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After years of Demogorgons, government cover ups, bike rides that turned into trauma, and friendships forged in pure chaos, Stranger Things finally reaches its endgame. The finale wraps up everything nicely, but also asks some bigger questions: Who gets to grow up, who gets to leave Hawkins, and who carries the scars forever.
Below, we break down exactly what happens to every main character in the Stranger Things finale and where the story ultimately leaves them when the lights go out on Hawkins for the last time.
What happens to Eleven in the Stranger Things Season 5 finale?
Eleven faces the most devastating end of all, and no it isn't exactly death. In the seventh episode, we see Kali introducing a chilling idea of staying behind in the Upside Down when it collapses so it ends the experiments once and for all. And in the finale, Eleven expands on that idea, and chooses to let herself go with the horror lurking on Hawkins for so many years.
As everyone triggers the bomb that will finally destroy the Upside Down, Eleven chooses to stay inside the world that is going to get destroyed. She chooses sacrifice over survival, making sure horror dies with us. But not before she tells Mike goodbye. She pulls him into the void for just long enough to say goodbye and they all stand around as the dimension collapses, taking Eleven with it.
However, the episode offers one fragile thread of hope. During a final D and D game, Mike imagines Kali casting one last illusion, letting Eleven slip away unnoticed to a quiet village somewhere far from danger where she can see waterfalls. The truth is never confirmed and the Duffers left it deliberately open. For Hawkins, Eleven lives on in memory but whether she lives on at all is up to you.
What happens to the Party?
In the final moments of Stranger Things, we see where everyone ends up, and thankfully it's a happy ending for all. Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will graduate, with Dustin as the valedictorian. Later on, Mike becomes a writer, which, Matt Duffer reveals, was what the idea was all along because he's a storyteller. Dustin continues to go to college but still has adventures on with Steve, and the Duffers talked about how their bromance is as strong as ever.
Will on the other hand, moves out of Hawkins to a bigger city, where he accepts his identity and is accepted for it. Lucas and Max continue to be sweethearts, one of the rare happy couples on the show.
Speaking about how all of their endings were devised, the Duffers told Tudum,
"We wanted each of the characters to find happiness but in their own specific ways."
What happens to Nancy, Robin, Steve and Jonathon?
The older quadruple move on with life as they mature, and they all find their own happiness. Steve becomes a little-league baseball coach, working with kids, something he's pretty good at. Robin goes to Smith College in Massachusetts, but Nancy drops out of college and works at Boston Herald. Jonathon's camera skills did not go to waste, as he goes on to become a filmmaker, and they all vow to meet once a month in Philadelphia.
The Duffers also talked about how they came up with the teens' stories as they told the outlet,
"It always made sense to us that Steve would choose to stay in Hawkins. He just feels like that kid that you grew up with that ends up staying in their hometown and that he would be working with kids...And then for Nancy, we never want her to take the obvious path. She’s still trying to find herself and what she wants from the world, so that’s why we wanted to give her that ending. For Robin, Smith College was Maya (Hawke)’s suggestion. And then Jonathan at NYU, we set up that he’s been wanting to go to NYU for a very long time. "
Do Joyce and Hopper live happily ever after?
Yes, the couple finally got their happily ever after. After a particularly delightful scene of the couple having dinner at Enzo's, where Hopper orders some fancy dishes and a sparkling bottle of champagne, he pops the question to her and yes, she agrees.
They decide to move to Montauk, New York, where Hopper has accepted a job as chief of police. It's also a little Easter Egg for superfans of Stranger Things, as Montauk is where the show was originally supposed to be set.
Talking about Joyce and Hopper's ending, Matt Duffer said,
"That final scene with them had been planned for quite some time. It’s very difficult what Hopper went through, especially with Eleven, and we liked the idea of him and Joyce having an opportunity to start a new chapter in their lives. David [Harbour] liked the idea of sort of a Dickensian ending for those characters. More than I would say is typical, we really talked a lot with all the actors to make sure they were content with where their characters ended up. That was important to us."
The show ends with a new generation of kids playing Dungeons and Dragons
In one of the last scenes of the Stranger Things finale, the story ends where it began: In the Wheelers’ basement. After finishing their final Dungeons and Dragons campaign, Max, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Mike climb the steps upstairs, and Mike closes the door behind them. Each step out of the basement represents leaving childhood behind and the Duffers decided to end the show exactly how and where it started.
Just then, we see Holly and her friends rush in to start their own game, Mike realizing it is time to pass the torch as he shuts the door behind him. The memories will stay, the story ends.
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Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.
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