Stranger Things 'fake ending' theory explained suggesting show isn't over yet

The Duffer Brothers may have said that they are done with Stranger Things but not everyone is convinced.

A major viral social media movement is now claiming that the Netflix show is set to announce a secret ninth episode of the show’s final season.

The Stranger Things fan movement is being called ‘conformity gate’ and suggests that in two days, January 7, Netflix are set to either announce or release a secret final episode to the show.

The finale episode was controversial amongst fans, with many pointing out various supposed plot holes and unaddressed theories as reasons the show ended poorly.

The Duffer Brothers have since come out and addressed a number of these, explaining away why there were no Demogorgons and even why Vicky ‘completely disappeared’ from the finale.

Despite this, fans are still convinced that ‘conformity gate’ is set to be announced in two days time.

What is ‘conformity gate’ and why do Stranger Things fans think another episode is coming?

‘Conformity Gate’ comes from the idea that, despite the Netflix TV show being about the characters defying conformity, that is how all their endings go.

In the final season, a major part of Holly going further through Vecna’s memories was spotting small mistakes in reality, such as the colour of the Merry-Go-Round.

The final season has some of these mistakes in more obvious ways, such as the colour of the switch at WSQK aka The Squawk.

conformity gate is getting more and more real every time i see evidence. i look like this when i talk ab it pic.twitter.com/Y5dQ6TBpXq

— ⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆ izzy (@izzy_the_yachi) January 2, 2026

This has been combined with supposed references to The Truman Show and has led fans to become convinced that everything we see in the finale, and some of the penultimate episode, was actually a vision concocted by Vecna to trick the party.

Stranger Things’ finale includes Max complaining about the endings Mike predicts for the characters through the DnD game, something which is being held up as proof that the Duffers know about character’s qualms with the story.

Why do they think it’s going to come out January 7^th and what’s the likelihood of this happening?

Netflix announced a slate reveal event on January 7 tweeting #WhatsNext. Fans have pointed to a number of links to the show, with Will rolling a seven on the first ever DnD session and there being several other thematic connections.

The answer almost certainly though is simply a fanbase struggling to cope with an ending they aren’t satisfied by.

If Netflix decided to undo their ending and release a secret final ending, it would also undo months of promotional work for the finale, including the incredibly rare achievement which is convincing the streamer to put a TV finale in cinemas.

In addition to this, when Stranger Things fans became convinced there was a secret cut of volume two following negative reviews, the Duffer Brothers responded saying: “Throughout the course of Stranger Things, there's been only one scene that's been deleted, all the way back in Season 1.

“Which was a scene Netflix had us write that we didn't want to write, so we just shot it and deleted it, and they forgot we shot it. It was kind of amazing.”

Whilst anything can happen, a secret ninth episode would be a massive surprise.