The Abyss awaits: *Stranger Things*’ final battle to collapse the bridge between dimensions
The final season of Stranger Things will bring a dramatic showdown in a mysterious dimension called the Abyss. Netflix has confirmed the supersized series finale will air on New Year’s Eve, December 31, at 8 p.m. ET. This season will reveal the true origin of the show’s monsters—and the fate of Hawkins’ missing children.
The Abyss is not just another version of the Upside Down. It is a separate, Mars-like world filled with jagged canyons and razor-sharp rocks, hidden beyond the wormhole that connects to the Upside Down. The season’s climax will hinge on a daring plan to collapse the bridge between dimensions, trapping Vecna and his creatures forever.
The story of the Abyss begins long before the events in Hawkins. As a child, Henry Creel first entered this dimension—possibly called Dimension X—on his eighth birthday through a cave in Nevada. Years later, Eleven banished him there, not to the Upside Down. When she later made remote contact with the Abyss, the Upside Down was accidentally created as a wormhole bridge between worlds.
Vecna, the monster Henry became, has since used the Abyss as his stronghold. He lured Eleven into this desolate realm by manipulating events and exploiting his psychic powers. Now, the missing children of Hawkins are imprisoned there alongside the show’s deadliest creatures: Demodogs, Demogorgons, and Vecna himself.
The team’s final mission, codenamed Operation Beanstalk, involves tricking Vecna into pulling the worlds closer together. By using the Squawk radio tower to pierce a rift, they aim to create a path into the Abyss. Eleven will then ambush Vecna inside his own mind, freezing the dimensions in place long enough for the others to plant a bomb near the exotic matter. The explosion should collapse the bridge entirely, sealing the Abyss—and everything in it—forever.
Kali, another gifted individual with psychic abilities, intends to follow Eleven into Vecna’s mind. Her true motives remain unclear, and even Hopper distrusts her involvement. Meanwhile, the group prepares for a high-stakes rescue, knowing the Abyss holds not just their enemies but the key to saving the trapped children.
The two-part finale will air as a single, extended episode on December 31, marking the end of the long-running series. Fans will finally see whether the plan succeeds—or if Vecna’s grip on the Abyss proves too strong to break.
The fate of Hawkins now rests on a risky gambit: collapsing the bridge to the Abyss. If successful, Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and all the creatures tied to that dimension will be erased. The missing children could be freed, but the cost of failure would leave the worlds permanently connected.
Netflix’s scheduling of the finale on New Year’s Eve suggests a dramatic send-off for the series. Viewers will discover whether Eleven’s powers, Kali’s intervention, and the team’s bomb can finally close the door on the Abyss for good.
