'Stranger Things' ending explained: Duffer Brothers break down the finale

After nearly 10 years, the story of "Stranger Things" has come to a definitive close.

Fans might still have questions, and thankfully, creators Matt and Ross Duffer broke things down in an interview with Netflix Tudum.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

The final Dungeons & Dragons campaign

The "Stranger Things" finale ended with one last Dungeons & Dragon game with Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink).

The Duffer Brothers said that ending has been planned for "a very long time."

"It felt right to go full circle," Ross said.

"This is about this group of characters saying goodbye to their childhood. That basement, specifically the Dungeons & Dragons game, represents their childhoods [and it’s] how we first met them as an audience. To say goodbye to it, you have to play one last time," he added.

It turns out that the similar scene in Season 1 was the first they ever shot.

"It was very emotional and nostalgic to shoot that scene," Matt said. "What was happening on the day [of filming] and what the actors were feeling and what we were feeling very much mirrored the scene."

And when Mike and the party left the basement, it was them "leaving their childhood behind."

When Mike's younger sister, Holly, along with her friends, entered the basement, Mike understood that, "It is their time to leave it behind and pass the torch to the next group of kids."

Eleven's ambiguous fate

Is Eleven really dead? Or is Mike right and she somehow made it out? That's the question everyone has been left with.

However, the Duffer Brothers doesn't have a clear answer to that either.

What they did say is that there was "never a version of the story where Eleven was hanging out with the gang at the end."

"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," Ross said.

However, he said they thought it would be "beautiful" if the characters continued to believe in Eleven's happier ending.

"The fact that they’re believing in it, we just thought it was such a better way to end the story and a better way to represent the closure of this journey and their journey from children to adults."

Matt added that even if Eleven was out there, the most that the characters 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," he said.

The future of the party

In the finale, it's implied that Max and Lucas settle down together, Dustin goes to college but still hangs out with Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Will moves to a new city where he is more accepted, and Mike becomes a writer.

Ross said that they wanted the characters to continue the journeys they had all started.

"So, of course, Dustin’s going to continue seeking knowledge. But we wanted to show that bromance is going strong with Steve because they had a bumpy Season 5," he said.

As for Mike, Matt described him as a storyteller, "so to us, it makes sense that he would continue to tell stories."

"And with Will, we like the idea of him going to a bigger city where he would be more accepted in a situation like that. We wanted each of the characters to find happiness but in their own specific ways," he added.

What about the older teens?

In the last parts of the finale, Steve is revealed to be a little league coach in Hawkins; Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) had dropped out of college and went on to work; Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) is studying in Smith College; and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) is a film student at the New York University and is working on a film.

Matt said that it "always made sense" to them that Steve would stay in Hawkins.

"He just feels like that kid that you grew up with that ends up staying in their hometown and that he would be working with kids. That’s something we’ve discovered he’s very good at. We like the idea that he would be teaching and coaching," he said.

While Steve doesn't have kids of his own, "that's imminent, I think," Matt said.

As for Nancy, she's more independent than the regular suburban girl, "which is one reason she and Jonathan aren’t together at the end."

"She’s still trying to find herself and what she wants from the world, so that’s why we wanted to give her that ending."

As for Robin's choice of school, it was Maya who suggested Smith College.

Lastly, Jonathan ending up at NYU has been set up for a long time. Jonathan's dream to go there was mentioned as early as Season 1.

"So it made us happy to see him finally realize his dream," Ross said.

What's in Montauk?

Nothing, really. When Jim Hopper (David Harbour) revealed to Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) that he received an offer to become the police chief there, fans wondered what the writers were cooking up.

Ross said it was just a shoutout, "because the show was originally going to be set in Montauk." 

"It felt like a nice little wink to the superfans of the show who were aware of that nugget."

Steve's near-death experience

For most of the 10-year run of "Stranger Things," fans had been fearing that one day, Steve would be killed off.

In the finale, it almost happened — thankfully, Jonathan was there to save him.

"It wasn’t designed to torture fans who are terrified that Steve is gonna die. I’ve never really understood why they’re so worried about Steve dying," Matt said.

The scene was about Steve and Jonathan "coming together," as the creators wanted the pair to find common ground by the end of the show. They were the last remaining source of tension within the group at that point of the episode.

"And Joe and Charlie in real life are very close, and we wanted to tap into that bromance and have that reflected on screen in some way. We wanted the least likely person to save Steve," Matt added.

Yes, Eddie inspired Dustin's valedictorian speech

Dustin made a rebellious valedictorian speech at the gang's graduation ceremony, and fans noticed it was a callback to what Eddie (Joseph Quinn) wanted to do.

"A lot of it was inspired by Eddie — even at the end where he rips the diploma and flips off the principal, which is something that Eddie said he wanted to do," Ross confirmed.

"A lot of it is honoring Eddie and what Hellfire had been. A lot of what Hellfire represents and a lot of what Dustin’s talking about is one of the major themes of the show, which is that this is a story about outsiders and outcasts. It’s about banding together and embracing your otherness to defeat the evils of this world," he added.

Why didn't Henry have a redemption arc?

We got to learn more about Vecna in the finale, and there was even a moment when viewers thought that Henry (Jamie Campbell Bower) would turn against the Mind Flayer.

While the writers did discuss that at length, they decided that he's "gone so far at this point."

"And the only way to justify that is to go, 'I chose this, and I believe in this still,'" Ross said.

Henry-slash-Vecna might have been shaken by the memory of how it all started for him, and he might have just been contolled by the Mind Flayer, but ultimately, "it doesn’t matter because he chooses the side of the Mind Flayer at the end of the day." 

"Stranger Things" debuted in Netflix in 2016. 

Set in the 1980s, the story starts with the mysterious disappearance of Will Byers and subsequent appearance of Eleven, a girl with psychokinetic abilities, which leads to the uncovering of supernatural entities and government conspiracies.

The final episode was released on New Year's Day (Philippine time). —JCB, GMA Integrated News