How the STRANGER THINGS Finale Was Inspired by THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING
After a decade of strong and entertaining storytelling, Stranger Things has officially reached the end of the road. And according to its creators, the way the show wrapped things up was directly inspired by one of the most beloved endings in fantasy film history: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
As fans process the massive two-hour finale of Stranger Things 5, it turns out Ross Duffer and Matt Duffer looked to Peter Jackson’s epic conclusion for guidance on how to properly say goodbye to a sprawling cast of characters that audiences have grown up with.
Before going any further, be warned. The rest of this article contains spoilers for Stranger Things 5 episode 8.
The final episode sees the residents of Hawkins facing Vecna one last time, with the fate of both the town and the Upside Down hanging in the balance.
In a surprising twist, the killing blow doesn’t come from who you’d expect, finally bringing an end to Vecna’s reign. But that isn’t where the story stops. Instead of cutting to black, the show takes a breath and jumps forward in time, checking in on the characters after the dust has settled.
That epilogue structure was very intentional. In an interview with Deadline, Matt Duffer explained that they kept circling back to Return of the King while shaping those final moments.
“We thought about ‘[The Lord of the Rings] Return of the King’ a lot, just in terms of the length of the epilogue… that was sort of the reference for the epilogue. When we love the credits at the end of ‘Return of the King’, so that was the initial idea.”
Anyone who’s seen Return of the King knows how thoroughly it closes the book on Middle-earth. Rather than ending right after the big victory, the film shows where each member of the Fellowship ends up and how the war shaped their lives.
Aragorn rules as king, Legolas heads west, and Sam builds a family before eventually reuniting with Frodo. It’s a long goodbye, but a deeply satisfying one.
Stranger Things takes a similar approach. After Vecna’s defeat, the story revisits Hawkins at a later point in time. Nancy, Robin, and Jonathan return home from separate West Coast colleges to attend the younger kids’ graduation, reuniting with Steve, who chose to stay behind and teach. Joyce and Hopper are now engaged and planning to leave Hawkins to start fresh together.
For the core group, the paths begin to split. Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Max step into adulthood and move in different directions. Will heads to a big city and finds love, Dustin continues his education at university, Max and Lucas settle into a life together, and Will pursues his dream of becoming a writer.
As the episode ends, the credits roll over a retrospective montage celebrating the entire series, complete with illustrated character moments that echo the iconic end credits of Return of the King.
After ten years, Stranger Things didn’t rush its goodbye. Like the finale that inspired it, the show took the time to let every character land on their feet. For a series that’s always worn its love of classic storytelling on its sleeve, borrowing from one of the great endings of all time feels just right.
