Have you recovered from the Stranger Things finale yet? If you're like the rest of us, then you probably haven't. And you know what? That's totally understandable; "The Rightside Up" was an emotional rollercoaster that was worth the decade that it was in the making.
It left fans all over the world in a state of disbelief and started a multitude of debates about that ending, and what it means for the future of the inevitable Stranger Things Universe. The question is whether that ending is as definitive as it first appeared, and if there is any hope.
Be warned: There are MAJOR SPOILERS for the Stranger Things season 5 finale ahead.
One way or another, Eleven made the ultimate sacrifice
The ending of Stranger Things 5 saw Eleven wait behind in the Upside Down while Dr. Kay and the military attempted to capture her for more experiments. Her friends and family screamed at her not to do it, but she couldn't let the government wield her powers and subject her to more years in labs as a result of it. And so, she waited; watching her loved ones from beyond the Gate as Prince's "Purple Rain" signified that the end was near. When the iconic record finished, the explosives detonated and activated the exotic matter, tearing the Upside Down apart - and Eleven along with it. Or so we thought.
The final scene in the show's series finale features Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max all playing Dungeons and Dragons in Mike's basement - just like old times. As they prepared to wrap up, Mike told us all his vision of the future - which involved happy endings for his best friends. He also teased a life as a storyteller for himself, revealing that he could never tell the real version of the Mage's story.
We then flashback to Eleven's apparent sacrifice. Mike's theory is that El couldn't have used her powers to communicate with him - not from there anyway - as the military had activated the power-dampening Kryptonite. She also randomly vanished for a few moments before appearing at the Gate. And with that, the theory states that El's sister, Kali (a.k.a. Eight), used her powers / "magic" to create one more illusion, making everyone think that Eleven was standing before them - when, in fact, she was actually shielded by invisibility, escaped out through one of the tunnels they had used for The Crawl, and communicated with Mike out of harm's way.
Mike then predicts that Eleven finally found peace in a far away land with waterfalls, free from the dangers of "The Black Hand", a.k.a. Dr. Kay and the military. He speculates that she is finally happy, as we cut to footage of Eleven herself walking atop some beautiful hilltops, staring out at the waterfalls that she and Mike always imagined they'd find together. He doesn't know if it's true, but he believes. So does everyone else.
So, the question is: Is Eleven really dead and Mike's vision just hope that she's still out there, or are we truly seeing where El ended up after receiving a helping hand from Kali to escape the military's grasp for good? The Duffer Brothers revealed to Tudum that they have left it up to the viewers "to decide what they think happens to Eleven", adding that "she lives on" in the hearts of her loved ones in Hawkins "whether that’s real or not."
There is an argument to be made for both sides. On one hand, could Kali have survived that long after being shot to create those illusions for El? Wouldn't she have died immediately when the Upside Down went under? And on the other hand, we actually saw the moment where Mike realized that Eleven couldn't have used her powers with the "Suppression Stone", a.k.a. the Kryptonite, in action. It's unlikely that this scene would have been necessary if it all wasn't real.
Unless the Duffer Brothers ever decide to revisit Stranger Things in the future, fans may never get a definitive explanation about Eleven's fate. So, yes, it's very much a Titanic situation where the reality of what happened to Eleven is and always will be up to the viewers. Regardless of which side of the argument you fall on, it's clear that El was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her friends and prevent the corrupt military from ever getting their hands on her powers.
But if you were to ask me my thoughts on it, I would simply say "I believe".
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