S5E8 · Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up

Complete story — includes the ending

As the others make their way to the Abyss, Eleven, Kali, and Max enter Henry's mind and stop him from merging the worlds, but he transforms into Vecna, escapes, and tricks Hopper into breaking the link. Akers' forces assault the lab and kill Kali; Eleven kills them in return. Holly leads the other children out of Henry's mind while Eleven enters the Abyss to fight Henry. Will witnesses Henry's past and learns he was corrupted by a fragment of the Mind Flayer, which he fully embraces despite Will's pleas. The Mind Flayer rises as a giant kaiju, which the group kills while Eleven and Will overpower Henry. The group rescues the children, and Joyce decapitates a dying Henry. Upon returning to Hawkins and detonating the bomb they placed in the Upside Down, the group is arrested by Dr. Kay, but is then released when Eleven chooses to stay behind in the collapsing Upside Down. 18 months later, life returns to normal; the young adults reunite, Hopper proposes to Joyce, and the party graduates and finishes a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Mike imagines their futures and theorizes how Eleven may still be alive, with the others choosing to believe him.