***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Whew! What a whirlwind of a show!
The epic Netflix series Stranger Things did what most television series can’t. It successfully landed the series finale — earning a Rotten Tomatoes score of 85% among 147 critics’ reviews. Not to mention pulling off the feat of securing Prince‘s music to lead the soundtrack!
Related: How Stranger Things Secured Prince Songs Never Before Allowed In TV Shows
But still, you can’t please everyone. And some fans are SUPER pissed with how the nostalgic story ended… specifically the ending for Millie Bobby Brown‘s character, Eleven.
She was the crew’s very own Mage, and she fulfilled her mission in defeating Vecna and The Mind Flayer. Unfortunately, the threat of the government kidnapping her to create more psychic phenoms would always loom as long as she was alive. To ensure no other kid would be forced to endure the hellish childhood she experienced, Eleven made the devastating choice to end her life inside The Upside Down as it collapsed.
Or did she??
Related: Millie Bobby Brown Speaks Out After David Harbour Rumors
As the finale neared its final moments, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) revealed something to the rest of the gang. He could go on with his life devastated about her death, or he could believe a scenario in which she didn’t really die.
In this theory, he says, it’s possible that Kali (Eleven’s psychic sister), in her last moments alive, could have still had time to help Eleven create an illusion in which only the appearance of Eleven vanished with the Upside Down — not the actual, physical bodied Eleven. That Kali uses her powers to project an image of Eleven at the entrance of The Upside Down portal, distracting everyone, while the real Eleven escapes. After successfully dodging the military, El travels to a small village to live out the rest of her life. No more battling bad guys. No more government agents who only want to manipulate her powers for geopolitical warfare.
But the question is, was this what really happened? Or just a fantasy Mike needed to create in order to move forward with his life? Let’s dig into all the clues (below)!
El’s Kryptonite
Mike starts piecing it together at high school graduation. See, there is a moment during said graduation when Mike clearly experiences an epiphany as the loudspeakers blare their frequencies. Fans say this must be when he started realizing Eleven had to still be alive. Why? Because back when The Upside Down was collapsing, the government had been playing the frequency that terrorizes Eleven and prohibits her from using her powers. When they do so, it hurts Eleven so much she always falls down and covers her ears. But during that scene, even with their speakers blaring, she was holding strong at The Upside Down’s entrance. She wasn’t affected by the government’s frequencies at all. How could this be possible?? So fans believe this supports the theory that the Eleven everyone saw there wasn’t actually Eleven but a projected illusion of her, a mirage if you will.
No Nose Bleeding
Another piece of evidence? During that pivotal moment, we all saw Eleven bring Mike into her mind to psychically communicate with him. Now, usually when she does this, she’s submerged in water. But here she’s not. Also, whenever she’s done this before, her nose in her physical body always starts bleeding. In this scene, after bringing Mike into her mind to tell him good-bye, her nose did not bleed. Another strong support to argue that the Eleven everyone saw was just a projected image and not her physical self.
Body Body Body Body
If that’s not enough to convince you, fans say Eleven’s arm tattoo of “011” is not visible on either arm of what they believe is the projected image of her. Fans also note how “Eleven” is standing in the same stance Kali was both forced into when the government experimented on her, along with the same twitches of the hand. This supports the idea that Kali was fueling the projection of El with her powers.
Bookshelf Clue
But wait, there’s more! On the bookshelf at the end of the episode, apparently you can see a book called The Empty Copper Sea — a novel about a character who fakes their own death to escape their current life. That cannot be a coincidence. Can it?
David Bowie’s Heroes
The finale’s credits song is David Bowie‘s Heroes. This song has been played before in the series… when Will was believed to be dead but he wasn’t. And when Hopper was believed to be dead but wasn’t. So, always when there’s a character that’s still alive… Innnnnnnteresting….
But What About Kali Dying?
Think none of this can be true because Kali was shot and wouldn’t have the strength? Here, watch TikToker duo Just The Nobodys explain this one and more:
@justthenobodys Stranger Things 5 Finale Theory on how Eleven is still alive! #theory #strangerthings #strangerthings5 #vecna #eleven
♬ original sound – Just The Nobodys
So what do U think?? Is there still hope for Eleven? Did The Duffer Brothers leave enough evidence in their show to clear a path for a reboot in the future? Let us know your thoughts (below)!
And until that hopeful reboot, we leave you with the immortal music of the one, the only, Prince…
[Image via YouTube/Netflix.]
