Stranger Things Season 5 ending explained: Does Eleven survive? Every character's fate revealed

Spoilers ahead.

That....was painful to watch. The fans who stayed up till 5 am or woke up at 5 am as yours truly, still are trying to unpack the 2 hour finale of Stranger Things.

But here goes. Let's gather the particles and string together what happened.

The final episode kicks off right after “The Bridge,” and Vecna shows the might of his power, which includes twisting people's worst fears and memories, and someone, give Jamie Campbell his Emmy right now.

The party splits up as that seems to be the solution to everything. Eleven teams up with Kali, Hopper, and Murray to storm Hawkins Lab, while the rest of the gang heads to the radio tower for the climb. In a quick trip down memory lane inside the Void, El, Kali, and Max confront Henry’s twisted past in the Creel house. But as expected, Vecna’s having none of it. He is out for murder, and murder, he will.

After Kali’s shocking near-demise, Eleven joins the group in the Abyss for the series’ epic action set piece. And so, we see, the Mind Flayer’s true form making a dramatic re-entrance, El vs. Vecna round two. Vecna is butchered by a fabulous Joyce Byers who finally has a role to play.

Somehow, the Party manages to pull together, but the finale doesn’t hold back. It hits hard, as Eleven sacrifices herself to destroy the Upside Down once and for all. El and Mike have their last conversation, so Mileven fans, keep your tissues with you.

Is Eleven dead? Well… maybe not

The show leaves Eleven’s fate deliciously ambiguous. Did she sacrifice herself to destroy the Upside Down? Sure, it looks that way. But Mike isn’t buying it. He theorises that the real El might have slipped away thanks to Kali’s magic trickery while everyone else thought she died. Stranger Things teases us further with a shot of El hiking through a serene, waterfall-covered landscape. Peaceful or plot twist in disguise?

Only Eleven knows. Some fans believe that Eleven will find her way to Mike again. Others worry that Mike is a little too optimistic. Nevertheless, the shot of him crying as he finishes the Dungeons and Dragons game does hurt.

Henry Creel’s powers were finally unpacked. Young Henry touches a mysterious glowing rock, absorbs Mind Flayer particles, and he’s in a hive-mind situation that gives him the psychic powers we’ve feared all season. Vecna’s origin story confirms it: he didn’t control the Mind Flayer—it’s more like a twisted soulmate situation.

How the party took Vecna down

The Party’s plan: Half genius, half disaster. The radio tower alignment? Off. Hopper yanks El too soon from the sensory tank, because Vecna plays with his worst fears and taunts him for 'losing another daughter'. But somehow, it all comes together. Nancy becomes bait, the Mind Flayer shows up in full terrifying glory, and El jumps inside to confront Vecna directly. Spike throw, monster collapse, axe decapitation, thank you Joyce again (We won't tire of thanking her for a bit)

Who survives, thrives, or finally gets peace?

Stranger Things goes out in true Hawkins fashion: emotional, explosive, slightly messy, and searing. However, the true star of the finale: Vecna. He came, he saw, he almost destroyed everything… and we loved every terrifying second of it.