Volume 2 just dropped and it rewrote everything we thought we understood. Turns out the Upside Down is not a parallel dimension at all. It is a wormhole. A bridge between Hawkins and another realm called the Abyss, or Camazotz as Holly names it after A Wrinkle in Time.
Here is the chain of events as we now understand them:
- The Abyss is where the Demogorgons, Mind Flayer, and all the monsters actually come from
- Eleven banished Henry Creel there in 1979, where he evolved into Vecna
- On November 6, 1983, Brenner had Eleven unknowingly search for Henry using her powers
- When her mind made contact with the Abyss, she accidentally created the wormhole we know as the Upside Down
- Brenner stabilised it using exotic matter suspended above Hawkins Lab
- The Upside Down is frozen in time at the moment of its creation, which is why everything looks like 1983
This is infrastructure, not magic. And infrastructure can be destroyed.
What Episode 7 Sets Up
The penultimate episode, “The Bridge,” ends with the gang breaking into the military compound and heading back into the Upside Down. The plan is to climb up the radio tower and jump into the Abyss while it is crashing through the Upside Down. Once there, they will use Eleven, Kali, and Will’s powers to bring down Vecna while the rest of the group grabs the kidnapped children.
But here is where it gets dark.
Kali tells Eleven that the only way they can protect the world from people like Dr. Kay tapping into their power is by trapping themselves in the Upside Down. Sacrificing themselves so nobody can use them as weapons ever again. There is a look between Eleven and Kali at the end of the episode where it seems like El has agreed to this plan. Even if they win, she might not be coming back.
Ross Duffer confirmed this is intentional: “There’s a sense of dread or uncertainty that pervades. Even if they are to succeed, there’s a big question mark in terms of what’s going to happen to Eleven.”
The other revelation is what the military was actually doing with Kali. Dr. Kay kept her hooked up to IVs, transfusing her blood to pregnant women to create more powered children. Eleven’s blood is apparently the key ingredient for future weapons of mass destruction. So even if she survives, can she really live a normal life knowing what she represents?
One problem with the whole plan though. If the bridge collapses while anyone is inside, they die. Everything inside gets sucked into nothingness.
The Eleven Problem
I need to talk about this because it is driving me crazy.
Eleven has become one of the weakest parts of this show. I am not the only one saying it. Fans have been pointing out for years that keeping her sidelined from the rest of the cast creates this weird alienating effect where her scenes feel like they belong to a completely different series. The breakout star of Season 1 somehow became the show’s largest burden.
Part of it is the power creep problem. She is too strong, which makes the show predictable. Every season follows the same pattern: bad stuff happens, everyone struggles, Eleven shows up at the end and wins. She has become a deus ex machina. There is no tension when you know the answer to every problem is just El screaming and extending her hand.
The other issue is that she has no personality anymore. In Season 1, there was something compelling about watching this vulnerable, traumatised girl try to understand normal life. Now she is just the weapon everyone points at the monster. Season 5 somehow made this worse by giving more screen time to Holly Wheeler while the supposed main character gets sidelined. Fans are rightfully asking why a character we barely know is suddenly central to the plot while Eleven, Hopper, and Joyce get nothing.
And do not even get me started on the Kali of it all. This character appeared in one episode across four seasons, was universally disliked, and is now somehow a huge part of the endgame. The scene where Eleven goes emo and hangs out with Eight’s gang remains the most bizarre storyline in the show’s history, and they decided to double down on it.
The Theories That Are Definitely Wrong
The D&D Dream Theory
The full theory is that Will did not survive season one, and everything since has been Mike’s D&D campaign to cope with grief.
Ross Duffer killed it dead. It is not a make believe D&D game that Mike is running in his basement. That is not a real theory.
Matt added that he gets frustrated when shows take the “it’s not real” route. This one is buried.
Eddie Returns as a Vampire
Some fans hoped Joseph Quinn would return as an undead Eddie. The Duffers confirmed this is not happening, though they acknowledged it would make a fun spinoff comic.
Simple Heroic Sacrifice
The most common Reddit and TikTok prediction is that Eleven or Will dies to close the Upside Down. But if nobody has gotten it right, a straightforward sacrifice is too obvious.
The Duffers also said they are not trying to upset anyone and will not deliver Game of Thrones level carnage. Ross specifically said to “brace yourselves” but clarified it is “not a Red Wedding situation” and they will not “wipe out eight characters.” They are not doing anything for shock value.
Clean Vecna Redemption
The First Shadow revealed Henry was corrupted by the Mind Flayer, leading many to predict he will flip sides and help defeat the real villain. Too widely theorised now. If nobody has cracked it, a simple face turn is not it.
The Clues Nobody Is Talking About
The Funko Pop Arrangement
On The Tonight Show, the Duffers were asked to arrange Funko Pop figures as a hint about the finale. Here is what they did:
- Put Barb off to the side
- Positioned Steve precariously on the edge before knocking him off
- Placed Vecna on top of Henry and Will
Not on top of Eleven. Not on top of Mike. Henry and Will specifically.
This is not random. They are telling us the resolution involves these three characters connecting in some way. Will has been linked to Vecna since the very first episode. In Volume 1, he developed Eleven-like powers, slaying Demogorgons and wiping blood from his nose just like El. In Volume 2, his arc is explicitly about identity and who he really is.
