Stranger Things Trailer Reveals Whether or Not a Beloved Character Is Still Alive
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
I Stranger Things the series finale is over (and beware major spoilers if you haven’t watched it!) with the big question: Is Eleven alive or dead?
On the other hand, we see him seemingly dying, blowing up and the Upside Down; on the other hand, Mike offers a compelling theory to his friends about how he might still be alive. Whether he is alive or dead should have been an open question for the fans, but surprisingly, Stranger Things runners, Duffer Brothers, gave a recent interview where they firmly stated that Eleven is still alive.
Eleven Survivors at the End of the Unknown
In a recent interview with Variety, the Duffers touched on a number of topics, including some media (from ET to Baldur’s Gate 3) which inspired the series finale. At one point, the interviewer talked about Mike’s theory about how Eleven survived his death, and Matt Duffer revealed the biggest points of the young character: that is, that military technology “kryptonite” could prevent him from making it “all the way to the gate.” In addition, he asked the big question that many fans have been grappling with: “How could he use his powers to put him in space?”
After this, the Stranger Things the producer tried to be dismissive, noting that fans will have to decide for themselves if Mike’s theory is correct. After all, viewers don’t know if Kali “really did that” or “maybe she was alive.” He wrapped up this train of thought by saying that he and his brother “like that to the audience.” Clearly, the Duffers wanted to have their cake and eat it too by letting viewers decide for themselves whether Eleven survived; however, Matt Duffer’s thoughts during this interview confirm that he must have survived.
The Power of Kryptonite
Since i Stranger Things Guru commented, Eleven should have been touched by the soldiers’ sonic blasters, which had the power to rob Eleven of his powers completely. Because of this, his geeky friends call this technology Kryptonite. During his high school graduation, Mike looked at some of the speakers and realized later that the military had shot off all of their fireworks after he and his friends escaped from the Upside Down. Before, this technology put Eleven in the position of a child, so if she was really with her friends the whole time, she wouldn’t be able to get up, let alone run to the gate without seeing the soldiers.
Even if he was able to physically get up and run away, the Kryptonite would prevent him from mentally connecting with Mike, allowing them to say a painful goodbye before he appeared to surrender. I say “obviously” because Stranger Things the producer is right: very good nothing about Eleven’s last moments make sense when he gets hit by the Army’s sonic blasters. Fans may debate whether Kali was already dead or had the juice to create such a mind trick, but the truth is that Eleven would never be with the team, ran away from the military, and contacted Mike while his powers were disabled, meaning his final moments should be mentally an illusion.
It’s official: Your Favorite Character Is Still Alive
For me, this was enough to ensure that Eleven really and truly survived the final episode Stranger Things. For the time being, I’m sure the Duffers will continue to say it’s up to the fans to decide, but they’ve written themselves into a corner with this character’s final scene. If Eleven couldn’t even stand up, she couldn’t run away, and if she couldn’t use her powers, she couldn’t talk to Mike. Now, even Matt Duffer points out how unlikely this sequence of events is, as close to an official confirmation that Eleven survived as we’ll ever get.
Finally, the Duffers could definitely reveal the fate of Eleven in the future or (with luck) another Broadway play that most people will never see. For now, however, the biggest fans of this character can be sure that Stranger Things the creators mistakenly confirmed that the fandom’s favorite character did not die and that what we saw of him was supposed to be a mental projection of some line. If that’s not worth celebrating with a few Eggo Waffles, I don’t know what is!
