Netflix has finally dropped Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 (Episodes 5-7), leaving only the final entry in the Duffer Brothers' sci-fi saga, scheduled to release on New Year's Eve. The second part of the final season was equally intense and emotional, filled with shocking twists about the Upside Down and Will's strange connection to Vecna's hive mind.Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 kick-started with the gang hatching an electrifying plan to reconnect Will to Vecna's hive mind by using the dead remains of one of his minions. Elsewhere, Eleven and Hopper succeeded in rescuing Kali from Dr. Kay's lab, discovering the true intentions of the evil doctor. Eleven's sister reveals how Dr. Kay was repeatedly using her blood to transfuse multiple pregnant mothers and their unborn children. Dr. Kay aims to restart Dr. Brenner's program by making kids like Eleven, Kali and Henry.As Eleven deals with this truth, Dustin discovers another shocking truth about the Upside Down that changes their course and forces them to hatch a new plan.Here is the complete Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 ending explained.Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 ending explained: What do Dustin and the gang learn in the Upside Down? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostDustin, Steve, Jonathan and Nancy begin to hunt for the energy-generating shield powering Vecna in the Hawkins lab in the Upside Down. After Steve and Dustin have a brutal falling out over Eddie, the former comes across Dr. Brenner/Papa's journal from 1983 and makes a shocking discovery. Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 took a dramatic turn when Dustin realized the truth about the Upside Down, which is actually a wormhole created by Dr. Brenner and his scientists. Unlike what the Hawkins gang believed, the Upside Down acts as a bridge between the real world and Vecna's lair, which Dustin nicknamed The Abyss.It is further revealed that Dr. Brenner utilized Eleven to build this bridge when she banished Henry into The Abyss. Eleven was unable to find Vecna this season because he was hiding in The Abyss and had used the Upside Down as a bridge to travel between the two worlds.Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 ending explained: Did Max and Holly escape from Camazotz? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostAnother exciting plot thread from Stranger Things Season 5, which came to a head in Part 2, was Max and Holly's escape from Vecna's dreamscape, nicknamed Camazotz. The duo used Holly's traumatic memories to find the exit and finally reached that fateful day when Vecna's minion kidnapped her. Just when Max and Holly were about to escape, Vecna took hold of them. However, Will channeled into Vecna's hive mind and took control of his body, buying Max and Holly time to escape. While Max and Holly retreated to the cave, Will was put into a trance by the monster.Thanks to Holly's quick observational power, the duo discovered that they can tap into Vecna's traumatic memories to find their exit in Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2. They reach a secluded part of the cave only to discover a young Henry killing a Nevada scientist in self-defense. While Holly is shocked by this brutality, Max finds an exit and the duo plunges into the real world through different portals.While Max wakes up at the hospital (in the real world) to find Lucas, Robin & Mike, Holly suffers a tragic fate and ends up in The Abyss. However, all is not lost as Holly finds a portal to the Upside Down (where Dustin and the gang are). She suffers a brutal fall and is about to reach the ground when Vecna latches onto her and takes her back to his dreamscape with the other children, right before Nancy and the gang's eyes.Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 ending explained: What is Vecna's plan with his 12 vessels? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe final entry in Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 saw the Hawkins gang finally reunite after Erica and Mr. Clarke managed to connect with Dustin and the gang in the Upside Down. Now that the gang was all together, Dustin shared his insights about the Upside Down being a wormhole. The gang all agreed with Lucas' theory from Volume 1, which posited that Vecna would put an end to this thing on the anniversary of Will's disappearance, which was tonight.Elsewhere in Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2, Will discovered his accidental role in helping Vecna create the gates in Hawkins, which helped him access the real world and kill people. While he is consumed by guilt, he used it to come out in front of his mother and friends, finally. However, since he understood his feelings for Mike would not lead anywhere, he was content to unlock his full potential and help Eleven and Kali defeat Vecna.Thanks to Max's time with Holly, the gang learned about Vecna's plan of world domination. He plans to take control of the minds of the twelve Hawkins' children and amplify his own powers. Dustin concludes that Vecna's ultimate goal is world domination: the merging of The Abyss with the real world on the anniversary of Will's disappearance.Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 ending explained: The gang prepares for one final battleThe final moments of Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 saw the gang trying to hatch a plan to stop Vecna from merging The Abyss with the real world. However, Steve comes up with an unlikely solution. He explains how the gang can sneak into the Upside Down (which is just below The Abyss), climb up the radio tower and jump into The Abyss while it’s crashing through the Upside Down. While Kali, Eleven and Will will defeat Vecna, the gang will rescue the kids and bring them to safety.Dustin added a final pin to Steve's plan and suggested they should drop a bomb next to the exotic matter while traveling through the Upside Down. The bomb will hopefully destroy the Upside Down, the Abyss, the Mind Flayer and the Demogorgons, putting a definitive end to all the evil chaos.As the gang prepared for their final war against Vecna, Kali tried to convince Eleven that they should stay in The Abyss and die in the process. While Eleven believes she holds a chance at a normal life with Mike and Hopper, Kali snaps her back to reality, saying people like Dr. Brenner and Dr. Kay will always try to misuse their powers and restart this vicious cycle of violence and torture.Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 concludes as the gang heads to defeat Vecna in Murray's van and Eleven contemplates Kali's plan, potentially considering sacrificing herself for the greater good of her friends.The Stranger Things Season 5 finale will drop on Netflix on December 31.For the latest scoops on your favorite TV shows and movies, follow SoapCentral.