{"id":679830,"date":"2026-01-07T11:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/679830\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T11:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:42:13","slug":"stranger-things-conformity-gate-theory-subtly-addressed-by-vecna-actor-jamie-campbell-bower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/679830\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranger Things Conformity Gate theory subtly addressed by Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Stranger Things<\/a> fans are locking horns over a theory that a secret final episode will be released a week after the finale \u2013 and now Jamie Campbell Bower<\/a> has subtly had his say.<\/p>\n

The Netflix<\/a> show drew to a close<\/a> after five seasons on New Year\u2019s Day, but a contingent of the fandom<\/a> believes the epilogue featured in the episode wasn\u2019t the real ending. <\/p>\n

Discussion about the theory \u2013 nicknamed Conformity Gate \u2013 has intensified on TikTok throughout the week among disappointed viewers. According to the theory, the lengthy final sequence, showing the show\u2019s young leads moving on with their lives after the supernatural occurrences in Hawkins, was actually an illusion created by the villainous Vecna (Campbell Bower).<\/p>\n

Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Campbell Bower<\/a> said the last episode was \u201cthe ending the show deserves\u201d, seemingly bringing the debate to an end.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven as the actor that plays Vecna, like, it just \u2013 it feels right,\u201d he said, referring to his character\u2019s grisly defeat in the finale. \u201cYou know, the show is so much about friendship and love and hope and joy. And of course, like, the person who is not that has to go, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

To support the Conformity Gate theory, eagle-eyed fans have pored over every detail of the epilogue for evidence \u2013 despite the Duffer brothers, who created the show, maintaining that multiple endings were not filmed. <\/p>\n

These details range from the placement of extras in the high school graduation scenes to the positioning of background characters\u2019 hands, with many noticing they\u2019re placed in a similar way to Vecna\u2019s alias Henry Creel. Others are also citing continuity issues around the placement of on-set props as evidence supporting the theory.<\/p>\n

\"Was<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Was the \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 finale an illusion created by Vecna? We\u2019re going to say no (Netflix)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been suspected by viewers that the secret episode will drop on Wednesday (7 January), due to Netflix releasing a cryptic post referencing this date alongside the caption: \u201cYour future is on the way.\u201d At the time of writing, no new episode has appeared. <\/p>\n

However, for every person supporting Conformity Gate, there are others urging fans to move on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire Stranger Things fandom currently in a collective psychosis coming up with a theory called Conformity Gate as a coping mechanism because the Duffers writing was genuinely THAT bad,\u201d one person wrote on X\/Twitter.<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cIt’s hilarious how the Duffers inability to write a satisfying conclusion and reliance on the \u2018we left it to the viewer’s interpretation\u2019 crutch has now led to a fanbase somehow rabidly believing there is a secret final episode that just clearly does not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Eleven<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in the ‘Stranger Things’ finale (Netflix)<\/p>\n

The biggest controversy surrounding the finale centred on the fate of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who seemingly dies after destroying the Upside Down to save mankind. But in the final moments of the show, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) says he chooses to believe that Eleven is still alive \u2013 and the camera cuts to Eleven in the future, showing her alive and well. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether Eleven really survived or not, with series co-creator Ross Duffer stating that \u201cshe lives on in their hearts, whether that\u2019s real or not\u201d. But many fans of the show, including Max actor Sadie Sink, have stated that they think the character is dead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[77,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-679830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115853639520344173","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}