Stranger Things Season 5 Volume II is finally streaming on Netflix, and the closing minutes of "Chapter Seven: The Bridge" set up an exciting series finale. The episode reunited all the main characters after being divided in the first volume, which streamed last month. The second volume finally answers what the Upside Down dimension is, a question fans have been wondering about for nearly a decade.The seventh episode of Stranger Things Season 5 Volume II also sees the gang formulate a plan to save Holly and kill Vecna once and for all. Therefore, the stage is finally set for "Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up", which is also the series finale, which will stream on Netflix on New Year's Eve.Stranger Things Season 5 Chapter Eight release date:"Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up" will be available to stream on Netflix on Wednesday, December 31, 2025. The fifth, sixth, and seventh episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 set up enough storylines for the series finale streaming on Netflix next week. However, the release date for the episode will vary according to your geographical location. Here's when you can catch the finale next week:Pacific Standard Time: 05:00 PM, December 31, 2025Eastern Standard Time: 08:00 PM, December 31, 2025Indian Standard Time: 06:30 AM, January 01, 2026Greenwich Mean Time +1: 01:00 AM, January 01, 2026Australian Eastern Standard Time: 11:00 AM, January 01, 2026Central European Time: 02:00 AM, January 01, 2026“The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”What happens in Volume II? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe second batch of Stranger Things Season 5 began a bit rough for the good guys. The closing minutes of the fifth episode, "Chapter Five: Shock Jock", are suspenseful as Dustin tries to warn Nancy and Jonathan not to shoot the mysterious glowing sphere, which is the shield. Our characters manage to survive this ordeal, but learn something major about the Upside Down.Until Stranger Things Season 5 Volume II, the Upside Down was believed to be another dimension, but that's not the case. Turns out, the Upside Down is a wormhole, and the giant wall we saw in the first volume protects the interior of the wormhole from the void of space. Plus, we finally learn that Vecna is not holding the kids hostage on the other side of the wall. Instead, he is holding them in another world dubbed "the Abyss".Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower hyped up the Stranger Things Season 5 finale in a Deadline interview published after Volume II's release:"So with regards to what we can expect for the finale, I am genuinely, really excited for Episode 8 to come out. I feel like Episode 7 is — because I obviously know what’s coming in 8, and we do leave on quite, in my opinion, knowing what’s coming, quite a hefty cliffhanger, and 8 comes in steaming hot, right off the back of 7. It’s go time. It’s really, really explosive. I’m really excited for people to see that, because I know how it felt to work on it, too, and that’s really cool. What do I hope people take away from this character? Wow, I’m still in process on that. Like, I’m genuinely still in process on that, because I spent so much time in it, and I don’t know if I can yet see the wood from the trees. I’m not sure. So much of this character is based on the idea of loneliness. So much of this character is based on the idea of salvation. I had to fall in love, and I did fall in love with Henry Creel. I had to want to protect him. I had to want to nurture him and love him, because that’s my duty as the person that’s playing him. I have to understand him, and I don’t know how it feels to be a viewer, yet, watching that from afar, I don’t know. I’d have to give myself another six months to truly be able to absorb that."Binge the seven episodes on Netflix as we wait for the Stranger Things Season 5 finale.