True Blood fans waiting to know if Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) really died in the season 6 finale won't have to wait any longer.

True Blood showrunner Brian Buckner told TVLine in a report published Tuesday that Skarsgard would be returning for season 7. He will continue to be a series regular, as he has been since season 2.

As for how season 7 will pick up after Eric burst into flames while isolated on a mountain in Sweden, Buckner said the vampire wouldn't magically be alive and well.

"That would be a cheat, wouldn't it?" he said. "That would be an incredible cheat. Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten) has gone off in search of Eric, and maybe she's going to be the one to find him, y'know?"

True Blood Season 7 Spoilers: Is Eric Really Dead & What's Ahead for Sookie & Alcide?

Buckner promises that season 7 will be a return to the show's original premise: seeing if humans and vampires can interact with each other.

"And because humans and vampires are being forced together, we're going to be examining that with all of our characters," he continued. "Everyone's going to come under the umbrella of that main story. These are complicated relationships now because they're feeding - it's not necessarily sex, but things get confused sometimes, especially in vampires' minds - so you're going to be looking at a number of complicated three-way, four-way relationships."

One of those three-way relationships will be Sookie (Anna Paquin), Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Alcide (Joe Manganiello). Sookie and Alcide were seen hooking up at the end of the season 6 finale, which will undoubtedly cause tension between Sookie and Bill.

Buckner admitted that Bill wouldn't necessarily be up to any mischief to try to win Sookie back.

"I think Bill doesn't have a trick up his sleeve this time. I think he's genuine. The real question is about forgiveness," Buckner said. 

Season 7 of True Blood will premiere in 2014.

Rewatch Eric's pivotal scene from the season 6 finale:

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