*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 4*

Jim Hopper’s adventure throughout Stranger Things has made for fascinating viewing as he has gone from being Hawkins’ loveable police chief to a weary prisoner in the heart of Soviet Russia.

In season 4, Hopper is put through the biggest challenges of his journey so far as he attempts to escape the prison with the help of Joyce, Murray and new arrival Dimitri “Enzo” Antonov.

Hopper’s ordeal in season 4 culminates in an epic confrontation with a Demogorgon, made even more iconic by the fact that Hopper’s only weapon against the creature is a sword.

However, Stranger Things fans have been left with questions regarding the scene, most notably – where exactly did Hopper get the sword he used to fight the Demogorgon?

In the final episode of Stranger Things 4, Hopper, Joyce and Murray break back into the Russian prison where Hopper was being held at the start of the season.

Knowing they can’t get back to Hawkins in time to help the kids, the adults decide to help by taking out the Upside Down particles and creatures that are being kept in the prison.

They make it back inside the facility without issue but that was only thanks to the Demogorgon and Demodogs that escaped their containers and ravaged the inmates and guards alike.

On arriving in the central courtyard, Hopper and Joyce are overwhelmed by the creatures until Murray uses a flamethrower to kill all but the Demogorgon.

This leaves Hopper to take on the monster by himself and, as his gun is out of ammo, the only weapon that is available is a sword he picks up off the ground.

The tense stand-off ends with Hopper decapitating the Demogorgon in one blood-soaked strike.

In episode 9, we see Hopper pick the sword up from the ground but fans are confused as to how it got there.

The answer to that question can be found in episode 7, when the prisoners are forced to fight the Demogorgon and Enzo opens up a weapons locker with several old-timey weapons inside such as swords, spears and axes.

The sword Hopper uses can be seen in the weapons locker too and, in the image below, we can see one prisoner reaching out to grab the weapon.

During the fight with the Demogorgon, several prisoners are brutally killed, including the one who took the sword, which is how it ended up on the ground ready for Hopper to pick up.

Stranger Things has always been packed with pop culture references and that even includes the sword we see in episode 9.

The sword in question is the Atlantean from 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Conan The Barbarian and its 1984 sequel Conan The Destroyer.

In the Conan films, the titular barbarian found the sword in a tomb where it was buried with an ancient king, using it to break free from his shackles and fight off a pack of pursuing wolves.

As one of the most iconic fantasy franchises of all time, the Atlantean has become a hugely famous and beloved sword in its own right, making it an obvious choice to sneak in for an Eighties-themed reference in Stranger Things.

How the sword ended up in the USSR remains a mystery but perhaps the Russians managed to get their hands on a replica after they set up a lab under Starcourt Mall in season 3?

Season 4 of Stranger Things is available to stream in full on Netflix after volume 2 arrived on July 1, 2022.

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