The Stranger Things Final Battle Against the Mind Flayer Was Inspired by Baldur’s Gate 3 — Larian Boss Responds

The Stranger Things final battle was inspired by Baldur’s Gate 3, the Duffer Brothers have revealed.

Warning! Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 8, The Rightside Up, follow:

In the finale, our heroes travel to The Abyss for a final showdown against Vecna, whose base of operations turns out to be the Mind Flayer itself. The final battle involves our heroes taking on the Mind Flayer from various positions and using various weapons, while a smaller strike team heads inside to face off against Vecna himself and rescue the kidnapped children.

It turns out Matt Duffer, co-creator and co-showrunner of Stranger Things, was playing Baldur’s Gate 3 when he and his brother, Ross Duffer, were working out how the final battle would go down, and Larian’s much-loved party-based role-playing game influenced how it would play out.

In an interview with Variety, Matt Duffer pointed to D&D and Baldur’s Gate 3 (Baldur’s Gate 3 is of course an official D&D video game, using its rules for combat and set in its universe).

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“We were thinking about D&D, and I was playing Baldur’s Gate 3 at the time, and we felt it was very important that the only way for them to defeat it was for the entire party to work together,” Matt Duffer explained.

“Everyone had fully realized — either through self-acceptance or they’ve resolved all their various issues — moving into that final battle, they’re absolutely primed. They’re the ultimate team, and it’s the party working all together to defeat this thing. And they each have their own individual skills, right? And that’s where I go back to Dungeons & Dragons, and something like Baldur’s Gate. Because that’s how you take down these monsters that seem otherwise unstoppable. Lots of video game references were applied to that final battle.”

Stranger Things Season 5 Finale Trailer Images

In Baldur’s Gate 3, players control not only their created character, but its now-famous companion characters in combat. The likes of Shadowheart, the half-elf Cleric, Astarion, the high elven Rogue, and Karlach, the Tiefling Barbarian, all bring different skills to the table, and finding ways to make the most of them in tough boss fights is part of the fun.

Similarly, the heroes of Stranger Things bring their own skills to bear in the final battle. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) uses her powers to carve a path inside the Mind Flayer and battle Vecna. Meanwhile, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) suggests the others spread out, flank it on all sides, “Just chip away at its hit points.”

Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), doing her best Rambo impression, uses her gun skills to get the Mind Flayer’s attention, while the rest of the team ambush it from above. Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) uses a flame thrower, while others throw molotov cocktails and other bombs. Steve and Dustin strike from below using melee weapons. Then Will comes in with his powers to help finish the job.

Following the Duffer Brothers’ revelation, Larian boss Swen Vincke took to social media to say, “That’s pretty cool.” Larian publishing director Michael Douse added: “Damn now I really should watch Stranger Things…”

Still, some fans have taken issue with the Stranger Things final battle, wondering where all the Demogorgons were when Vecna needed them most. The Duffer Brothers have an explanation for that. We’ve also got the first details on the live-action spinoff, an explainer on the Stranger Things ‘Conformity Gate’ theory, which is currently doing the rounds on social media, and Sadie Sink’s interpretation of Eleven’s ending.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.