Stranger Things Series Finale: Eleven's Fate Explained By The Show's Creators

The "Stranger Things'" series finale said goodbye to Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven and all of her friends. But, the last episode of the Netflix favorite didn't allow Eleven to enjoy the victory against Vecna: She sacrifices herself during that final battle. The Netflix show's creators say they left a little bit of wiggle room for the audience to interpret Eleven's fate.

"Stranger Things" executive producers Matt and Ross Duffer chatted about the finale with TUDUM and explained that there was never a version of that final scene with all of the cast playing "Dungeons & Dragons" that had Eleven in it. When she chooses to stay behind in The Upside Down as it collapses, the characters are supposed to feel like a door just closed for them.

Eleven "represents magic in a lot of ways and the magic of childhood," Ross Duffer elaborated. "For our characters to move on, and for the story of Hawkins and the Upside Down to come to a close, Eleven had to go away. We thought it would be beautiful if our characters continued to believe in that happier ending even if we didn't give them a clear answer to whether that's true or not. The fact that they're believing in it, we just thought it was such a better way to end the story and a better way to represent the closure of this journey and their journey from children to adults."

Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) has a tender moment with Eleven before she's wiped away in the abyss. After the danger of The Upside Down is no more, the D&D enthusiasts gather to complete their campaign in the Wheeler family basement. Mike tells the story of how Eleven possibly could have survived.

Essentially, as the gate to The Upside Down collapsed, Eleven's sister Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) could have used the last of her powers to cloak Eleven in invisibility to help her escape without the kids noticing. It's a hopeful read on the situation, and one that the Duffers really thought it was important for Mike to toss out there.

"What we wanted to do was confront the reality of what her situation was after all of this and how could she live a normal life. These are the questions that we've been posing this season that Hopper just doesn't even want to think or talk about," Matt Duffer explained. "Mike's obviously talked about it a lot, but it's sort of this fantasy version that would never work. There are two roads that Eleven could take. There's this darker, more pessimistic one, or the optimistic, hopeful one. Mike is the optimist of the group and has chosen to believe in that story."

"Stranger Things" focused on the Hawkins kids to a fault. Yes, people might have enjoyed David Harbour's Hopper or Winona Ryder's Joyce Byers over these five seasons. But, the kids are the place the story begins and ends with. That choice by The Duffer Brothers zooms-in on the finality of their adventure together.

The D&D campaign functions as a debriefing for the characters. Adulthood might be full of changes for the people sitting in that basement, but they head into that stage of their lives with the hope and memories of the adventures they had. Eleven being out there somewhere is a way to compartmentalize the entire ordeal and move forward.

"And the reality is, if Eleven is out there, the most that they could hope for is a belief that it's true, because they can't be in contact with her. Everything falls apart if that were the case," Matt Duffer argues. "So if that's the narrative, this is really the best way to keep her alive. And it's about Mike and everyone finding a way to move past what's happened."