Stranger Things killed off a crucial main character in the series finale - but are they actually still alive? During the Wednesday, December 31, series finale, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) survived multiple near-death experiences while fighting to destroy Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). Hopper (David Harbour) helped keep her alive while Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) was shot. Eleven was ultimately able to face - and kill - Vecna once and for all but she didn't return to Hawkins. Instead, Eleven remained in the Upside Down to make sure her friends survived and weren't constantly in danger because of her existence. The time jump at the end of the episode showed that Eleven was thought to be dead. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), however, suggested another theory when he pointed out that Eleven's powers were suppressed by the military so the visual of her being killed could have been a vision created by Kali in her final moments. 'Stranger Things' Series Finale Ending Explained: Who Died? Who Survived? Mike remained hopeful that Eleven was able to live her life somewhere far away from Hawkins, which the audience saw briefly although it remained up to the viewer which ending they chose to the story. "What we wanted to do was confront the reality of what her situation was after all of this and how could she live a normal life," creator Matt Duffer told Tudum in a postmortem interview. "These are the questions that we've been posing this season that Hopper just doesn't even want to think or talk about. Mike's obviously talked about it a lot, but it's sort of this fantasy version that would never work." Netflix Matt pointed out that there "are two roads" that Eleven could take. "There's this darker, more pessimistic one or the optimistic, hopeful one," he added. "Mike is the optimist of the group and has chosen to believe in that story." Cocreator Ross Duffer, meanwhile, pointed out that this was always meant to be the ending to the show. See the 'Stranger Things' Cast From Season 1 to Now "There was never a version of the story where Eleven was hanging out with the gang at the end. For us and our writers, we didn't want to take her powers away," he explained. "She represents magic in a lot of ways and the magic of childhood. For our characters to move on and for the story of Hawkins and the Upside Down to come to a close, Eleven had to go away." He continued: "We thought it would be beautiful if our characters continued to believe in that happier ending even if we didn't give them a clear answer to whether that's true or not. The fact that they're believing in it, we just thought it was such a better way to end the story and a better way to represent the closure of this journey and their journey from children to adults." The showrunners urged viewers to choose their own ending for Eleven. "And the reality is, if Eleven is out there, the most that they could hope for is a belief that it's true because they can't be in contact with her," Matt concluded. "Everything falls apart if that were the case. So if that's the narrative, this is really the best way to keep her alive. And it's about Mike and everyone finding a way to move past what's happened." Stranger Things is currently streaming on Netflix.