- - Sadie Sink addresses whether Eleven dies in the “Stranger Things” finale: 'Is that a hot take?'

Emlyn TravisJanuary 6, 2026 at 11:58 PM

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Sadie Sink and Millie Bobby Brown on 'Stranger Things'

Sadie Sink is setting the record straight on one of the biggest questions surrounding the Stranger Things finale.

While visiting The Tonight Show on Monday, the actress was asked to share whether or not she believes Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) really died at the end of the record-breaking Netflix series.

“What do I think? I think she’s dead. I don’t know,” Sink said. After drawing groans from the audience, she added, “Is that a hot take or something?”

Sadie Sink and Millie Bobby Brown on 'Stranger Things 5'

Eleven appears to sacrifice herself during the finale by choosing to remain inside the gate between Hawkins and the exploding Upside Down. However, in an 18-month time jump, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) suggests to their friends that she tricked everyone into thinking that she was dead and was actually exploring the world.

Sink isn’t so sure about Mike’s version of events, though. “I think Mike’s story is just one last story and then they say goodbye to childhood, but that’s just one final tale,” she said. “And that’s it. I think it’s just a coping thing.”

Sink added that she considers Eleven dying to be a much more “stronger” ending than the other option — a sentiment that host Jimmy Fallon agreed with wholeheartedly.

“I feel like it put an end to it. But I guess it’s up to your interpretation,” Fallon said, to which Sink responded, “That’s my interpretation. I’m sorry.”

As for what really happened to Eleven? Well, like Fallon noted, Stranger Things co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer tell Entertainment Weekly it’s up to the viewer’s interpretation whether everyone's favorite Eggo-loving superhero lives or dies.

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“Our goal, our hope is to leave it up to the fans, ultimately, and the audience in terms of what they believe, just as we leave it up to our characters in that basement to decide what they believe or not,” Ross said.

Matt added, "We spent probably more time talking about Eleven's fate than anything else as we were working on season 5. A lot of the dialogue you hear in the finale reflects the kind of debates that we were having in the writers' room. Hopper's [David Harbour] speech to her, he's expressing what a lot of us were expressing in the room, but then there was the flip side of that argument, which is what Kali [Linnea Berthelsen] was saying."

All five seasons of Stranger Things are available to stream on Netflix.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”