While the rest of us were celebrating the new year, Netflix kissed the golden era that was Stranger Things goodbye with its final episode dropping on NYE. However, fans reckon things are not really over for our Hawkins gang, with ‘Conformity Gate’ taking over the internet.
This article contains Stranger Things spoilers. Proceed with caution.
After almost a decade, Netflix wrapped up its golden child, Stranger Things, with an epic ending that saw the gang finally defeat Vecna and the Mind Flayer after five seasons of anarchy.
To give you a quickie recap of the finale — but you need to seriously peep our in-depth Stranger Things episode explainer HERE — the Hawkins crew hatch up a plan to rescue the missing kids and finally defeat Vecna for good (#Wicked).
During their daring mission, the gang face multiple obstacles, including the military and Kali’s death, before they finally find Vecna and the Mind Flayer.
When they finally defeat both Vecna and the Mind Flayer, the Hawkins crew are captured by Dr Kay and her army, throwing another spanner into the works. So, in a heroic move, Eleven sacrifices herself so that everyone can live.
While the fate of El is not confirmed, the finale jumps to 18 months after the final battle, which shows our beloved gang graduating from Hawkins High.
Although it (seems to be) a happy ending, some fans weren’t too pleased with the ending, leading us to… Conformity Gate.
What is the Stranger Things ‘Conformity Gate’ theory?
Stranger Things fans are so disappointed with how the series ended, they’ve cooked up a theory that a secret ninth episode is about to drop. Jokes, but not really…
Those who believe in Confirmity Gate reckon that the ending is all an illusion created by Vecna, and that Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) failed in her attempt to kill the rancid, kid-stealing being.
This has been highlighted by inconsistencies in episode eight, which have been pointed out by Conformity Gate believers, such as the graduation scene, in which some of the students seem to have their positioned hands like Henry Creel (AKA Vecna).
One fan also likened the graduation gowns to prisoner uniforms, which could allude to everyone being under Vecna’s curse or being trapped in his wild fake reality.
Throughout the show’s epilogue, multiple WHATZIT games were scattered throughout scenes, which could relate to Holly’s imaginary friend Mr. Whatsit (AKA Vecna).
Another piece of Conformity Gate evidence is the inconsistent colours on the dial, peep below, my friends:
The fourth piece of evidence is the stack of Dungeons & Dragons books seen in the finale, which conveniently spell out “XALIE”, which some fans reckon hints that Dimension X — a realm in the Upside Down — is a darn lie.
One other piece of Conformity Gate that has gone viral is @WilloMCI, who suggests the audience is a part of the story, and that we, as the audience, are experiencing “mixed memories”.
Examples used by the fan included Holly seeing the wrong colour spinning wheel and Will’s coming out speech, where he mentions going for milkshakes at Melvads — which wouldn’t be possible in Will’s lifetime as it’s a general store, but possible in Henry’s as it was a diner.
“What I mean by this is that Vecna is actually using the audience in someway, and for some reason, and Vecna will tell us that we have helped him with his plan,” the fan wrote.
However — in probably the funniest piece of evidence in Conformity Gate — one fan pointed out that the Wheeler family all share the same hair as Henry after the final battle.
“This cannot be a coincidence that they decided to make Mike’s whole family basically have Henry’s hair,” one fan wrote alongside screenshots of the family’s hairdos.
So, is there really an episode nine?
The Duffer Brothers nor Netflix have yet to comment on a potential episode nine. However, believers reckon the finale could drop on January 7, 2026, with the streaming giant dropping a cryptic post marking that date.
“Your future is on the way,” the post reads alongside the January 7 date.
However, if we delve deep into the PEDESTRIAN.TV archives, the Duffer Bros revealed that a spin-off is in the works.
“Well, we are working on a spin-off, but it doesn’t involve any of the characters or Hawkins or even the Upside Down or the 80s,” they told P.TV.
“So it’s very, very different, but also very much Stranger Things.”
I guess it’s just a waiting game, but until then, I’ll be downing Steve Harrington edits. Thank you!