Vecna is Henry Creel transformed. Henry is still in there somewhere.
What if the ending is not about destroying Vecna, but about separating Henry from what he became?
The Spinoff Tease
Ross Duffer revealed something interesting: “There’s one small scene in the finale that gives a hint as to what the spin-off will be. We’ll see if people pick up on it.”
Matt seemed surprised he even mentioned it. So whatever happens in the finale, it is setting up something new. That suggests the ending is not total annihilation. Something survives. Someone continues.
The North Star
The Duffers say the final moment has been fixed since early on: “For as long as I can remember, we knew what the final scene was going to be and we always felt confident in that. It provided us with a North Star.”
Matt added: “I hope by the time people get to the end that it feels like there’s something inevitable about what happens.”
Inevitable. Not shocking. Not subversive. Inevitable.
My Theory: The Extraction
Here is what I think happens, and why nobody has guessed it.
Everyone is focused on closing the Upside Down. Destroy the exotic matter, collapse the bridge, win. But the Duffers said they studied Six Feet Under, Friday Night Lights, and The Sopranos for their finale. Shows known for emotional gut punches, not explosive victories.
The real ending is that Will does not die. He extracts Henry from Vecna.
Think about it. Will’s connection to the Upside Down is not a curse. It is the key. He is the only one who can reach the human part of Henry that has been buried under Vecna’s corruption since the Mind Flayer got to him.
Eleven created the Upside Down. Will was its first victim. Together, they undo it. Not by destroying it, but by removing the consciousness that sustains it.
The twist is that Henry Creel comes back. Not as a villain, but as a broken man who has to live with what he did. Vecna dies, but Henry survives. That is the tragedy nobody predicted.
The monster becomes human again. And now he has to exist with those memories.
The Upside Down collapses because it no longer has a mind holding it together. The exotic matter was just scaffolding. The real structure was always Henry’s psyche.
A Theory Nobody Is Considering: Eleven Stays
Here is one I have not seen anyone float.
What if Eleven does not die, but chooses to stay in the Upside Down permanently? Not as a sacrifice, but as a warden.
Think about it. Her blood creates weapons. She cannot exist in the normal world without being a target or a threat. The military will never stop hunting her. Dr. Kay proved that. But the Upside Down needs a consciousness to exist. Without Vecna, it collapses.
What if Eleven becomes its new keeper? She closes the gates from the inside, taking Kali with her. They become guardians of a dead dimension, making sure nothing ever comes through again.
It would explain the Kali setup that everyone hates. Maybe the point is not that Kali is important to defeating Vecna. Maybe the point is that Eleven needs someone to stay with her. Someone who understands what she is. Someone she does not have to explain herself to.
Mike loses El. But El does not die. She is just somewhere he cannot follow.
That is more heartbreaking than death.
The Forced Identity Arc Problem
This is where the show has been quietly fumbling, and it matters for the ending.
Robin worked because she was written as a character first. Season three gave her personality, humour, chemistry, and relevance. Her sexuality was a reveal, not her defining trait. After that, the writing slowly flipped. Suddenly her entire function became awkward monologues about dating, social anxiety, and reminding the audience of her identity. The plot bent around it instead of the other way around.
Will is worse.
For four seasons, Will’s connection to the Upside Down was framed as trauma, sensitivity, and otherworldly intuition. Then in Volume 2, the show abruptly started reframing that same arc as a modern identity allegory. Lingering looks. Side glances. A van speech that exists almost entirely to signal subtext rather than advance the story.
The problem is not that Will is gay. The problem is that the writers started treating that revelation as the payoff.
It is not.
Will’s story has always been about being marked by something beyond his control, losing childhood early, and carrying a burden nobody else understands. Reducing that to a checkbox moment cheapens the character and flattens years of setup.
And that is exactly why the ending cannot just be about who Will loves.
If the Duffers stick the landing, Will’s identity resolves through purpose, not labels. He matters because of what he does, not because of what he represents. Anything else turns four seasons of supernatural groundwork into a Twitter applause break.
This is also why the extraction ending fits. It reclaims Will as the core of the mythology instead of a vessel for messaging. His sensitivity becomes strength again. His connection becomes functional. His arc closes through action, not announcement.
If the show ends with Will simply being accepted for who he is, that is safe, expected, and frankly boring. If it ends with Will choosing to use what broke him to save everyone else, that is Stranger Things.
The Bittersweet Ending
The Duffers keep using the word bittersweet. Cast members describe the finale like a punch.
Here is what that looks like.
The Upside Down closes. Hawkins is saved. Maybe nobody from the main cast dies. But:
- Eleven loses her powers permanently, or she stays behind
- Will’s link is severed
- Henry Creel has to live as a human being who murdered his family and terrorised a town across multiple dimensions
- The party has no reason to stay together anymore
The shared trauma was what bonded them. Without the supernatural stakes, they are just people who knew each other in high school.
The monster dies. The man lives. The kids grow up. The party disbands. Not because anyone died, but because that is what happens.
Final Thoughts
The finale drops December 31st. Two hours. The Duffers promised tears.
Everyone is asking who dies. I think the real question is what happens when the monster becomes human again, and the heroes have to live ordinary lives.
That is the coming of age story. Not a sacrifice. Not a twist. Just the brutal, beautiful reality that childhood ends, friendships fade, and growing up means losing the very things that made you special.
See you on the other side of the bridge.