Stranger Things Creators Reveal Subtle Finale Baldur's Gate 3 Connection

Stranger Things Season 5 was a divisive bit of television for a number of reasons, but at least Baldur’s Gate 3 fans will get a kick out of the final battle.

Stranger Things and Baldur’s Gate 3 go hand-in-hand as both were heavily inspired by Dungeons & Dragons.

Before Stranger Things first aired, Dungeons & Dragons was popular but hadn’t quite hit the mainstream yet, with the Duffer Brothers’ Netflix series making it hip and cool. Baldur’s Gate 3 created even more love for the tabletop game, perfectly adapting its turn-based style into a Game Of The Year title.

With this in mind it should come as no surprise that the final battle of Stranger Things Season 5 was inspired by Baldur’s Gate 3, so it’s a shame it failed to impress the majority of viewers.

Spoilers ahead for Strangers Things Season 5

Speaking in an interview with Variety, series co-creator Matt Duffer talked about the final confrontation between the The Party and the Mind Flayer/Vecna, saying, “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.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 is, of course, a team-based game, with players assembling their party of characters and building a synergy between them to overcome any obstacle.

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Matt Duffer went on to say by the time of the final battle the cast are “the ultimate team” adding, “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.”

Unfortunately, the finale has been slated online by some fans and while I wouldn’t call myself a big fan of Stranger Things, I can’t help but agree.

Vecna was an imposing villain in Season 4 and his return in Season 5 was just as impactful, but his more intimidating aspects dwindled as the season went on.

The Mind Flayer was butchered even more though, going from an eldritch, cosmic entity to an uninteresting, enormous spider. I was half expecting Godzilla to show up to take down this glorified Kaiju.

That said, Stranger Things on the whole was a wild ride. I’m also glad the Dungeons & Dragons theme stuck around for the long run, as it’s arguably what made the show charming to begin with.