Warning: this article contains major spoilers for the Stranger Things finale
Stranger Things fans have been driving themselves wild with theories ever since the show came to a dramatic end with a feature-length finale on New Year's Eve.
And now they think a subtle detail in a new documentary has revealed how the beloved sci-fi 80s series was actually supposed to end.
After five seasons and almost a decade on TV, fans around the world were forced to say goodbye to their favourite TV show - and the last episode prompted mixed reactions.
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The nail-biting finale ended with almost everyone getting a happy ending, aside from poor Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) who sacrificed herself to protect her friends.
After the Hawkins crew defeated the baddies, Vecna and the Mind Flayer, they attempted to blow up the Upside Down for good measure.
But after some convincing from her telekinetic 'sister' Kali, Eleven decided, without telling anyone her plans, to stay in the Upside Down as it was destroyed and ultimately take her own life to make sure a gate never opened to the terrifying alternate world again.
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Following an emotional goodbye with Mike (Finn Wolfhard), she vanished from view as the Upside Down disappeared.
However, the Duffer brothers, who wrote, created and produced the show, kept her 'death' ambiguous and have left it up to viewers to decide what happened to Eleven.
An emotional epilogue scene sees Mike explain to the others that he believes Eleven is still out there somewhere and living somewhere far away where nobody knows who she is.
He believes she actually faked her death in order to protect them, with Kali also faking her death and creating a vision of Eleven disappearing that wasn't actually real to trick everyone.
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And now, with the release of One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 yesterday (12 January), the belief that this theory is real has only gotten stronger - or at least it was supposed to be true.
Eagle-eyed viewers picked up on a whiteboard in the writers room which outlined the plan for the finale.
Although it only appeared on the screen for mere seconds, one social media user screenshotted and transcribed the entire thing, pointing out the differences between the actual episode eight and what was 'supposed to happen'.
They deduced from the whiteboard that the original finale could have seen El and Kali's (Linnea Berthelsen) plan to fake her death be proven true, with Hopper (David Harbour) in on it.
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Fans particularly got this from a line which reads: "Hopper tends to Kali, heart to heart, a new plan".
The notes also end with: "Upside Down is destroyed, El is gone," not dead, and says she 'says goodbye to everyone with a happy memory,' which didn't happen.
Not to mention that it seems to say Kay and Akers kill each other, which also doesn't happen in the finale.
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The fan who noticed all of this (@bettyslilys) shared the screenshot on X alongside the caption: "HOLY S***!! GUYS THEY COMPLETELY CHANGED THE ENDING TO MAKE IT MORE AMBIGUOUS.
"Hopper knows about El's fakeout and is on it. Kay and Akers were supposed to kill each other. Hopper learns about the new plan from Kali. It explains his acting on the bench. Wtf this is SO MUCH better."
A second viewer agreed: "I knew Hopper knew what was up and wasn't emotional because he knows she's out there."
While a third wrote: "WHAT Hopper being in on it makes so much sense."
However, someone else pointed out: "Everyone celebrating that this means she’s alive but not understanding that this means they changed the ending. This isn’t canon. It says she says goodbye to EVERYONE with a happy memory. That doesn’t happen so neither did any of this. They straight up said Kali died."
And another social media user agreed: "It would be great if it happened. But what's done can't be undone, sadly."
Tyla has contacted the Duffer brothers and Netflix for comment.
Topics: Stranger Things, Netflix, Millie Bobby Brown, TV And Film, Documentaries, Social Media, Twitter, Entertainment
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Madison Burgess