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New Netflix documentary One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 is shedding a lot of light on the sci-fi show's final outing, but one eagle-eyed fan has found proof that the series could have ended very differently.
"Guys, they completely changed the ending to make it more ambiguous," said one fan on Twitter, sharing a screenshot of the finale breakdown on a board in the writers' room, which you can see below.
HOLY SHIT!! 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 pic.twitter.com/Cit6ZiV8ODJanuary 13, 2026
The plan starts to map out the Stranger Things season 5 finale just as we see it on screen, with El and Kali entering Henry's mindcsape to find the kids before facing up to Vecna. However, the big change comes after the big bad is defeated (read our Stranger Things season 5 finale ending explained for more on that). In this scenario, Hopper knows of Eleven's plan to fake her own death, and so when everyone leaves the Abyss, he gets into his truck and leaves El behind without anyone else knowing.
In their last moments together, El and Hopper say goodbye to each other in a "Lost in Translation moment," presumably referring to the end of the 2003 movie where Bob and Charlotte embrace and go their separate ways. Although no words are spoken, we know they will never see each other again. The plan states that "El says goodbye to everyone in happy memory," but when the Upside Down is destroyed, Eleven is gone.
With Hopper knowing about the "fakeout," this ending puts to bed any question over El's fate. In the ending we saw on screen, El faking her own death and sneaking off to travel the world was just in Mike's head, but if Kali and El told Hopper about it, surely it must be real. The Duffers didn't give much reason as to why they changed the ending, but fans think that this proves that El is still alive
"So the story is she's still alive because Hopper wouldn't be happy and go lucky in the end if El was dead," pointed out one fan, and another added, "Hopper being in on it makes so much sense. Of course her living would be 100% more important to him than keeping her in danger by being in contact with her."
However, other Twitter users have highlighted that this version is not canon. "Everyone celebrating that this means she’s alive but not understanding that this means they changed the ending... It says she says goodbye to EVERYONE with a happy memory. That doesn’t happen so neither did any of this," said one fan.
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 is available to watch on Netflix now. For more, check out our Stranger Things season 5 finale review and keep up with new TV shows.
