Mr. Robot image teases a bloody return

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Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) was in bad shape the last time we saw him on Mr. Robot. Convinced that Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallström) was — like Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) — also a figment of his imagination, he pushed the former Evil Corp executive to the brink. Unbeknownst to him, Elliot had given Wellick instructions to shoot anyone who got in his way, including Elliot.

But it didn’t end there.

A mysterious scene with Angela (Portia Doubleday) hinted at both a connection between Elliot’s best childhood friend and Wellick and that Elliot was going to pull through.

Now, a new image from season 3 (below), suggests that the bullet in Elliot’s gut may have done some damage after all.

This should be taken with a grain of salt, however. You only have to go back to the season 2 premiere to see Elliot sporting an even more severe wound — a gunshot to the head — without too much stress. Elliot’s role as an unreliable narrator means that we can pretty much see anything on screen and only have it metaphorically connected to what’s happening in “real” reality.

Series creator Sam Esmail shared with EW what fans can expect to see in the opening moments of season 3: “In our circular storytelling, we pick up where we left off,” he said. “In a roundabout way, that means we’re also filling gaps of what we didn’t tell you as well as continuing the storyline of what happens to Elliot after he gets shot.”

We know from season 3 trailers that Elliot isn’t down for long, so either fsociety has some great health benefits or the wound was more psychological than physical.

Mr. Robot season 3 premieres Oct. 11 on USA.