‘Stranger Things’ ending explained: Duffer Brothers talk about Millie Bobby Brown’s character, say ‘Eleven had to go away’

Spoiler alert: This article contains major spoilers to the 'Stranger Things 5' finale. Reader's discretion is advised if you have yet to watch the final episode, 'The Rightside Up.'‘Stranger Things’ is officially over. As the final episode for the fifth season rolled in on the early morning of January 1, fans could not believe that the show was finally coming to an end. The ending of the show was controversial at best, though the creators had already set everything up. ‘Stranger Things 5' finale received a lot of mixed reviews from fans and critics. While some celebrated the emotional ending, many thought that the finale did not do any justice to the show. One of the biggest debates for the finale of the hit show was surrounding Eleven's fate. As per a report shared by Netflix on their page, the Duffer Brothers revealed what the ending was and why they planned it that way. The creators of the show talked about how Eleven’s character never meant to end up with the gang in Mike’s basement, playing Dungeons and Dragons. They talked about how they truly wanted to keep the ending more open to the interpretation of the viewers rather than simply serve something on a platter. Ross also added that, “There was never a version of the story where Eleven was hanging out with the gang at the end.”Matt Duffer further added that, “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.”Ross Duffer also talked about the ambiguous ending of the show, citing that this had been perfectly planned by them and the show’s story writers. He revealed that Eleven always represented “magic in a lot of ways and the magic of childhood.” He further shared that they needed to show the young moving on from Hawkins and going forward with their lives.“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,” he further added.As the entire gang defeats the Mind Flayer and Mrs Byers, who quite gruesomely cuts off Vecna’s head, the story feels like it's over. All of them are sitting in the van, though chaos ensues as Dr Kay places bumpers in front of the gate and stops the team. As she tries to get her hands on Eleven, nobody can find her. Mike and Dustin whisper about how she may have run away and smile for a brief moment before their eyes land on Eleven, who stands on the edge of the Upside Down, looking over everyone. There’s a bomb ticking away near the exotic matter, and Eleven has decided what happens next. The team is all yelling at her not to do this; however, as the bomb blows, the Upside Down, as well as the Abyss, along with Eleven, get sucked away into nothing.Eleven is assumed to be dead in the finale; however, Mike, who was the storyteller of their campaigns, presents the team with one last ray of hope. He gives them another ending, which gives hope about how Eleven had gotten out just in time. How she ran away, as Kali, who had presumably died, kept up a facade for the last few moments of her life to make everyone believe that Eleven was truly gone. Mike, however tells the story that she got away and found a secluded place somewhere to call home.