Stranger Things creators explain why Eleven’s controversial ending ‘had to’ happen

Warning: this article contains major spoilers for the Stranger Things finale

The Duffer brothers have finally shed some light on Eleven's Stranger Things ending - including exactly why they think it 'had to' happen.

And it turns out, as previously-unseen footage from the writer's room has shown, coming to the monumental and controversial decision wasn't exactly an easy one. Creators, writers and producers Ross and Matt Duffer weren't always on the same page about how it should play out.

It's been almost two weeks now since Stranger Things fans bid farewell to their favourite show forever, as it aired it's two-hour long, epic finale on New Year's Eve.

Now, fans have been treated to an inside look at the making of the fifth and final series, in a new Netflix documentary called One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, which was released today (12 January).

In it, we see the emotional moment the cast found out what their characters' fates were, as well as getting to see the cast film their final scenes.

A new Stranger Things documentary has revealed how the Duffer brothers settled on Eleven's ending (Netflix/YouTube)

And as we say, we also got a very interesting look into the TV show's writers room - including how Eleven's ending was decided.

To quickly recap, at the end of season five, Eleven, who's been played by Millie Bobby Brown for a whole decade, made the ultimate sacrifice and remained in the Upside Down as it was destroyed forever by a bomb put into place by the Hawkins crew.

After a tear-jerking goodbye with Mike (Finn Wolfhard), she disappears in order to make sure a gate can never open again, ultimately keeping her friends safe.

But during a final game of Dungeons and Dragons, Mike explains that he 'chooses to believe' Eleven is still out there somewhere, leaving her ending essentially open-ended and up to the viewers.

During the documentary, the Duffer brothers explained: "We went into production without a finished script for the finale. That was scary because we wanted to get it right. It was the most important script of the season."

The crew actually began filming the finale before it was completely written - mind-blowing, right?

In the finale, Eleven emotionally says goodbye to Mike before sacrificing herself (Netflix)

A heated discussion in the writers room saw Ross Duffer outline: "The whole episode has to be building towards 'Eleven is going to kill herself'."

But, Matt Duffer, who wasn't quite sold on having it be that straightforward, said: "If we are going to sell it as she is gonna kill herself, and then she kills herself..."

Writer Paul Dichter then chimed in with: "I think it's like, is she still deciding? Has she already decided?"

Ross responded: "I think you have to keep toying with the audience and I think what works with [episode] seven is like 'Oh my god, is she really going to go through with this?'. And it's what everyone is gonna keep expecting."

But, Matt disagreed, jumping in with: "We think she has made the choice to live... just kidding she hasn't, just kidding she has... like that's where I start to go.."

Ross argued: "I don't know if we have to play it like that. I don't know. We keep it ambiguous up to the moment she..," he trailed off.

Matt interrupted with: "No. If she comes back and has a moment with Hopper and gets in the van, I feel she has clearly made a choice to live. If you show me those images, she's made a choice."

Ross then interjected with: "No, not necessarily," and Matt, head in hands, says: "God, I don't know how to play this."

He later added: "I always thought she represents magic and so she has to leave, she has to be gone. In order for them to move on."

So there you have it, as many fans suspected and theorised before the finale, since Eleven was the one who brought all of the chaos into their lives, the Duffers felt the Hawkins crew had to say goodbye to her to truly get a new start, well away from demogorgons and Vecna.

Whether she's alive and living somewhere with 'three waterfalls' or not, that's for you to decide...