Stranger Things has been concluded after 9 years and 5 seasons. With a grand finale, Netflix celebrated the end of the series, which began in 2016. A significant inspiration in the final battle was Baldur’s Gate 3.
On January 1, 2026, the Netflix series Stranger Things came to an end with the 8th episode of the 5th season. Since 2016, fans have been following the adventures of Eleven, Will, and the other residents of Hawkins. In the over 2-hour-long finale, the Duffer brothers aimed to stage not only emotional scenes but also a lavish final battle.
If you felt like you were in a video game, that’s no coincidence. As the directors revealed in an interview, the battle was inspired by Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to Defeat These Monsters
Warning: The following section contains minor spoilers.
What does the final battle have to do with Baldur’s Gate 3? In an interview with Variety, the Duffer brothers discussed various aspects of the series in light of the finale. They were asked whether they could talk about the finale with the Mindflayer and Vecna and how they wanted to portray it.
Ross Duffer first explains that a large battlefield was needed for the monster. The size was not precisely planned. They first built the interior set and based the exterior around it. Matt Duffer answers the question more conceptually and names Baldur’s Gate 3 as an inspiration:
We thought about D&D, and at that time, I was playing Baldur’s Gate 3, and we found it very important that they could only win if the whole group worked together. Everyone realized – either through self-acceptance or because they had resolved their different issues – that they were absolutely ready for the final battle.
He describes them as the ultimate team
, working together to defeat the thing
. This aspect comes from Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur’s Gate 3, as for him, that’s an important point of the battle: For that is the only way to defeat these monsters that otherwise seem unstoppable.
According to Matt Duffer, many references to video games were implemented in the final battle.
Do the video game influences stand out? If you’ve faced several boss battles before, this feels like one you would expect in the finale of games like Resident Evil or Lost Planet. The party vibe from RPGs is also present. You see several characters playing different roles in the battle and having different weapons or even abilities. If you’re interested in the monsters from Stranger Things, we have a list for you: Stranger Things: The 5 Most Dangerous Monsters of the Netflix Series Ranked
