Stranger Things Season 5 may have seemingly come to an end after its final Volume 3 was dropped on New Year’s Eve. However, the buzz online about a possible episode 9 of the famed fantasy thriller with a Conformity Gate theory is rife on the internet. Fans seem to have dug through the possible hints during season 5 and found a secret ‘morse code’, which has them believing that another episode may come their way this week.

Fans of Stranger Things who felt that the ending of season 5 was very planned and neat, unlike the usual chaos that the show leaves them with, are looking for clues. They seem to have found a website after checking out the hints in the final episode of the show, which points to a ticking clock, culminating on January 7, 2026. 

What is the Conformity Gate theory?
According to users online, the show’s end was a mere illusion, an alternate reality created by the evil Vecna to fool everyone in the show as well as the audience. They believe that not only Volume 3 but also Volume 2 was an alternate reality, making it the only way the ending would be justified. 

X and Reddit users have only fueled the fire with detailed opinions on the visuals of the show, especially the last scene after the time jump, with many main characters having undergone growth, looking extremely different from their expected selves. 

The secret Stranger Things Season 5 episode 9 may just be a fever dream for fans of the show, but for many netizens, it has been a cat and mouse chase as new clues surface every day. There have been talks going around about how the Duffer brothers may have left intentional hints for the fans of the show to figure out and whether a new episode was indeed shot but never revealed to the public. 

Meanwhile, neither Netflix nor the creators of the show have commented on all the fan theories, leaving the narrative be that episode 8 was the official to the 10-year run of Stranger Things. Continuation plans of the series have already been announced, with a spin-off live-action already in production, and a documentary called One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things Season 5 is all set to drop on January 12.

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