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The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 5.
Stranger Things season 5 has dealt with everything from Henry Creel’s past to the truth about the Upside Down and Vecna’s larger plans for multiversal domination. But as the episodes tick down to the grand finale, fans are likely just as interested in the fate of the various relationships at the series’ center, and how the show plans to provide some closure to the stories of the kids we’ve been watching for the better part of a decade. Max is (finally) back in her own body. Will confronts his fears about his own sexuality. Dustin and Steve patch up their bromance. Mike is… there! And Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers have decided to call it quits.
What… what?
Yes, if you too were wondering what exactly happened during Nancy and Jonathan’s latest near-death experience, allow us to explain. Trapped in a room full of steadily rising exotic matter goo with no obvious plan to escape, the pair genuinely believe they’re going to die, which is apparently what it takes for the two of them to have an honest conversation at long last. In this chat that’s well over a season overdue, they both admit that they want different things from life and their relationship, and maybe don’t have all that much in common besides a boatload of shared trauma.
Jonathan admits he never applied to Emerson. Nancy says she’s always hated The Clash. He doesn’t actually like reading her articles. She hates it when he gets stoned. They air a whole laundry list of all the reasons they don’t really work together, despite how much they genuinely love one another, and it’s a strangely liberating moment for them both. To be clear, it makes a certain amount of sense that each has been clinging to this relationship despite the obvious red flags flying all over the place. Who else could possibly understand either them now, or things that they’ve been through? What potential future partner(s) could hope to live up to the memory of the ex they faced down demogorgons and military occupation alongside?
But then Jonathan follows up this moment of clarity with an “unproposal”, in which he pulls out a ring and asks Nancy to not marry him, an offer she giddily accepts. It’s a strange, confusing, and fairly unnecessary moment that muddies the waters about what exactly is happening between them. In theory, the ring that Jonthan’s been carrying around like a bomb in his pocket has become an unexpected symbol of how much he doesn’t want the life it promises. Yet he decides to give it to Nancy anyway? So she can reject it? As they tearfully reaffirm their love for each other? Sure, why not!
Unsurprisingly, after all of that… it’s not especially clear whether or not that heart-to-heart marks the technical end of their relationship. The pair certainly never says so onscreen, either when they’re expecting to die or after they’re rescued.. But, according to the folks behind the scenes, “Jancy” is officially over.
“That’s a breakup,” Matt Duffer confirms to People. “They are broken up.”
Your mileage may vary on whether or not a break-up that viewers aren’t even really sure happened is the best way to honor the multi-season journey of one of the series’ marquee couples. But, hey, that’s at least that’s one mystery we know the actual answer to heading into the series finale. Of course, that still leaves the question of where things stand with Nancy and her ex, Steve.
During her conversation with Jonathan, Nancy certainly implies that she’s pulling something of a Kelly Taylor, choosing independence and a chance to figure out what she really wants her life to look like over the promise of romance of any kind. (Steve wants six kids; she’s not so sure.) But given that the show almost immediately follows this admission with an extreme close-up of Steve and Nancy’s hands clasping as he helps her out of the goo room, Stranger Things clearly till has some interest in this connection and whatever it means for both of them.
After all, the pair have grown closer in recent seasons, and Steve’s evolution from zero to hero is both well-documented and satisfying. Does that mean he’s done the work to earn another shot with Nancy, or will the entire series end with everyone opting for a chance to find out for themselves what life outside of the shadow of Vecna and Hawkins looks like? Only one more episode until we find out.
Stranger Things season 5 episodes one through seven are now streaming on Netflix. The series finale premieres on December 31, 2025 at 8 p.m. ET.
The post Yes That Stranger Things Breakup Actually Happened appeared first on Den of Geek.
