7 Plot Holes From the 'Stranger Things' Season 5 Finale That Still Don't Make Sense

Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for the Stranger Things series finale.Stranger Things has officially concluded after nearly a decade, and although there was quite a bit of potential for an epic ending, the show's finale was a major disappointment. The final battle against Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and the Mind Flayer was nothing remarkable compared to some of the show's past battles, and many of the characters didn't get properly fleshed-out or deserved endings, with Eleven's (Millie Bobby Brown) fate being the most glaring example.

Despite planting many exciting details over the years, Stranger Things failed to pay off many of these Easter eggs and storylines by the end of the show. As such, so many questions have not been answered, and there are quite a few holes in the finale's plot. It's easy for fans to feel angry and cheated after watching this episode, but I was also left feeling very confused, and these plot holes are a major reason why.

1 Dimension X Should Have Been As Dangerous as the Upside Down

For a long time, the Upside Down was an incredibly dangerous place to enter, and it was extremely difficult to make it out alive. The Upside Down has far fewer monsters in Season 5 as it is, but even stranger, Dimension X is completely empty when the main characters arrive there. The Upside Down is just a bridge to Dimension X, so Dimension X should be more similar to the Upside Down when it comes to the looming threats.

It's very odd that there were no Demogorgons, Demodogs, or Demobats in the Upside Down for the final battle, and that the main characters only had to fight Vecna and the Mind Flayer. These monsters just seemed to have all been forgotten about when it came to the end of the show, even though it all started with the Demorgogon in Season 1, and these creatures have been working for Vecna this entire time.

2 The Government Backed Down Way Too Easily

Aside from Vecna and the Mind Flayer, the government and military presence in Hawkins posed a major threat to the party all season. The whole reason that El sacrificed herself was so that Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) couldn't use her blood for more experiments, and Dr. Kay made it way more difficult for the party to defeat Vecna. Oddly, though, as soon as the Upside Down is destroyed and El is presumed dead, Dr. Kay just doesn't care anymore.

It doesn't make sense that all the main characters would be able to move forward after this with no trouble from the government, especially after Will (Noah Schnapp) was seen using his powers in Episode 4. It's unlikely that they would just believe that his powers no longer exist and move on without causing more trouble for Will and the others, if this experiment has been so important to Dr. Kay all this time.

3 Henry's Choice To Be Evil Contradicts 'The First Shadow'

The events of the Stranger Things prequel play, The First Shadow, were severely underutilized in Stranger Things' final season. In the last episode, Henry relives the memory of entering the cave and first encountering the Mind Flayer, but the show doesn't do much with the compelling material from the play. In the finale, Will realizes that Henry was possessed as a child and shows him empathy, but Henry tells him he's chosen to be evil.

On the one hand, Vecna shouldn't be redeemed after everything that he's done, especially by Will. Henry Creel isn't Vecna, though. He was just a child who got possessed and spent the entirety of The First Shadow trying to keep the Mind Flayer from taking over his mind. It's odd that Stranger Things ties up the question of Henry's involvement in Vecna's decision-making so neatly without giving a better understanding of just how much the Mind Flayer took over his mind. Henry wouldn't have even been able to properly choose to be evil while possessed, and Stranger Things seemed to have completely forgotten about the existence of Patty Newby.

4 There Is No Validity to Mike's Theory for El

El's ending is treated as an ambiguous one. After she sacrifices herself to break the cycle of the experiment, it's initially believed that she died when the Upside Down was destroyed. Later, though, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) tells the rest of the party that he has a different theory about what happened to her. Mike suggests that Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) used her powers to create an illusion of El dying, and that El actually escaped and went on to travel the world and live a life in hiding. The rest of the party then each says that they believe that this is what happened, and viewers are left to determine their own ending for her.

Mike's theory could have worked if it were played as a tragic hope for what had happened to El, but it makes no sense as an actual option. Kali died way before El did, and she wouldn't have still been able to use her powers after dying to help El. El could technically still be alive if she'd made it through the Upside Down to Dimension X on time, but there is no way that she is still in the world that we know, even if Mike believes that she is.

5 The Mind Flayer Is a Shadow Entity That Can't Be Easily Defeated

The final battle was very underwhelming, because it was won way too easily, and everybody survived. It also just didn't make any sense. The Mind Flayer may have appeared in the spider monster form in the finale, but that is not the Mind Flayer's only form. In The First Shadow, the Mind Flayer is portrayed as an all-powerful shadow entity that isn't really limited to one body. After being alive for so long, it doesn't make sense that the Mind Flayer could so easily be killed when its monstrous form is attacked.

The Mind Flayer is also known for possessing and controlling people to get what it wants, but it doesn't try to get inside anyone's minds during the final battle, and not even Will gets possessed. Everything got wrapped up way too neatly, and this monster who has been at the root of all evil in the Upside Down is suddenly destroyed on its home planet without putting up much of a fight.

6 Mike and El's Goodbye Scene Contradicts Their Arc in Previous Seasons

Mike's goodbye with El in her void is an odd scene as it is. In a post-finale interview with Variety, Matt Duffer stated that El would not have been able to use her powers at that moment and still make it to the gate in time. It seems to be implied then that Mike just imagined this goodbye with El, but if he didn't, then the scene is just full of plot holes. Stranger Things has spent the last three seasons showing that Mike and El were built to last. She just clung onto the person who helped her after she escaped the lab, and he got attached to her while missing Will.

Mike and El certainly care about each other, but their relationship always had an expiration date, and their status was left ambiguous all season until this scene. In this scene, Mike suddenly acts madly in love with El again, and their scenes of having conflict in Season 4 are played as romantic in a montage. Similarly, El tells Mike that he's always been the person who understands her best, which has been previously proven to be untrue. El didn't know anything that she liked until Max (Sadie Sink) encouraged her to branch out in Season 3, and El and Mike's main conflict in Season 4 was because he didn't understand her (which never got properly resolved).

7 Will Should've Been Affected by the Deaths of Vecna and the Mind Flayer

The fourth episode of Stranger Things Season 5 showed Will tapping into the hivemind, making him more connected to it than ever. This should've put Will on a dangerous path similar to that of Henry Creel in the First Shadow, where the Mind Flayer tried to possess him and take over his mind for good. Instead, Will's mind was clear all season. In the finale, Will is still attached to the hivemind, but he feels nothing when the Mind Flayer and Vecna are killed.

The Duffer brothers briefly addressed this in a Collider interview, stating that Will felt the Mind Flayer attack off-screen, and that his tie to Vecna died with the Mind Flayer. Neither of these make sense, though, because Will should have died (temporarily, in a way that he could be resurrected) with the rest of the hivemind. Now, it's still unclear how he was able to get out of this unscathed, and whether Will still has any sort of lasting connection to Dimension X.