You can never satisfy spoiler hounds.

That’s why this week’s picture from the set of AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ sent some message boards into a tizzy.

Who was the picture of? Only one of the most talked about characters in the show’s history – even if he did appear in only three episodes. We’re talking about Michael Rooker’s Merle Dixon, of course.

For those that have memory problems, the last time we saw Merle he was locked on the roof of a department store. He had been handcuffed to a drain and the key to unlock him had been accidentally dropped down the drain by T-Dog.

When Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl returned to the roof to rescue everyone’s favorite racist, they found that Merle had cut off his own hand, cauterized it and taken off for parts unknown (missing a key part, of course).

He’s bound to be ticked when the survivors find him.

From the looks of the spoiler picture, Merle is making do with his new handicap.

As a fan of the show, I can’t wait to see how he interacts with Daryl and T-Dog (I knew they were keeping him around for some reason). My guess is that T-Dog’s days are numbered. Of course, I thought he was going to be zombie fodder since the first season, so what do I know?

The other spoiler bits that have leaked out regarding the highly anticipated third season – which will consist of 16 episodes and debut around Halloween in October – revolve around Michonne and The Governor.

 

Michonne was introduced briefly in the waning seconds of season two, when Andrea ran into the hooded figure and her pet zombies – who conveniently had no arms. Since then, we’ve learned that Danai Gurira has been cast as the comic book favorite.

The other bit of casting news is The Governor – who will be portrayed by David Morrissey. The Governor is another character that plays significantly in the comic book mythology. As fans of the show know, though, ‘The Walking Dead’ doesn’t follow the comic books exactly.

As far as sets go, fans know the next arc will lead into the comic book prison storyline – a fan favorite. Of course, no comic book fan will ever be truly happy with the series – so they’re going to complain no matter what. Despite their complaints, though, I don’t see any ratings exodus from disgruntled comic book fans.

This is just conjecture at this point, but I would bet that Merle is somehow tied in with The Governor. From what I’ve read about The Governor, he and Merle have a lot in common.

I’m more interested in how Daryl will react to his brother, though. Daryl has done a lot of growing since he got out of Merle’s shadow. I don’t think it’s going to be some loving family reunion.

Anticipation for ‘The Walking Dead’ to return is starting to hit a fever pitch. In anticipation of that, AMC is hosting a marathon of all 19 episodes of the show in July.

The event kicks off at 11:30 a.m. each day of the marathon. Each episode will also be introduced by Chris Hardwick – with members of the cast – on site in Atlanta where season three is currently being filmed.

Then, at 9 p.m. on July 8, Hardwick will host a special episode of ‘The Talking Dead,’ which will be followed by a special 10 p.m. showing of the pilot episode of the show in black-and-white.

What do you think? What do you want to see on ‘The Walking Dead’ season three?