The creators of Stranger Things, Matt and Ross Duffer, knew long before the final credits rolled that their story would end with a closing door.

In the finale — now streaming on Netflix — Max (Sadie Sink), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Mike (Finn Wolfhard) finish their last Dungeons & Dragons campaign in the Wheelers’ basement. As they leave, Mike closes the basement door — and with it, the series comes to an end.

Matt Duffer tells Tudum that this ending had been planned “for a very long time.”

As each character walks up the stairs, Matt explains, “that’s them leaving their childhood behind.” He praised Finn Wolfhard’s performance in the moment, saying you can see him feel grief about letting go before settling into a “bittersweet happiness.” When Mike sees his younger sister Holly and her friends rushing downstairs to start their own D&D game, he realizes it’s time to pass the torch.

For Ross Duffer, the scene is also about Mike remembering the joy of being a kid. Those memories will stay with him — but life is moving forward. The next generation will create their own adventures, he says. “Our story ends when Mike closes that door.”

Now that the Stranger Things journey has officially wrapped, the Duffer Brothers are reflecting on how the emotional final chapter came together — from the fates of the beloved characters to Steve’s near-death moment, new revelations about Vecna, and more in the finale, “The Rightside Up.”