The world is talking about Stranger Things again. And no, it's not 2016, 2017, 2019, or even 2022; it's 2025, and the show has officially kicked off its fifth and final season. It's been a long time coming, especially as so many major shows have started and ended in the decade that Stranger Things has been on the air, but it's almost time for the legendary Netflix series to join so many of them in bowing out for good. We may have had a decade to prepare for this, and yet we're still not read. Not ready at all.
The good thing about all of this is that Netflix knows how to stretch out a small amount of content over a long period of time. The final season of the show has, therefore, been split into three acts, with each release unveiling a new batch of episodes. The first of them has arrived, with the first four episodes of season 5 making their presence felt on the streamer just recently.
However, the show may have just confirmed how it will all end for Stranger Things - and you didn't even notice it.
Mike and Eleven's rooftop conversation foreshadows the end of Stranger Things
You remember how Mike and Eleven shared that all-important scene together in the Stranger Things 5 premiere? It seemed like an important one because it's the only real time that the established scene partners spend together in Volume 1, but it also seemed rather light-hearted as the two talked about what the characters of Mike's campaign would do after they won a battle. What you might not have realized is that this could very well foreshadow how the gang's battle with Vecna will end.
Eleven asked what might happen after they defeat Vecna. Mike responded by saying that, when his party would win in his campaigns they would all live happily ever after. However, he also said that they could never go back home to their local village as too much had happened, they've seen too much. Thus, they travel to a far away, peaceful land, with three beautiful waterfalls, where they can live out their lives happily and in peace.
Mike and Eleven share a smile after those words as they momentarily allow themselves to imagine what life could be like after Vecna, after the Upside Down, and after the military's hunt for Eleven all comes to an end. Is it possible, El wonders. Mike is hopeful - except for the three waterfalls! It's a sweet moment - one which provides viewers with some light-heartedness before the Crawl begins.
But could we have just secretly learned the ending of Stranger Things.
How Stranger Things could end after season 5
Eleven has been through a lot throughout her life, and we have witnessed most of that journey over the course of the past five seasons. She was ripped from her family, experimented on, made to do some awful things, and then constantly hunted by the government. That doesn't even take the happenings with Henry, the Upside Down, and the Mind Flayer into account. If anyone deserves a happy ending, it's her.
We could say the same thing about Will Byers. Born and raised in Hawkins, he was a happy child until his run-in with the Demogorgon, which changed him in just about every way. Constantly pulled into the darkness by the Mind Flayer and never truly free when at home, it would also be completely understandable if he wanted to move on after the battle Vecna.
With all of that in mind, we wouldn't be surprised if our party took it upon themselves to move out of Hawkins after the war with Vecna was over. It's brought them a lot of heartache over the years and both Will and Eleven's problems started when they returned there. So it would be totally understandable if they saved the day, ended the war with the Upside Down, and struck some kind of arrangement with the miltiary to allow Eleven to move on. Perhaps Dr. Owens could help them do that.
It's commonplace for season premieres to seed in clues and hints towards potential storylines for the season finales. So it wouldn't be too surprising if Stranger Things followed suit. And yet, in a show with stakes this high - an ending like that one would be pleasant surprise, as it would allow our heroes to achieve the things they've been searching for their whole lives: Peace, acceptance, and freedom.
We'll have to wait and see if it comes to fruition, but you probably won't find a fan who would argue with it. After all, all that we want for these characters is for them to achieve happiness. It's very well-deserved and long overdue. In a show like Stranger Things, happily ever after would be a fairytale ending.
Stranger Things season 5 Volume 2 arrives on Netflix on December 25, 2025. The series finale arrives on December 31.