The blockbuster Netflix series “Stranger Things” concluded with the final episode released on New Year’s Eve. Or did it?
A group of “Stranger Things” fans is 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 Right-side Up.” They think there is an Episode 9 that ends the series with a different storyline.
What Is Conformity Gate?
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 as 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 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 think 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 the 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.
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 is also a “Stranger Things” animated spin-off called “Tales From ’85” set to come out in 2026.
