Featured Image Credit: Capital FM/YouTube
Topics: Stranger Things, Netflix, Millie Bobby Brown
William Morgan
Topics: Stranger Things, Netflix, Millie Bobby Brown
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the finale of Stranger Things
Stranger Things has at last come to an end, after nine and a half years of highs and lows with the Hawkins crew and their mysterious battle against the denizens of the 'Upside Down'.
Millions of fans around the world have tuned in to see how the show ends after 42 episodes and five seasons, with the finale dropping on the streaming platform on New Year's Eve.
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The explosive final episode drew the plot of Stranger Things to a close with an ultimate showdown between Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), her Hawkins allies, and the mind flayer hive-mind Vecna, who wants to merge Earth with the Upside Down.
But how the show's creators, the Duffer brothers, chose to end Eleven's story has not satisfied everyone.
And fans reckon that might include Bobby Brown herself, with fans digging into the 'meaning' behind some of the 21-year-old's more cryptic statements in the run-up to Stranger Things' final seasons.
During one particular interview given during the press tour for season five, Bobby Brown shared with CapitalFM the moment she learned how Eleven's story would come to a close.
With her time on the show set to end after almost a decade, the star had contacted the Duffers to talk about what would happen to Eleven.
"And then I came over, and there was a whiteboard... I just saw my ending and thought 'ooohhh' and walked away very slowly," the star said.
As you'll know, Eleven dies at the end in order to bring the saga of the Upside Down to an end.
Well, probably.
Ross Duffer said in an interview posted by Netflix after the finale dropped that 'there was never a version of the story where Eleven was hanging out with the gang at the end.'
While this might seem a bit of a callous treatment for one of the show's main characters, removing Eleven from the equation was essential for the brothers to bring the narrative to a conclusion and to get across the deeper meaning behind the show's finale.
Eleven staying behind to close the Upside Down with her magical powers, while the rest of the Hawkins crew continues to grow up and become adults, is symbolic of what many of the characters have gone through over the last five seasons.
Ross Duffer explained: "For us and our writers, we didn’t want to take her powers away. She represents magic in a lot of ways and the magic of childhood. 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."
But as viewers will know, while it looks like Eleven is gone forever, some of the other characters chose to believe that she found some other way out, possibly using her sister Kali's powers.
This is not a hint that there will be a sixth season, however, as Ross added: "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."
Putting the, ahem, final nail in the coffin for those who want Eleven back, Matt Duffer explained that, even if she did survive, none of the Hawkins gang would ever know.
He said: "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.
"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."