David Harbour speaks about Hopper's death in 'Stranger Things' Season 4

David Harbour all but confirms his absence in "Stranger Things" Season 4 when he says that the first season may have already determined Chief Jim Hopper's death.

Harbour thought that Hopper's conversation with Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) may have already sealed the detective's fate. He recalled a scene in Season 1, when a frantic Joyce asked Hopper for help in finding her missing child.

Fans may remember that Will disappeared in the first season and was left trapped in the Upside Down. Harbour said that he already knew what Hopper's fate would be in the coming seasons, when the police initially turned away Joyce.

"When I read that first scene with Joyce and Hopper and he resists helping her find her child and even makes a bit of a homophobic joke about him, you see this guy has really sort of died on the inside as a result of the death of his daughter," Harbour said in an interview with LA Times. He added, "The fact that he lives with a certain amount of internalized rage and had been slowly killing himself with pills and alcohol ... he needed to make a sacrifice."

The actor believes that Hopper had to die as a way of sacrifice "to make it up to [his daughter] Sara and see her in the afterlife." Likewise, he had to die to protect his "newfound relationship with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown)." Harbour said that Hopper needed to "shed his skin, make a sacrifice that allows his character to re-emerge."

"He was finally able to really take a bullet for a child, which he had never been able to do because Sara died of cancer. I think there's a perfection to it," Harbour continued.

This is the second time that Harbour talked about Hopper's death in "Stranger Things" Season 3 as a form of sacrifice. He noted during the German Comic Con Dortmund that Hopper's death was needed for him to make up for his mistakes and for the way he has lived his life following Sara's death.

Make no mistake though, the actor loves his character and wants to see him alive. He has asked The Duffer Brothers about Hopper's fate in "Stranger Things" Season 4, and they are still figuring it out.