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Merle Dixon's return to "The Walking Dead" has been confirmed in a newly-released image from the upcoming season 3. In the picture, the character played by Michael Rooker is seen pretty much alive and sporting something in place of his missing arm.

Merle was left handcuffed to a pipe on an Atlanta rooftop in season 1 with a pack of walkers approaching him. When the other survivors returned to the site, only Merle's hand remained next to a bloodied saw. The racist and hot-tempered guy later appeared in his brother Daryl's hallucination in season 2.

Back in November, comic creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman played coy when asked if Merle would return to the show. "There's definitely a chance," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "We still don't know what happened to him after he cut his hand off."

"We don't know where he went, we don't know if he survived and if he survived, for how long. We don't know anything about him," he continued gushing. "We would never leave something like that hanging indefinitely. That's going to be something coming up at some point in the show."

Prior to releasing this photo, AMC has debuted the first look at David Morrissey as The Governor. Also being part of the new season is sword-wielding heroine Michonne, who is portrayed by Danai Gurira.

The all-new episodes of "Walking Dead" will debut sometime this fall.