, while the final season won't answer every burning question fans have, it'll be more than enough to satisfy everyone. “We didn’t want to tie everything into a perfect bow, but I think we answer most questions and resolve every arc,” he said. “It was our intention to write a definitive ending to this story.”
Unlike Game of Thrones, which started and concluded while the source novels were unfinished, Stranger Things has had the benefit of building up to a definitive conclusion. Creators Matt and Ross Duffer had the ending in mind from the outset. There's a heap of pressure on the show to stick the landing, but they've had plenty of time to perfect the final bow.
Stranger Things 5 will release on Netflix in three parts. Part One, comprised of episodes 1-4, debuts on November 26; Part Two sees three episodes drop on Christmas; and the epic series finale releases on New Year's Eve. Stranger Things is ending 2025 with a bang!