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Spoilers for Stranger Things season 5 follow.

After nine years of dominating pop culture and basically funding Funko (look it up) Stranger Things has finally ended its seminal streaming run as of December 31, 2025. But rather than tie things up in a simple, easy-to-wiki bow, creators the Duffer Brothers chose to end on a giant question - that is, whether or not main character Eleven survived her battle with the Mind Flayer. There have been plenty of opinions in either direction, but recently, we got a hot take from someone whose opinion might just hold a bit more weight than the average redditors:

That is, Stranger Things star Sadie Sink.

Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Sink was asked what she believed happened in the open-ended final episode of season 5, and the actor's answer was, frankly, kinda blunt.

"What do I think? I think she’s dead," said the John Proctor is the Villain star, "Is that a hot take or something?" 

I mean, it's a casual way of talking about what could be an entire generation's favorite fictional character shuffling off the mortal coil - so yeah, kinda hot take-ish. But anyway, what does Sink think about Mike's recounting at the end of the show, in which it seems like our psychic heroine might've survived?

"Mike’s story is just one last story, and then they say goodbye to childhood. That’s one final tale, and that’s it. It’s just a coping thing. [That ending is] stronger, right?"

Now that's a question we won't pretend to have the answer to - we don't need an army of fans knocking on our door. Although we'll venture (very cautiously, mind), that someone who's been intimately involved in Stranger Things ever since its second season has an opinion that's just slightly more informed than that army of fans?

No, yeah, it's best not to make that call.

As we all collectively wait for Stranger Things season 5, here's the keys to getting ready:

• How to watch Stranger Things in chronological or release order
• Getting to know the Stranger Things season 5 cast
• There needs to be more death in Stranger Things, says co-star Gaten Matarazzo
• The Stranger Things time jump between season 4 and 5 has been confirmed by Netflix - and it raises some serious questions
• "They land the plane," David Harbour describes the Stranger Things finale, which he calls its "best episode"