A group of “Stranger Things” fans are not ready for the story to be over.
The viral theory dubbed Conformity Gate on social media proposes there is still one more episode left of the blockbuster Netflix hit beyond the two-hour series finale that was released on New Year’s Eve.
Fans believe that the real final episode will be released by Netflix on Jan. 7 to wrap up the story that ended in Episode 8 of Season 5, titled “The Rightside Up.” They think there is an Episode 9 that ends the series with a different storyline.
Here’s what to know about the online theories.
What Is Conformity Gate?
Warning: This section contains spoilers to the final season of “Stranger Things.”
The epilogue to Episode 8 of the final season shows the long-time group of friends in fictional Hawkins, Indiana, graduate from high school and play a game of “Dungeons & Dragons” together like they did in the show’s first season.
Each character is then shown enjoying a happy ending to their individual story, from the romance between Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink) continuing to Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) thriving in college to Will (Noah Schnapp) living with a boyfriend in New York.
Fans labeled the ending “Conformity Gate” because it represented a frictionless, conformist ending rather than embracing the show’s themes of breaking with the norm and defying external expectations.
Why Do ‘Stranger Things’ Fans Believe There is Another Episode?
Fans have gone down the rabbit hole with lengthy TikTok explainers and videos of scenes from the show’s five seasons edited together to back up their theories.
A theme behind the theories is that the happy endings for everyone were all an illusion created by the monstrous Vecna, the show’s main villain. A humanoid that first appeared in Season 4, Vecna was originally human Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower), who was sent to an alternate dimension by the powers of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and became a monster.
Fans have pointed out that all the students portrayed in the Hawkins graduation scene are sitting with their hands folded. They have likened the pose to one Creel once made before he became Vecna, as well as the character Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) when he was controlled by Vecna in Season 4.
The ambiguous ending for Eleven, one of the show’s primary characters, has also left fans divided over whether she died or not after defeating Vecna. Sink, who plays Max, has a clear position on it.
Another image pushed by fans is that the “Dungeons & Dragons” binders owned by the main characters line up on a shelf to read “X A LIE,” which they think means that Vecna being beaten in Dimension X was a lie. However, on the show, it looks more like “X AILE,” which has no meaning.
The speculation over the episode being released on Jan. 7 comes from multiple sources.
Netflix released a cryptic teaser on Christmas saying “Your Future is on its way” with the date of Jan. 7, 2026, leading “Stranger Things” fans to thinking something big was coming even though it’s not indicated in the video.
The number seven also has meaning on “Stranger Things” because a die with the number seven facing up can be seen at the end of final episode to the right of a “Stranger Things” player manual. Noah Schnapp’s character also rolls a seven while playing “Dungeons & Dragons” in the show’s first episode in the first season.
Is There Another Episode Coming?
Netflix has seemingly made it clear that the show is over with the bio on its Instagram and X accounts for “Stranger Things.”
“ALL EPISODES OF STRANGER THINGS ARE NOW PLAYING,” the bio reads.
Schnapp, who plays Will Byers, also spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the end of the show.
“I remember crying a lot at the final table read,” he said. “They had us read it for the first time all together and I just think it was perfect. They really left nothing more to be told.”
“Once I wrapped, I felt it was time to let Will go,” he continued. “Now I’ve really made peace with it, and especially sharing these final episodes with the fans, the fact that these stories have been told and the journeys are done. Even though the story is over, I’ll take with me the lessons I’ve learned. I’m going to take the relationships with me forever, and I just hope this show can have a lasting, positive impact.”
For the final season, the streaming giant released the first four episodes on Thanksgiving, the next three on Christmas, and the final installment on New Year’s Eve.
However, there is more coming out about Season Five. Netflix released a trailer on Jan. 5 for a documentary called “One Last Adventure” that will give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the final season. The documentary starts streaming on Jan. 12.
Twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, who created “Stranger Things” in 2016, were asked by the UK site Capital Buzz on Jan. 5 about theories that there is one more episode or an alternate ending that they shot and did not release.
“Oh no,” Matt Duffer said. “I love when I hear people do that, but I’m like, ‘How do you have the time?’ Oh my God! The energy to A, write it, and then shoot it. Are you crazy? No. No.”
While there is no indication of any secret episodes of “Stranger Things,” the Duffer brothers teased a spin-off of the show in a Jan. 1 interview with Variety. Matt Duffer said they will introduce “completely new characters, new town, new world, new mythology.”
There also is a “Stranger Things” animated spin-off called “Tales From ‘85” set to come out in 2026.
