Could Stranger Things be headed for a Lord of the Rings style ending? Here's what I think

Fans have waited several years for the ending of Stranger Things and as the finale inches closer, one comparison keeps resurfacing among fandoms and even the actors, and it's The Lord of the Rings. Both franchises have more in common than just battles and monsters, and if fan theories are correct, Stranger Things is headed towards a Lord of the Rings themed ending.

Stranger Things has always been a story about childhoods ending under pressure, about friendships forged in fear, and about the quiet grief of growing up too fast. If it truly is headed toward a Tolkien-esque farewell, here's where we think the finale is headed.

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How the characters on Stranger Things could potentially have a Tolkien-esque ending

Let us get this out of the way first. Stranger Things does not need to kill its main characters to be meaningful. The Duffer Brothers have always treated their characters with too much affection for that. Even Finn Wolfhard has hinted that a Lord of the Rings style ending felt emotionally satisfying to him, and frankly, that tracks.

A Tolkien ending does not mean everything is fine, but that everyone lives, but life changes anyway and that distinction matters.

Dustin and Steve's ending could mirror Gimli and Legolas and it makes perfect sense because their bond is already mythic. They are meant to stay weird and loyal and slightly out of place wherever they go. Eleven leaving Hawkins feels inevitable, not tragic, and it mirrors Tolkien's decision too. Frodo did not leave Middle Earth because he wanted to. He left because he could not stay. It's the way trauma rewires you. El has never had the luxury of normalcy, and pretending she will suddenly thrive in it feels dishonest.

Mike's parallels with Sam is where this theory actually hurts. Sam survives, he gets married, he builds a life and he still carries a quiet ache for Frodo that never fully goes away. That is adulthood. Lucas and Max could have an ending like Merry and Pippin. They choose life after devastation. They choose to remain where the roots are, even if the roots are tangled.

Hopper and Joyce finally getting their Aragorn and Arwen ending would be narrative justice. Jonathan and Nancy could end up as Faramir and Éowyn because they are both characters who have spent years living in the shadow of other people’s expectations and a quieter, grounded future suits them.

And Will staying behind as the Gandalf figure feels painfully right. He is the one most connected to Hawkins, the one who understands its scars. Not everyone gets to leave the battlefield, some people are meant to help rebuild it.

Also yes, Ted Wheeler as Treebeard is spiritually correct. He has been chewing through this nonsense since 1983.

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But if someone had to die, who would it be?

Now here is where my optimism starts sweating. I do think the Duffers believe someone has to die. Television has trained creators to think stakes require sacrifice, and that is where characters like Murray, Vicky, or Kali start looking nervous. Murray in particular feels dangerously expendable. He is loved, he is funny, and his death would hurt without breaking the emotional spine of the show. That makes him the easiest target.

Eleven is a much scarier conversation. A lot of fans are already bracing for her death, or at least for the idea that she will never get a true happily ever after. There is a grim logic to it. El has always been the shield and the weapon. The one who bleeds so everyone else can live. A sacrifice ending where she dies to permanently erase the Upside Down is horrifying, but it fits the internal mythology.

And hovering over all of this is the reset theory, which I genuinely hope the show avoids. The idea that the world is saved but everyone forgets each other feels less bittersweet and more emotionally nihilistic. Watching these characters become strangers after everything they endured would feel punishing.

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What Stranger Things can actually learn from The Lord of the Rings

Here is the thing that most people get wrong about The Lord of the Rings. Frodo does not leave because the Shire is ruined. He leaves because he himself is ruined. Trauma does not vanish when the battle ends. You can go home and still not belong there anymore, which is the real meaning of the Grey Havens, and that is why this comparison keeps resurfacing.

The recent focus on the Mind Flayer complicates things in an interesting way. If Henry Creel was never truly in control, if the entity was using him as a bridge, then killing Vecna alone fixes nothing. In that scenario, Eleven might have to do the unthinkable and save him, or at least free his consciousness, to sever the connection entirely.

That is where Will and Max become essential. Will as the anchor to November 6, 1983 is not accidental. The Upside Down being frozen on that date matters. Max, having survived Vecna’s mindscape, becomes a weapon from the inside. While everyone else fights physically, they fight psychologically. That feels very on brand for a show that has always treated trauma as the real monster.

If Stranger Things follows Tolkien honestly, the ending will skip the erasing memories theory and it will instead acknowledge that some people cannot stay in the world they saved. That could mean El will leave or Will will leave. It could even mean death, but it will not mean pretending nothing mattered.

The most likely ending is a middle ground. Hawkins survives, but is scarred. The Party survives, but is scattered. They remember each other, they write letters, they meet again, maybe at a wedding, maybe at a funeral, maybe just once more before life pulls them in different directions. And with all the comparisons that the Duffer Brothers have made to The Lord of the Rings, perhaps Tolkiens will have much more influence in the finale than what anyone must have imagined.

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Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.