Warning: Spoilers ahead for the Stranger Things Season 5 finale.
Courtesy of Netflix/Netflix © 2025
Stranger Things premiered its Season 5 finale on New Year’s Eve, closing out the final chapter of the show’s multi-part release. But a growing fan theory circulating on social media, dubbed “Conformity Gate,” suggests the ending viewers saw wasn’t the real one. In fact, some believe another episode is coming later this week.
In Episode 8, the Hawkins crew devises a final plan to enter the Upside Down, rescue the kidnapped children and defeat Vecna once and for all. Despite major obstacles — including the military discovering and interfering with their mission and Kali’s death — they locate Vecna’s lair deep in the Abyss, inside the Pain Tree, which is revealed to be the Mind Flayer itself.
With Eleven entering the Mind Flayer’s body to confront Vecna from within, the rest of the group attacks the monster from the outside. Will taps into the hive mind one last time to save Eleven and help her push Vecna’s body into a massive spike. Joyce delivers the killing blow, chopping off his head with an axe after he “f—ed with the wrong family.” (Read my full breakdown of the finale here.)
When the group returns to Hawkins after planting a bomb near the exotic matter, they’re intercepted by Dr. Kay and her soldiers. In a final sacrifice, Eleven chooses to go back into the Upside Down so her friends can live in peace — though whether she’s truly dead is up for debate, especially after Mike suggests during a D&D game that she may still be alive.
Eighteen months after Eleven’s apparent death, the finale presents what looks like a happy ending. The teens graduate from Hawkins High, with Dustin named valedictorian. The Wheelers survive the Demogorgon attack, Lucas and Max are going strong, and Hopper proposes to Joyce at Enzo’s.
Even the young adults have seemed to have found their footing: Robin is attending Smith College in Massachusetts, Steve is coaching Little League and teaching sex ed, Nancy takes a job at The Boston Herald, and Jonathan is a student at NYU working on an anti-capitalist cannibal film. They make a plan to meet once a month at Robin’s “weird” uncle’s home in Philly.
But hidden clues throughout the finale and Season 5 episodes have led fans to question whether this is truly the end — and whether reality itself could be something else entirely. That uncertainty has fueled a new theory centered on the Conformity Gate.
What Is The Stranger Things Conformity Gate Theory?
Courtesy of Netflix/Netflix © 2025
According to Conformity Gate believers, the epilogue viewers see at the end of Stranger Things Season 5 is an illusion orchestrated by Vecna — and he may not actually be dead after all.
Fans have compiled evidence and shared their theories on social media, pointing to subtle inconsistencies suggesting the finale’s seemingly perfect resolution is a manufactured reality rather than the truth.
One of the most talked-about examples comes from the graduation scene at Hawkins High. In the scene, several students appear to have their hands positioned in the same distinctive way Henry Creel often does. Members of the Wheeler family, including Nancy, Mike, and Karen, also debut shorter hairstyles that closely resemble Henry’s, further fueling speculation.
Other details have only deepened the mystery: a blank yellow poster hanging in the background of the graduation, radio tower dials that shift colors between parts, and multiple boxes of the “WHATZIT?” board game scattered throughout the epilogue.
Some fans have even analyzed the final shot of the neatly arranged Dungeons & Dragons books, claiming the spines subtly spell out “X A LIE,” which they interpret as a message that everything shown in Dimension X was exactly that — a lie.
With both Suzie and Vicke were absent from the epilogue, some theorists believe Vecna left them out entirely because he didn’t know who they were, and therefore couldn’t include them in the ending he allegedly constructed.
Why Do Fans Think Stranger Things Episode 9 Is Coming January 7, 2026?
COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
According to Conformity Gate theorists, the final episode of Stranger Things could be released on Jan. 7, 2026. Why that date? Netflix previously shared a cryptic post reading, “Your future is on the way,” accompanied by a Jan. 7 tag, leading some members of the fandom to speculate that it may be connected to the theory.
January 7 is also significant in general because it marks Orthodox Christmas, which aligns with Season 5’s release pattern of dropping episodes on major holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Has Netflix Or The Duffer Brothers Said Anything About Conformity Gate?
COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
Neither Netflix nor the Duffer Brothers has acknowledged the Conformity Gate theory, and it’s unlikely the idea will come to fruition. After all, the streamer marketed the supersized Episode 8 as the official series finale, with more than 500 theaters screening it across North America.
While the theory is undeniably clever, there’s no indication it factored into the ending the Duffer Brothers ultimately delivered. (I’ve reached out to Netflix for comment.)
The Duffers also recently told Netflix’s Tudum that they had thoroughly thought out the ending for each character to ensure the actors were satisfied.
“More than I would say is typical, we really talked a lot with all the actors to make sure they were content with where their characters ended up. That was important to us,” Matt said.
While Stranger Things, as we know it, is likely over, the franchise itself is just getting started. Netflix currently has two spinoffs in development, including Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, a new animated series slated to debut sometime in 2026.
The second project is a live-action series set in a new location with an entirely different cast. Ross Duffer confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the spinoff will touch on the origins of the mysterious rock containing Mind Flayer particles, first discovered by young Henry in Season 5.
“Because we had said that there is something in the finale that is going to connect to the spinoff. The spinoff is not about rocks or mining the rocks, but I would say that’s the loose end that’s not tied up that will be tied up,” he said.
On Jan. 5, Netflix released the trailer for One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, a documentary set to premiere on Jan. 12. The behind-the-scenes special “follows the cast, creators, and crew as they bring the final season to life — and say goodbye to the show that changed them forever,” per the synopsis.
The final documentary is another sign that the beloved series has ended, though theories like Conformity Gate continue to fuel speculation online. Ultimately, fans will learn on Jan. 7 whether the viral theory holds any truth.
The Stranger Things Season 5 finale is streaming on Netflix. Watch the trailer for One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 below.
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This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
