Does Hopper die in Stranger Things season 4 volume 2? (Spoilers)

Stranger Things season 4 is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix allowing viewers the chance to watch the complete season for the first time.

There were a lot of questions heading into the final episodes of the season, but the burning questions on the minds of all fans was who might live and who might die in the final episodes of the season. After all, the only deaths leading up to the two episodes were new characters just introduced this season who audiences hadn’t really gotten the chance to know before their untimely demises.

Among the characters fans were most worried about was Hopper, who we thought we had lost in season 3 following the lab explosion only to later find out he had survived. Sure he evaded death in season 3, but the growing concern was whether his luck might finally run out as season 4 came to a close.

So did the final episodes of the season bring with them the final goodbye for Hopper?

Warning: This is where things are about to get spoiler-y. If you want to avoid spoilers of any kind, this is where you might want to leave us. 

Does Hopper die in Stranger Things Season 4?

Although Hopper finds himself in a series of dangerous situations again this season, he does not die in Stranger Things season 4. Though he does have a few close calls.

As the season begins, we find Hopper in Russia and discover he was captured by the Russians following the lab explosion in the season 3 finale. Ever since being taken prisoner, Hopper had been plotting a plan to escape in hopes of making it back to those he left behind.

With help from one of the prison guards, Hopper was able to get a note to Joyce about gathering money from an account he had set up for Eleven and meeting a contact in Alaska. While he was able to get the letter to Joyce and put the plan into motion, that was only one part of the plan. In order to make it to Joyce, he first needed to break out of the prison which involved a detailed and risky plan.

How does Hopper escape the Russian prison?

The first brush with danger came when Hopper attempts to escape the prison. After bribing a fellow prisoner to smash his ankle so that he could slip out of his shackles, Hopper has to wait for the right moment to put his plan into place.

One day while working on laying railroad tracks, Hopper decides to take his chance and makes a break for it. After breaking his work hammer, he’s taken to a shed with a guard to get a replacement. This is when Hopper attacks the guard in order to take him out.

Unfortunately, a second guard shows up and a fight ensues. Hopper is able to use his chains to his benefit, but the guard is able to fire his gun off while fighting Hopper off which catches the other guards’ attention. Hopper quickly kills the guard by jumping over the table seeming to snap the guard’s neck with help from the chains, but dozens of other guards close in on him.

Just when it looks like Hopper is done for, he escapes through the roof and sets off dynamite, causing an explosion that took out many of the approaching guards. This allowed him to make a run to a nearby snowmobile which he used to escape.

Does Hopper defeat the Demogorgon in season 4?

After escaping from the Russian prison, Hopper is recaptured due to his contact on the outside selling him out. Upon being recaptured, he’s thrown back into a cell — this time alongside the guard who helped him escape the first time around. Upon returning to the Russian prison, things only get worse for Hopper.

Basically, the Russians came into possession of a Demogorgon and Hopper is about to become part of the latest group of prisoners to be tossed into a caged enclosure to do battle with the creature. Luckily, this isn’t the first time Hopper has faced a Demogorgon.

He thinks on his feet and sneaks out a bottle of alcohol from their last meal feast and later steals a lighter in a fight with a guard. The plan? To use the two supplies to make a firey weapon, knowing the creatures do not like fire.

When the battle comes, it looks like Hopper’s luck has run out when the lighter he stole fails to spark the flame Hopper needs to set his alcohol-soaked spear on fire. Just when it looks like all hope has failed, the lighter finally sparks a flame which Hopper is able to use to make a flaming spear.

He’s then able to use the flame to ward off the Demogorgon, which quickly kills all of the other guards around him — with the exception of Dmitri, the guard who helped Hopper escape the first time around. After slaughtering the rest of the inmates, the Demogorgon shifts its full attention toward Hopper and Dmitri.

Just when it looked like Hopper and Dmitri would be killed by the Demogorgon, Joyce was able to open the gate allowing the pair to escape in the knick of time.

Does Hopper make it out of Russia?

Hopper’s final brush with death comes in the final hours of the season after Joyce saves him from the Demogorgon attack.

After making it out of the battle alive, Hopper and company flee the prison and begin planning a way home. However, they quickly get word of the situation unfolding back in the states and decide to break back into the prison in order to destroy the particles from the Upside Down back at the prison in hopes of helping El and the gang back home in their battle — knowing the Upside Down creatures are all connected through their hive mind.

When they return to the prison, things aren’t looking good and Hopper once again finds himself in battle with both the Demogorgon and demodogs. While trying to fend off one demodog, it seems Hopper might finally lose out but Joyce once again saves the day in the nick of time.

After doing a final battle with the Demogorgon and with an assist from Murray and his flamethrower, they’re able to defeat the creatures from the Upside Down. After the battle with Vecna comes to an end, we jump ahead a few days which is when we see Hopper and Joyce make their way back to the US for their long-awaited reunions with Eleven, Will and company.

Stranger Things season 4 is streaming now on Netflix.