Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5.

Stranger Things and its love for Dungeons & Dragons have been apparent since its very first episode, and there’s a scene during the final episode that takes the series right back to its first season.

During the final moments of “Chapter 8: The Rightside Up,” the remaining characters come together in Mike Wheeler’s (Finn Wolfhard) basement to play one last game of Dungeons & Dragons, similarly to how the first episode of the series began. In an interview with Tudum by Netflix, creators Matt and Ross Duffer revealed why they ended the series the same way it began:

Ross Duffer: That’s been planned for a very long time. It felt right to go full circle. This is about this group of characters saying goodbye to their childhood. That basement, specifically the Dungeons & Dragons game, represents their childhoods [and it’s] how we first met them as an audience. To say goodbye to it, you have to play one last time.

It was such a blast shooting, and it really reminded us of the first day on set when we filmed the kids playing D&D [in Season 1]. That was the first thing we ever shot, and it felt appropriate that this would be the last thing we ever shot. We even tried to mimic with the camera what we had done back in Season 1, all those years ago.

Matt Duffer: It was very emotional and nostalgic to shoot that scene. What was happening on the day [of filming] and what the actors were feeling and what we were feeling very much mirrored the scene. We’re really happy with how it turned out.

Image via Netflix

Mike, Max (Sadie Sink), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Will (Noah Schnapp) are seen around the table, and one by one, the party leaves to make way for Mike’s younger sister, Holly (Nell Fisher), and her friends as they begin their own D&D campaign.

This is to signify the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, as Ross comments, stating that, as Mike watches on, he’s “remembering all the joys that he had as a kid.” With Millie Bobby Brown’s character Eleven and her fate left up to the audience to determine what happened, Mike is saying goodbye to his childhood and to all the adventures.

It’s unclear what the future holds for Stranger Things, but Matt and Ross Duffer have made it clear that spinoffs are in the franchise’s future, with the animated show Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 fast approaching and detailing events that the series missed with fan-favorite characters.

All seasons of Stranger Things are available to stream on Netflix.