The new Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1 brings back a painful memory for Jim Hopper. For years, viewers knew that Hopper lost his daughter, Sara Hopper, to illness. But in Vol. 1, Stranger Things adds a new heartbreaking twist. Now we learn that the doctors once believed Sara would live. They thought she had a chance, and that makes her death feel even more tragic.In a way, this new information could clarify why Hopper is well-guarded, broken, and protective of others, especially of Eleven. His loss has caused him to be who he is today; it explains how deeply he grieves and who he is now.A new reveal in Stranger Things where doctors expected Sara to surviveIn Stranger Things Season 5, Hopper opens up and shares with Eleven that when Sara was sick, doctors believed she was going to get better. Her fight was so strong that hope was real. Yet, she did not make it. This new confession amplifies the sorrow surrounding her death.Until now, fans knew only that Sara died of childhood cancer. The show had shown glimpses in flashbacks of a hospital bed, a sad parent watching over a sick child, and a lonely, hardened Hopper who never fully recovered.But hearing that doctors once hoped she would survive adds new pain. In addition to the ultimate irony in fate, this also adds additional meaning to Hopper's actions. His refusal to allow himself to lose Eleven is matched by his never-ending fear and worry for her and by his need to protect her more than anything or anyone else in his life. He has always been in pain from that fear of losing her, but now that pain has a new reason for being there.Netflix's "Stranger Things" Season 5 World Premiere - Source: GettyThis reveal helps explain why Hopper often seems like a man who carries the weight of grief he can’t shake. It makes his protection of Eleven feel like more than a parental duty, more like a desperation to never lose again.Revisiting Hopper's past in Stranger ThingsStranger Things Season 5 Volume 1 doesn't just speak about the past; it returns to it. The show is bringing back flashbacks of Sara. To do this, the show even recast her role because the original child actor had grown up.This shows a cruel twist of fate, and it gives more significance to Hopper's actions, which reflect his inability to think about losing Eleven. His continual state of fear concerning their future reveals a protective nature that is shaped by both fear and a great deal of pain.Seeing these memories helps viewers understand why Hopper acts the way he does. He treats Eleven almost like a second chance and fears that the same tragedy might repeat. He invests all his trust, love, and fear into protecting her. That is why, even now, he reacts to danger with so much urgency and so much fear.By revisiting Sara's story, Stranger Things Season 5 shows that the scars Hopper carries are old, but they still shape everything he does. The memories of loss are still alive, even if the person is gone.In the end, the sad new detail in Season 5, that doctors expected Sara to live, makes her loss more tragic than we already knew. It adds more weight to Hopper's sorrow. It helps explain his anger, his grief, and his fear. It also gives more depth to his relationship with Eleven, because now, we don’t just see a man who lost a daughter. We see a man who once believed his daughter could live and still had to watch her die. That makes his pain, his loss, his guard, and his love much stronger. And in showing his past, the show gives us a deeper understanding of him and his journey.