Eleven’s real fate at the end of the Stranger Things finale is only known to 3 people, details revealed

Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven aka Jane Hopper had one of the most ambiguous endings as Stranger Things came to a close. Before the fifth season came out, fans theorized about where she would end up, some predicting her death while some predicting her survival and later normalcy. However, the show gives her a different spin, leading to questions about her arc still bubbling around fans' minds. Did Eleven survive? Or did she die?

The ending shows her sacrificing herself to put an end to all the horror that has been haunting Hawkins. She dies just as the Upside Down closes, taking herself with it so nothing evil is ever born from her blood again.

Later on in the show, Mike Wheeler, now a writer, theorizes how he believes Eleven is alive and is somewhere peaceful and quiet watching the waterfalls. The show, or the Duffers, for that matter, makes no indication of which reality is the truth, and the creators are finally opening up about who is actually aware of her real fate on Stranger Things.

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, the Duffers said,

“So I don’t know what the answer is. This is ambiguous. I mean, you’re writing from a point of view of understanding what the truth is and the reality is... but yeah Ross and I know and we were just talking to Millie about it, but I think it takes away the power of the ending if you tell people what you were thinking as you were writing it.”

They then added that Brown would never tell anyone, not even Noah Schnapp, as they made sure of this by texting her in the middle of the interview. From what it seems, the truth of Eleven's fate might as well have just ended with the series, and it's an ambiguity that will haunt fans of Stranger Things forever.

More details about Eleven's fate on the Stranger Things finale

Eleven’s story on Stranger Things ends on a note that feels final, but never fully closed. In the last battle, Eleven confronts Vecna on two fronts. While the rest of the group fights and destroys the Mind Flayer in the real world, Eleven enters Vecna’s mind. After Vecna dies, the Upside Down finally begins to collapse and that is when Eleven makes her choice.

Knowing the military will never stop trying to use her, Eleven stays behind as the dimension is destroyed. She shares a final goodbye with Mike, explaining her sacrifice to him and then vanishes as the Upside Down collapses.

In the epilogue, Mike suggests that Kali, with her illusion, helped Eleven survive and escape through the tunnels and that she is now in a beautiful place where there's peace and there are waterfalls. The series never confirms this outright, but instead, the finale lets hope exist.

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Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.

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