Conformity Gate: Does Stranger Things Episode 9 Exist?

via Netflix

After a long nine years, the phenomenal Netflix original Stranger Things has come to an end, airing its final episode on New Year’s Eve. At least, that’s what most people think. However, many fans around the world are very convinced that the story is not over just yet, and a rumour of a mysterious episode nine has been circulating around the internet.

Before you get too excited, we should mention that there’s been absolutely no official confirmation of this bonus episode at all. While a behind-the-scenes documentary about the show called One Last Adventure: The Making Of Stranger Things 5 is set to release next week, Netflix and the Duffer brothers have continuously referred to episode eight as the final episode of the show. Among the creators and the cast, nobody has directly addressed this rumour of a secret episode, and their silence is only fuelling fans further.

The hope for another episode likely comes from the fact that many fans found themselves disappointed with the show’s ending, particularly when it came to Eleven’s ambiguous fate. In an interview with Variety, creator Matt Duffer reminded us that El was always supposed to make some sort of sacrifice to save her friends and Hawkins. That’s why the first season ended the way it did, back when the show was only intended to be a limited series. The Duffer brothers understand that over the course of ten years, thousands of people have probably become very attached to the characters, especially El, but Matt explained that El’s fate was “the only way to actually end, permanently, everything that had been going on.”

via Netflix

Disappointment isn’t the only thing convincing fans of an upcoming episode, though. A conspiracy theory has sparked after some very observant fans noted a few things about the epilogue scene, where the characters are older and about to go their separate ways and become adults. This theory is called Conformity Gate, and it claims that the epilogue, where the gang graduates and other characters agree to meet up every month, is an illusion created by Vecna. Here are a few reasons that people believe this theory:

• All of the high school graduates have their hands neatly crossed in front of them, a position that Henry Creel often assumes throughout the show.
• The gang’s campaign folders align in a way that seems to spell out ‘X A LIE’, which could indicate that everything the characters experienced in Dimension X, or The Upside Down, is a lie.
• Characters like Suzie and Vickie aren’t shown in the epilogue, possibly because Vecna doesn’t know who they are. 
• You can see multiple copies of the board game WHATZIT scattered around Mike’s basement, which could be a reference to Henry’s alter ego. 

Although these are all very interesting observations and would naturally make the audience wonder whether everything is really as it seems, the evidence is still pretty weak. The creators and cast have all expressed how satisfied they are with how the show ended and how it made complete sense, so it looks like this hope for a ninth episode just comes from fans not being ready to say goodbye to the show, which is so understandable. 

But if you’re a Stranger Things super fan, don’t despair just yet! As mentioned earlier, you can soften those withdrawal symptoms by watching the Last Adventure documentary, and see all the work that went on behind the scenes of your favourite show. On top of that, we’ll be getting an animated spin off of the show later in the year, called Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85, so stay tuned for that too.