Empire returned with the premiere episode of their 3rd season last night (September 21, 2016).

When last we seen the Lyons, Rhonda and Anika (BooBoo Kitty) were fighting after Rhonda realized that it was HER who caused her to lose her child. Andre arrived on the scene just as the two were about to kill each other and apparently only one survived.

The season 3 premiere episode picks up at the thrilling cliffhanger. SPOILER ALERT… do not read if you haven’t watched the episode!

Recap + full video below…

VIDEO: Empire Season 3 Premiere

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5 Things revealed during the season 3 premiere.

1. We lost a Lyon…

We finally found out who it was who fell from the balcony during that fall. It was Rhonda. And her husband, Andre arrived just in time to witness her death as she and Anika fought.

As you recall, Rhonda finally got her memory back about the day she lost her child and remembers that it was Anika who came into her home in the middle of the night and pushed her down that spiral starcase.

That seems to be a moot point now that she’s dead tho… but I digress.

2. We gained a Lyon…

Anika goes into labor after finally getting rid of Rhonda for good and the Lyon legacy is born.

Lucious arrives at the hospital just in time to whisper a few sweet nothings into BooBooKitty’s ears, telling her not to admit anything and to say that Rhonda jumped.

Meanwhile, he also puts his name on the birth certificate as the father since he is… technically, still married to Anika.

Moving On…

3. Cookie Moves on… or does she?

Now that Lucious is claiming a paternal relationship with Anika’s child and she’s also living in his house as his real life wife, Cookie feels it’s time to exit stage left.

Hopes for a real relationship with her baby’s father are no longer at arms length, but like any married man, Lucious tells Cookie to wait until he gets things together and gives her hope that they will be together one day.

Needless to say, Cookie is still ride or die for the family business and gets everyone in tow when she finds out her sisters have been unwittingly feeding an FBI agent info about them all.

4. Rhonda’s gone but not forgotten…

Rhonda may be DEAD in theory but she’s still very much alive to Andre.

She appears in the episode by way of Andre?s hallucinations, who?s dealt with mental illness over the past two seasons. Now he deals with new demons in the upcoming episodes.

His wife’s death and the lies covering it up are clearly taking a huge toll on Andre. He?s deeply bereaved and apparently hasn’t been taking his meds.

Rhonda appears to him and asks ‘Who’s going to care for you now that I’m gone? Who’s going to force you to take your meds?”

It seems she’s also going to force him to face his family challenges, as she asks ‘Who’s going to be there to tell you when to stand up to your father? or when to back down?… Without me you’re just some Philly thug with mental problems.’

Rhonda’s ‘ghost’ is apparently going to be an ongoing challenge for Andre.

It will be interesting to see if his visions will help his mental state or be to his detriment.

5. Jamal tries to impact social change through Empire-X

Lucious plans to launch a new music streaming leg of Empire and Jamal is schedule to perform during the celebration.

It’s his first performance since being shot last season and he has plans to sing about the person who shot him.

In a song titled, ‘Free Freda,’ Jamal sings about Mike Brown, Trayvon Marton and the Black Lives Matters movement and while its a great song, Freda’s addition seems to take away from the message at hand…but what do I know?

Fortunately, Jamal’s anxiety prevents him from performing about his Father’s potential killer and a star is born as his background singer, Nessa, steps up to the plate.

Nessa sings the song as rehearsed, but instead of Freda, sings of Freedom and she totally rocks the crowd. Now, she’s the ‘face’ of Empire-Xtreme and Lucious faces another challenge as he’s forced to partner with Nessa’s management.

What did you think of the season 3 premiere episode?