Hannibal should savor the taste of freedom - it won't be long before he and his culinary pursuits find themselves behind bars.

'Hannibal' Season 3 Spoilers: Will Dr. Lecter Fall For Some Live Bait? Chilton Puts Will Graham On The Line

Dr. Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) may be the smartest man in most rooms, but the cannibal's disturbing taste in meats will catch up to him by the middle of Hannibal's third season. When it does, Hannibal will have to find solace in his mind palace as he weathers a life behind bars.

While everyone knew Hanni's future incarceration was unavoidable, the road to this conclusion will be littered with twists and turns courtesy of showrunner Bryan Fuller and his diabolical planning.

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"We know that if we do go into the Red Dragon, Hannibal will be behind bars," Mikkelsen teased, according to the Wall Street Journal. "That's a fact. The question is, how do they get him? And who gets who? That's the question, and I think we have a twist on that, which is interesting."

Once a good doctor does get his own set of shiny silver bracelets, however, he won't stop seeking a deeper friendship with Will Graham (Hugh Dancy). When the troubled profiler reenters the FBI game to capture the Red Dragon (Richard Armitage), Dr. Lecter will see this new case as a way to ensnare his "friend" once more.

"For Hannibal, [Reba and Dolarhyde's] story is just a way to get even closer to Will," Mikkesen previewed. "For him, the Dragon is interesting, but not that interesting. Will is the interesting one. In Hannibal's world, it's a chess piece."

Find out more when Hannibal airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. Click the video below to see a preview for the series' next episode.

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