8 Unanswered Questions From Stranger Things Season 3
3. How Exactly Did Eleven Lose Her Powers?
During what was possibly the worst conceivable timing, Eleven lost her telekinetic abilities after removing an infectious parasite from the Mind Flayer from her leg in a heart-racing scene. Despite telling Hopper her powers would come back after she recharged her battery, it was shown in the closing moments of the season her powers still had not returned.
It seems unlikely the Duffer brothers will keep Eleven de-powered for the rest of the series. Eleven's psionic abilities are part of what makes Stranger Things so strange. Plus with the foreshadowing of the threats and mysteries lying ahead, the Hawkins gang are going to need Eleven's gifts.
What actually caused Eleven to lose her powers, however? Mike warned Max and the other characters earlier in the season about the repercussions of exploiting El's powers. The recurrent nosebleeds should be evidence enough, but there does seem to be a limit to her powers and she may well have surpassed them.
Could it also have been the parasitic worm she gruesomely removed from her leg during the battle of Starcourt? El's powers were shown to have been sapped after that point, though she previously managed to throw a car at the Russian operatives pursuing the Scoops Troop.