‘Stranger Things 5’: 13 Burning Questions Ahead of the Series Finale

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from Season 5, Volume 2 of “Stranger Things, now streaming on Netflix.

In one week, we’ll have all the answers. But for now, we’ve got a lot of questions.

During the Christmas Day release of Volume 2 of “Stranger Things 5,” many key plot points were fleshed, and we received a lot of information heading into the series finale, dropping on Dec. 31. We learned things we never knew — like, that Eleven’s powers come from Henry’s blood, as transfused by Dr. Brenner, and that the Upside Down isn’t its own dimension, but instead is a wormhole connecting our world and Vecna’s, which Dustin has named the Abyss.

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As we process “Shock Jock,” “Escape from Camazotz” and “The Bridge,” the latest “Stranger Things” episodes, we’ve rounded up the biggest burning questions ahead of the finale.

BIG QUESTION: What is the ultimate importance of Nov. 6?

It’s the night Will Byers went missing in the series premiere in 2016, and it’s the night Vecna wants to enact his plan to use the children he’s kidnapped to bring the Abyss and Earth together — but why on this date? What was the significance in the first place that led Vecna to take Will?

AND, why does Vecna want to bring the Abyss and Earth together?

Is he just a nihilist who wants to burn it all down at this point? Or is something else going on?

SOMETHING WE’D LOVE TO KNOW: How did Hopper, El and Kali get out of the Upside Down?

The Upside Down was in chaos, falling apart at the seams, and Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and Dustin were still stuck down there — but Hopper, El and Kali managed to get out off-screen. By the start of Episode 7, Hopper and the girls are back in Hawkins, but we don’t see how they managed to get out amid the chaos after Nancy shot a hole in the exotic matter barrier. What did they do to get back out?

WHILE WE’RE AT IT: What blocked the Demogorgon from getting into the elevator to get Max and Lucas?

That Demo was coming right at them and when it jumped, something prevented it from getting through. And Karen Wheeler could only do so much in a day to save the kids, so what else was going on there?

BIG QUESTION: What stopped the white goo from spreading in the Upside Down?

Nancy and Jonathan were saved from certain death in the Upside Down when the world stopped melting into white goo around them, and hardened enough that they could walk on it. While this happened just in time to keep the two alive — but not their relationship — it’s not clear what caused it all to stop and stabilize, as the Upside Down is still seemingly compromised after Nancy shot through the barrier.

SOMETHING WE’D LOVE TO KNOW: Also, what happened to the ring?

No, it’s not that important, but it was flung on the floor and ultimately, it was what showed them that everything had hardened so… did someone pick it up?

BIG QUESTION: Who is the man young Henry finds with the briefcase down in that mine shaft in the Nevada desert?

Fans who have seen the Broadway play “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” will have a leg up on what is going on here, but it’s still largely a mystery. We know Henry had a traumatic experience in the desert as a child, after which he was never the same. “First Shadow” reveals Henry entered an alternate dimension, known as Dimension X, and returned after 12 hours with altered blood, a changed personality and psychokinetic powers. Who is the stranger Henry came across, what was he holding onto — and what exactly happened to Henry to make him into this darker person?

BIG QUESTION: What is the connection between Dimension X, the Abyss and the Upside Down?

We now know the Upside Down is a wormhole that connects Earth to this other world Vecna inhabits, the Abyss. Vecna was banished to the Abyss at Hawkins Lab by El back when he was Henry/One. Despite their shared mistreatment from Brenner, El refused to join Henry in his plans for world domination and ripped a hole in reality that pushed him through to the Abyss. And Brenner, the other scientists and the military put up the exotic-matter barrier that stabilizes the Upside Down and separates the wormhole that goes between the Abyss and Earth from nothingness. And are the Abyss and Dimension X the same thing?

BIG QUESTION: Will Eleven sacrifice herself?

At the end of Episode 7, Kali told El that, for everyone’s benefit, they should kill themselves after defeating Vecna. It’s a sacrifice, Kali says, the two need to make so that the military cannot use their blood to try to create new kids like them, ending the cycle that began when Brenner gave Henry’s blood to pregnant women to create El, Kali and the other telekinetic kids at Hawkins Lab. But will El actually go through with that?

BIG QUESTION: Will any main characters die in the finale?

In Episode 5, El got very angry with Hopper for having revealed that he would have tried to fight Vecna alone, and for wearing the suicide vest as a failsafe. But now she’s hiding her own secrets — from Hopper, and from everyone — about Kali’s plan. If Eleven does somehow make it out alive, doesn’t someone have to die, even if Matt Duffer told Variety that the show “is not Game of Thrones'”? (And will it be Hopper, in some incredibly noble way?)

ALSO: Is Will going to reveal his feelings to Mike?

Will came out in Episode 7, and was embraced by support and love from his friends and family members. And he seems to accept himself for who he is, and, on Robin’s advice, not to rely on reciprocated feelings from someone to feel validated. But does that mean Will won’t have a more direct conversation with Mike about his crush before the end of the series? And if he does, how will Mike react to it? (Also, not that Mike understood this slight, but was it kind of mean for him to refer to Mike as his Tammy?)

BIG QUESTION: How much will Max be able to get inside Henry’s head?

After Max died and was brought back to life in the Season 4 finale, her physical body was in a Hawkins hospital — but her mind was in the Abyss with Henry, in Vecna’s mindspace. As Max makes it clear to Holly, she’s spent the past 18 months exploring that terrain as she successfully hid from him. She knows he’s afraid of the cave, and that he has vulnerabilities. As they gear up for their final battle with Vecna, Max tells Eleven to call upon her so they can use that knowledge against him.

AND FINALLY: Will Nancy and Steve end up together?

Let’s end with some silliness. Now that Nancy and Jonathan have called it quits, does this pave the way for Steve to get his dream of having a bunch of little nuggets with his ex? Just because “Jancy” is over and she said nothing was really there with Steve, we all saw the chemistry. At the very least, it does open a door that has been firmly closed since Season 2.

Emily Longeretta and Kate Aurthur contributed to this list.

Inside
the Upside Down

• The Duffer Brothers break down all the Volume 2 spoilers
• The Duffer Brothers break down all the Volume 1 spoilers
• Noah Schnapp on That Scene in Volume 2
• Noah Schnapp on Turning Into the [SPOILER] in Volume 1
• Sadie Sink on Max’s Key Role in Volume 1
• Nell Fisher on Playing Holly Wheeler in Season 5
• The Cast of ‘Stranger Things’ on the Show’s Final Days
• Variety’s “Stranger Things” Oct. 15 Cover Story About the Duffers
• Cara Buono on Karen’s Kick-Ass Hero Moment (At Last)
• The Duffer Brothers on the ‘Stranger Things’ Spinoff
• Linda Hamilton on Being Millie Bobby Brown’s ‘Biggest Fan’
• Shawn Levy on ‘Sticking the Landing’ for Season 5
• David Harbour on How ‘Stranger Things’ Has Changed Him