{"id":25516,"date":"2026-01-04T00:46:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T16:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=25516"},"modified":"2026-01-04T00:46:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T16:46:38","slug":"i-always-defend-the-return-of-the-king-epilogue-stranger-things-season-5-finales-lengthy-ending-inspired-by-the-lord-of-the-rings-creators-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=25516","title":{"rendered":"‘I Always Defend the Return of the King Epilogue’ \u2014 Stranger Things Season 5 Finale’s Lengthy Ending Inspired by The Lord of the Rings, Creators Say"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Stranger Things Season 5 finale epilogue and its end credits were inspired by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, creators the Duffer brothers have revealed.<\/p>\n

Warning!<\/strong><\/em> Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 8, The Rightside Up, follow:<\/em><\/p>\n

Stranger Things ends with Season 5 Episode 8, dubbed The Rightside Up, and an epilogue set 18 months after the events that showed the destruction of the Upside Down, the death of Vecna, the apparent death of Eleven, and the rescue of the kidnapped children.<\/p>\n

We see relatively happy endings for pretty much all the main characters as they move on with their lives, kicking off with the core characters\u2019 graduation from Hawkins High School. The show comes to a close with the end of the Dungeon and Dragons campaign that kicked off the Netflix series nine years ago, and the passing of the torch to a new generation of D&D fans made up of Holly Wheeler, Derek Turnbow, and more.<\/p>\n

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A decent chunk of the final episode\u2019s 2-hour 8-minute runtime is devoted to this epilogue, which even finds room for a successful marriage proposal from David Harbour\u2019s Jim Hopper to Winona Ryder\u2019s Joyce Byers. Fans are then treated to end credits that show famous scenes as D&D illustrations, characters in the style of D&D character profiles, maps of locations from the show, and a final image showing Stranger Things as a D&D players manual.<\/p>\n

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the ending credits was so cool though #StrangerThings5<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/63rHUdpFMD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 clueified \ud83e\udd0d (@clueified) January 1, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The epilogue and the end credits were inspired by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Matt and Ross Duffer told Deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought about [The Lord of the Rings] Return of the King a lot, just in terms of the length of the epilogue,\u201d Matt Duffer said. \u201cI always defend the Return of the King epilogue, but I\u2019m one of those hardcore Lord of the Rings fans, to the point where I\u2019ve watched all extended editions in a row on a single day. If you do that, the epilogue feels absolutely perfect and not long at all. In fact, if it felt shorter, it would feel absolutely distressing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, Stranger Things, if you watch Season 5 all the way through, it\u2019s going to feel great. You just want to spend extra time with these characters. Anyway, that was sort of the reference for the epilogue. Then we love the credits at the end of Return of the King. So that was the initial idea, and they were these very simple illustrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

And on the end credits, Ross Duffer confirmed: \u201cwe wanted to be able to pay tribute to our cast and how much they\u2019ve grown through the years. Obviously, it\u2019s not to say the whole show was a D&D campaign. It was just a way to pay tribute to everyone and also let the audience, hopefully, take in this journey that they\u2019ve been on for nine years.\u201d<\/p>\n