'Stranger Things 5': Millie Bobby Brown explains Eleven's divisive decision in finale

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Fans might have been shocked and heartbroken at Eleven's final decision in the ending of "Stranger Things," but actress Millie Bobby Brown has been wanting it for a "very long time."

In an interview with Netflix Tudum, Millie said that as young girls, she and Eleven are similar in how they couldn't find their inner voice.

"I think this season, [Eleven] is able to find her voice and make a decision that's far greater than any she's ever made before," Millie said.

And the decision to sacrifice herself was "so beautiful and cathartic" for Millie.

In the final episode, Eleven chose to remain in the crumbling Upside Down to make sure her blood wouldn't be used to make more supernatural children, breaking the cycle of military scientists' exploitation.

"I just think it's incredibly important that it all ends for her, and the suffering and the pain end," Millie said.

However, Eleven's fate is up to audiences' interpretation, as Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) provided another possibility: Eleven might have faked her death and escaped, leaving Hawkins behind for a peaceful life. This theoretically could have been achieved if Kali had lived long enough to cast one more illusion. 

For her part, Millie also loves that alternate ending.

"I kinda love that ending, that there is just such a bigger purpose to Kali’s powers," Millie said. "Everything has a purpose, and everything is there for a reason."

The fate of Eleven has drawn mixed reactions among viewers. The show's creators, the Duffer Brothers, earlier explained why they ended "Stranger Things" with Eleven gone.

"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," Ross Duffer siad.

"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. 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. 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."

"Stranger Things" debuted in Netflix in 2016, and released its final episode on New Year's Day (Philippine time).

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. —JCB, GMA Integrated News