Stranger Things fan thinks they have guessed who 'the American' is in season three
New theory centres on Billy Hargrove instead of Jim Hopper
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Warning: the story below contains spoilers for Stranger Things season three.
Ever since the third season of Stranger Things premiered on Netflix, fans have been obsessed with figuring out the identity of a mysterious “American“ mentioned in the final episode – and a new theory challenges all previous guesses on the matter.
At the end of the third season, two characters appear to die: Billy Hargrove, who sacrifices himself, and Jim Hopper, who gets left for dead when Joyce Byers closes a portal to the Upside Down.
A post-credit scene features two Russian soldiers apparently feeding a prisoner to a Demogorgon. One of them initially moves to another cell, only to be stopped by his colleague, who tells him: “No, not the American."
Many fans have speculated that the American in question is Hopper, suggesting the police chief might not be dead.
But one Reddit user has claimed that “the American“ might actually be Billy, who would still be alive in this scenario, having traded places with a clone of himself whom he encounters in the Upside Down in the season three finale.
“What if at the end of S3 the ‘American’ was Billy?“ Reddit user Xanshue wrote.
“When Billy went to the Upside Down he saw a clone of himself, perhaps they somehow switched places and Billy escaped by creating a new gate somehow.“
That theory, the fan said, could also help explain the presence of a live Demogorgon at the end of season three, since Eleven previously defeated the one known Demogorgon in the series.
While plenty of people have nourished hope that Hopper will return in future episodes, the fan wasn’t convinced.
"Also, the ending of S3 (Hopper’s note), was really sad and I don’t think Netflix would just bring him back,“ they added.
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“I would like for him to come back, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense."
This is just one of several exciting fan theories doing the rounds – you can find a compilation fo everything we know about season four here.
Stranger Things‘ third season is out on Netflix now.
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