Well, it’s here. After all this waiting and all this preparation, Stranger Things is finally about to start unveiling itself for the last time. Season 5 is set to begin on Friendsgiving — the night before Turkey Day. It all begins just hours from when I’m writing this.
We’re not getting the entire season tomorrow. It’s coming in waves. So I want to go on record, officially, with my top three predictions for what we might be left with when the dust finally settles at the end of Season 5.
Fast-forward to 2026, as the new year begins and we’re watching that last episode: here are the three outcomes I think we could be confronted with.
1. It was all a Dungeons & Dragons campaign
I still give a little bit of credence to the idea that the entire show has really just been the kids playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Listen — this is the theory everyone loves to hate, but I kind of think it’d be pretty cool.
At first, I might dislike it because it feels a little predictable. But it does make a certain kind of sense. The notion that the kids have been role-playing this giant campaign the whole time… and that maybe, just maybe, the Duffer Brothers have been cutting in real footage of the kids at the table… and the final episode ends with them wrapping up the campaign — dice, maps, junk food, and all.
Maybe there’s “secret” footage tucked away, and that’s what we see as Season 5 closes.
Would people get mad? Oh yeah. Absolutely. And it wouldn’t exactly leave much room for spin-offs. So I still rank this as a low-probability ending… but not impossible.
2. Will Byers has been dead the entire time
The second possibility, I actually think, is much more plausible:
Will Byers never really made it back.
When he was taken into the Upside Down in Season 1, he died. Instead, Vecna — using whatever dark, twisted powers only Vecna can use — implanted himself into Will. That let him spy on the kids in the real world, learn their weaknesses, and work out how to take everything over.
This would be a brutally dark ending.
I think a lot of the kids may not survive this season. This is definitely Will’s season… but I’m not convinced it’s Will’s season to make it.
On my personal scale of probability, I put this one pretty high.
3. Hopper finally gets his date at Enzo’s
Now here’s the one I’m really rooting for — my highest-hope ending.
Back in 1985, Hopper went to Enzo’s restaurant by himself, waiting for a date. Joyce never showed up. She still owes him that dinner.
It’s been hinted at, teased, dangled… and I think it would be a perfect emotional bow, no matter how chaotic the rest of the story gets. My dream ending is this:
The final battle is done. The dust has literally and figuratively settled. Maybe we’ve lost people. Maybe Hawkins will never be the same. The music swells… the camera pulls away…
And then we cut to Hopper, sitting at Enzo’s.
Joyce walks in. They’re finally both there, at the same time, at the same table. He smiles. She sits. Maybe they say a few words, maybe they don’t have to.
And as they start that long-overdue dinner, the credits roll.
So there you have it — my big three predictions for how this whole thing might wrap up when Season 5 finally ends.
Until then, let’s enjoy the ride in waves:
- the first wave hitting on Friendsgiving,
- the next wave rolling in around Christmas,
- and the final wave crashing into 2026.
Stranger Things has given us one hell of a ride. Let’s enjoy these last few moments in Hawkins while we still can. 👾🧇
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