Ahh, finale day. After two straight weeks of jaw-dropping deaths on The Walking Dead, there’s really an “all bets are off” mentality going into tonight’s final episode of the second season. With a zombie standoff sure to excite, it all is going to point towards Season 3 later this fall. We know The Governor will be showing up in the form of actor David Morrissey, but other than that, it’s all up in the air. Now with Wondercon this weekend, there’s plenty of room for announcements. And that’s what actor Michael Rooker decided just to do.

Rooker, who plays redneck Merle on the series, has revealed that he will be returning to the series next year, says The Daily Dead (via STYD). In what exact capacity remains to be seen, as Rooker failed to go into details, but did mention ”that he lost 20 lbs for the role”.

So, could Merle return as another feverish vision of brother Daryl (Norman Reedus) as he did this second season? Or, could it be a full out return that means we’ll finally learn just what happened to the ignorant zombie bait? Perhaps even as a lackey of The Governor’s?

Since his departure, Daryl has become a large fan favorite on the series, and with recent developments, seems to be Rick’s sub-leader for the group. If Merle does come back full time, perhaps it could land a real disturbance for Daryl’s character development so far, forcing him to choose between the group he’s become so close with, and the brother he thought may have been dead.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Walking Dead‘s season finale airs tonight at 9PM on AMC.