This article contains FULL SPOILERS for the series finale of Stranger Things.
Stranger Things' last ever episode, "The Rightside Up," concluded with a sequence that is massively open to interpretation. Heated debates have already started to take the internet by storm when it comes to whether certain moments actually happened. Depending on whether you're an optimist, a pessimist, or even a realist, your opinion probably differs compared to other portions of the audience.
Despite being an incredibly genre-heavy show, Stranger Things rarely tries to mislead its audience in any notable way. Even the finale's brief tease that Steve (Joe Keery) was about to plummet to his death was resolved before it could really take hold as a genuine possibility. This isn't necessarily a bad trait for a TV show to have, because things can quickly get annoyingly deceptive to the point of distraction. Still, Stranger Things broke its formula in this respect as it drew to a close.
Stranger Things mixed facts with potential falsehoods in the final moments of "The Rightside Up"
The show's final season ended the only way Stranger Things really could — with a spirited game of Dungeons & Dragons. Set 18 months after the apparent death of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), the finale's lengthy epilogue focuses on Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and his friends graduating from high school and marking the occasion with one last campaign before they all embark on their respective futures.
The heartwarming scene initially does nothing to fool the viewers into thinking what they're seeing is anything but just regular old canonical events. Then, when Mike is pushed to give the campaign's characters more specific endings, "The Rightside Up" starts to blur the lines of what's real and what isn't. All the shots of the survivors sitting and playing D&D in Mike's basement are 100% real, but the sequences that illustrate what Mike thinks will happen to them all in the future are a little trickier to fully accept as anything more than aspirational moments.
Most of Mike's stories at the end of "The Rightside Up" could easily come true
Mike's predictions generally center around his friends moving on and finding happiness, while also maintaining the bonds they've formed with various characters along the way. For example, the thought of Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) going to college and making time for occasional adventures with Steve is very easy to believe. Similarly, it's not a stretch to accept that Max (Sadie Sink) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) will stay together, and that Will (Noah Schnapp) will find someone to eventually settle down with. Mike's potential future as a writer is also believable, given his talent for writing D&D campaigns.
As authentic as these sequences feel to each of the respective characters, whether they're genuine flashforwards to a later point in the Stranger Things timeline is massively up for debate. I have no problem accepting these futures as part of my personal headcanon, but the show didn't do enough to convince me that they're part of the official continuity, rather than just what Mike thinks will happen. I know many may not agree with me on this, but I think this eternal back-and-forth among fans is what the Duffer Brothers were going for. If so, they've definitely pulled it off. I don't foresee a day when everyone comes to the same conclusion.
I'm sorry, but I don't believe Mike's story about Eleven
The Duffer Brothers have been infamously resistant to killing any of Stranger Things' main characters. When someone has met their end on the show, they've either had a relatively small role or have only debuted recently. Eleven ticks neither of those boxes, as she's arguably the primary protagonist of the entire saga. So, when she chose to remain in the Upside Down in "The Rightside Up", so that the gang's DIY explosive device also took her out at the same time, I was incredibly surprised.
Her sacrifice made perfect sense to the plot. It gave Eleven a huge amount of maturity and selfless heroism, and resolved the ongoing criticism that no one all that important ever seems to die. As Kali (Linnea Berthelson) explained, while she and Eleven were still alive, killing Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) was only half of their workload. If both girls survived with Venca's special blood still coursing through their veins, the risk remained that they'd always be hunted down so their powers could be replicated by unsavory parties.
Kali's death meant only Eleven was left standing, so I understood why Brown's character made the choice she did, regardless of how upsetting it was. Mike's theory that Kali used her powers as she died to aid in Eleven's escape just doesn't hold water, and it also undercuts the magnitude of Eleven's selfless actions. Besides, if Kali wasn't already dead by the time Eleven left her behind, then she had a matter of seconds left anyway. Furthermore, Kali was the one who pointed out that neither of them could survive without the world continuing to be in danger. It just doesn't add up.
That said, I won't judge anyone who chooses to believe Mike's optimistic story. But it's pretty clear to me that Mike is merely convincing himself that Eleven is still out there somewhere, alive and well. If he did the same thing for you, then it looks like he did his job, and I'm sure the Duffer Brothers also want to believe that Mike's theory is correct. I'm not saying it's impossible, but sadly, it's far more likely that Eleven died when we initially thought she did, and the Stranger Things universe is now short its most powerful being.
All five seasons of Stranger Things are now available to stream on Netflix.