The Motherland: Fort Salem season 3 premiere arrived on Freeform tonight, and you can’t be too shocked by what transpired. After all, the creative team decided to swing for the fences with this being the final season!

In the closing minutes tonight, we saw the return of an immensely popular character in Sarah Alder. How in the world is that possible? Well, that’s something that we could learn more about over time. Speaking to TVLine in a postmortem on the premiere, creator Eliot Laurence noted that there is a construct in this world already that makes such things possible:

…At the end of last season, we saw her getting her underground spa moment where she was rebuilt. She’s back, but it’s not quite the same Alder. It’s similar to how we’ve seen Willa. After she died, we still saw her. The Mycelium can bring people back. Alder is back…

Go ahead and add this twist to all of the romance and drama we saw elsewhere, including with so many witches on the run! We’re poised to get one of the most exciting seasons yet.

Laurence also noted in this interview, for those wondering, that he was informed early on that this was probably going to be the final season; with that in mind, the team was able to adjust things so that we are building towards some sort of fitting end. There could’ve been more seasons in a perfect world, but we’ve learned that when it comes to Freeform and genre shows, such a thing is not always possible. (We’re still not over Shadowhunters ending when it did, thanks for asking.)

Related – Be sure to get some more news when it comes to Motherland: Fort Salem right now, including what lies ahead

What did you think about the events of the Motherland: Fort Salem season 3 premiere?

Where do you think things are going to go now in the aftermath of Alder’s return? Be sure to share right now in the comments! Once you do just that, be sure to come back for some other news you don’t want to miss. (Photo: Freeform.)