Here’s why everyone thinks Stranger Things has a secret episode 9
Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Noah Schnapp, and Gaten Matarazzo in the Stranger Things finale. (Netflix)
Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Noah Schnapp, and Gaten Matarazzo in the Stranger Things finale. (Netflix)
After 10 years, Stranger Things has come to an end… or has it? Some fans think a secret ninth episode is on the way and the theories are certainly compelling.
Spoiler alert: this article contains spoilers for the final episode of Stranger Things.
On New Year’s Day, the sci-fi horror series came to a dramatic conclusion when the finale was released showing how Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Hopper (David Harbour), Will (Noah Schnapp) and company took down the villainous Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and the Mind Flayer.
The series ended with Eleven seemingly sacrificing herself for the greater good, though this was left open to interpretation by the show’s creators.
What followed was an extended epilogue where each of the main characters’s storylines were mostly wrapped up in time for the credits, though not everyone was pleased with all of it.
And now speculation is rife that another secret episode is on the way, and if so, is nearly with us.
The prevailing fan theory, “Conformity Gate”, revolves around the idea that what we saw in the Stranger Things finale is actually an illusion created by Vecna to fool the heroes.
Several things have bolstered this theory, some more credible than others. Let’s explain.
Seven
The first is that Netflix has been teasing a big event for (Wednesday) 7 January, which fans have taken to be the date this secret episode will be announced and/or released.
It’s most likely to be a reveal of the platform’s 2026 slate. And it’s important to note that neither Netflix nor the show’s creators, the Duffer brothers, have confirmed anything is happening on 7 January related to Stranger Things.
Fans have argued that the number seven has come up a lot in Stranger Things, from being the number Will (Schnapp) rolls in season one’s premiere before being taken by a Demagorgon to appearing on a dice in the finale.
Seven is also the number of seconds the camera cuts to black after Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) appears to fall from the radio tower.
In the first season Will was also found seven days after disappearing. 7 January is also seven days after the finale aired.
The Dungeons and Dragons folders
Fans have also pointed to the spines of the D&D folders the main cast shelve at the end of the series finale.
Between their spines “X a lie” can be read, seen as an indication that the events taking place in Dimension X – later called The Abyss – are fake.
The graduation scene
People have also pointed out the posture of people in the graduation scene as being similar to Vecna’s. They’ve also theorised the orange gowns are a tie to the idea of incarceration.
Unanswered finale questions
Since the finale aired, a number of things have remained unanswered. One is what happens to the military after Eleven’s sacrifice and the Upside Down vanishes?
It’s not addressed at all in the epilogue we have, which some have taken as evidence of a fake reality being constructed.
Elsewhere on social media users have highlighted the stillness of the epilogue scenes also indicating an altered reality as well as an apparent content expression from Vecna, a prop changing colour, and signs referencing to The Truman Show.
The Documentary theory
Another theory has suggested that the newly announced documentary, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, is actually the ninth episode.
X/Twitter user @strangertearss shared a thread earlier today (Tuesday 6 January) theorising that the documentary could be a meta entry that brings Vecna into the real world and have the cast and crew of the series fight him.
“It would be odd, but I think it would be brilliant,” strangertearss notes towards the end of their thread.
The documentary is being released 12 January, which the fan argues is an intentional switch given the sevens part of “Conformity Gate”.
And that’s not all of the theories. But does any of it hold any merit?
It’s hard to say. Whilst we’ve loved the series and would love it to continue, it has to end at some point. And a lot of these theories could be desperate fans looking for clues when nothing is coming.
And we are getting a spin off as well as an animated series focusing on the main characters set sometime between seasons two and three.
So, there’s plenty more Stranger Things entertainment to be enjoyed. Whether a secret episode is a part of it though will be revealed in time. If at all…
Stranger Things is streaming now on Netflix.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
