The last and final time we return to Hawkins, Indiana, it is nothing like the town we first saw 10 years ago. The sky is split open, a giant crack runs through the town, and the town lives in a constant state of fear.

The episode opens with the crew executing a plan that allows Eleven and Kali to enter Vecna’s mind with Max’s help to halt the descent of “The Abyss.” Near the middle of the episode is when Eleven fights Vecna. She ultimately defeats him and sacrifices herself in the Upside Down.

After an 18 month time jump, we see all the friends graduate. The older friends promise to keep in touch, and Joyce and Hopper get engaged. Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max play one last game of Dungeons & Dragons where Mike explains their future fates and a possible fate for “El.” The last image we see is Holly and her friends rushing into the basement to play their own games. Mike smiles to himself and closes the basement door.

Despite all the times “Stranger Things” has left fans on the edge of their seats, there is a lot of disappointment surrounding the finale episode. Many fans have spotted errors in writing such as wondering if Derek’s family is still tied up in the barn, what happened to Vickie, and how locations were mixed up.

Many fans found the fight between Eleven and Vecna very anticlimactic. “It took them five minutes to kill Vecna, but they’ve been trying to kill him for two years,” says freshmen Harper Edney. There has been so much build up in the prior seasons to what should have been a huge cinematic fight. Instead fans were left with a fight that was one of the shortest scenes in the season with Eleven barely having any powers. Despite all the trauma Eleven endured at the hands of Vecna, she was still not the one to kill him. That honor fell to Joyce Byers, a decision that many fans felt undermined Eleven’s personal character development and arc.

Another huge point of conflict is Eleven’s fate. Many fans have expressed their strong dislike of the ambiguous ending. On the other hand, some fans found it sweet that Eleven was able to move on from a life of brutality and live for herself. Viewers continue to argue if Mike’s story was real or a coping mechanism to help himself and the rest of the crew believe that “El” found her own happy ending, even if it was without them. Freshmen Channing Dorse believes “[Eleven] is not alive. I think it was more of a way to cope with his grief.” It does seem unlikely that Eleven is still alive, especially with all the signs pointing against it. The biggest clue is that Kali (8) would have had to survive getting seriously injured to project the illusion of Eleven. However, Eleven’s death, real or staged, was bound to happen. Only by disappearing completely would she be able to stay out of the military’s grasp and ensure she would never be used to create more children like her. The story Mike told himself and his friends was used to help them cope with their grief, allowing them to believe Eleven is thriving somewhere, even if it is without them.

The last and final time we return to Hawkins, Indiana, it is nothing like the town we first saw 10 years ago. Demogorgans are no longer feared creatures, Vecna is no longer an unstoppable entity, and the Upside Down is no longer an unknown threat. It is truly the beginning of an end. While the “Stranger Things” finale did lead to some disappointment, it ultimately stayed true to its core message: friendship and growing up. Audience members have seen these characters mature before their eyes. Friendships deepened, relationships evolved, and redemption arcs unfolded. For years, viewers sat on the edge of their seats, watching characters go through the unimaginable while rooting and praying for their favorites. While the battle in Hawkins has ended, the “Stranger Things” legacy will forever be remembered.