Stranger Things 5 finale was finally released on Netflix on New Year’s eve. The episode 8 titled ‘The Rightside Up’, subdivided as Vol.3, is already the highly talked-about discussion on social media. A straight closure was given for other main characters, but the 2-hour finale has also left several fans wondering about what happened to Eleven aka El towards the end. While some presumed her dead in the series finale, others have various fan theories to justify she is alive.Stranger Things 5 ending explainedThe last episode of Stranger Things 5 started with Eleven, Kali, Hopper, and Murray splitting to storm the Hawkins Lab, while the rest of the party goes to the radio tower. When they are inside the Void, El, Kali, and Max confront Henry’s complicated history in the Creel house. However, Vecna’s having none of it.Lieutenant Akers ends up murdering Kali when Hopper doesn’t reveal Eleven’s location. After Kali’s death, Eleven joins everyone else in the Abyss for the big finale action scene. Joyce is the person who finally kills Vecna, beheading him with an axe. The ending was similar to the beginning of Stranger Things – a Dungeons & Dragons game. But this time, its Holly and her friends playing it. Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin move on, leaving their childhood behind. But, what happened to El?ALSO READ | Stranger Things Season 5 Vol 3 Review and Release Live Updates: Who dies in Stranger Things final episode? What happens to Eleven in Netflix show The series leaves Eleven’s fate open-ended. Did she sacrifice herself to destroy the Upside Down? While it might look that way at the end, Mike isn’t sure. He theorises that the real El might have slipped away through Kali’s magic powers. We see the last shot of El with a waterfall behind it, just like El and Mike planned. The Duffer brothers left El’s fate for the viewers to decide.Stranger Things 5 fan theoriesThe final episode of Stranger Things 5 received mixed reactions from fans on social media. On one hand, a section of people was disappointed with the ending as several characters were underutilised. And on the other, some fans were satisfied with the happy goodbye. A lot of theories related to Eleven’s fate have surfaced on Reddit and X.“This episode was essentially the ending to season 1. Some kid(s) go missing. The group tries to find them and eventually rescues them from a different planet/ dimension. Elven does some cool mind magic stuff. Faces the big bad guy, fakes her death and lets the rest of the party live their lives unimpeded without her,” a fan posted on Reddit.Commentbyu/perhapsflorence from discussioninStrangerThingsStory continues below this ad“Yeah, it was a decent ending, it wasn’t extremely bad like all the content creators were fear mongering about, but it wasn’t super crazy & unpredictable either, it is bittersweet none of the characters will ever have Eleven in their lives ever again but it makes sense, she was a mysterious anomaly that appeared in their lives, a stranger thing that all the guys only got to experience in their lives by pure happenstance & coincidence. And she disappeared & left in the same vein,” another fan theory read.Commentbyu/perhapsflorence from discussioninStrangerThingsSeveral fans also speculated that the ending has left room for a prequel or sequel of the series. “10/10 ending. Gave everyone beautiful endings, the upside down + abyss is gone, they’re all grown up on their own path, and (possibly) left room for either a sequel or a prequel. Thank you Duffer Brothers for an incredible 9 years. #StrangersThings5 #StrangerThings,” a user tweeted.While sharing a clip of the climax scene, a fan of Eleven’s character wrote on X, “I was never ready for this.. #StrangersThings5.” “el is definitely dead tho like we saw kali die in here hands #StrangersThings5,” another fan mentioned.A fan also felt that Eleven might have finally found happiness, living somewhere far away. “I hope that she might be still alive and somewhere living her life in a place with new people. She may even have found her happiness there,” the person tweeted.Stranger Things 5 is now streaming on Netflix.