“All stories end. Ours ends here.” 

Those are the Narrator’s (James Brolin) words as Sweet Tooth’s third and final season kicks off.

The opening minutes of the Season 3 premiere venture all over the globe and jump through time, from Thacker (Joel Tobeck) being confronted on his voyage a century ago to present day, where Gus (Christian Convery), Wendy (Naledi Murray), and Bear (Stefania LaVie Owen) are determined to cross the Rocky Mountains and make it to Alaska. You can watch the first seven minutes of the Season 3 opener of the post-apocalyptic drama series above. 

Jepperd (Nonso Anozie) warns the hybrid kids about the many dangers they’ll face — like hostile humans and a harsh winter — but Gus confidently reassures the group that they’re going to find Birdie (Amy Seimetz) and “save the world together.” And you know what? That’s enough to garner Big Man’s support with one simple statement: “I go where you go, Sweet Tooth.”

This moment signals several changes to come in Season 3. First, there’s Gus’ maturation into a fearless leader, which is a point of pride for Convery. “It’s a whole new experience,” Convery tells Tudum. “I’m growing alongside him. I am learning new things, new emotions. So was Gus. He’s starting to see new sides of humanity and feel differently about things that he was so sure about back when he was more innocent, back in the Preserve. He’s going through a big change in Season 3.”  

Showrunner and director Jim Mickle was blown away by Convery’s performance in the final season. “His work is incredible here,” says Mickle. “I’m excited for people to see [it] because when we cast him, he was 8 years old, just a little kid thinking about what this character was going to be. To get where we get to, his growth, not just as a character but as an actor and as a person, was so well-documented that I think you’re really seeing a giant chapter of his life.”

That opening exchange between Gus and Jepperd also reveals how their relationship has evolved over the years. In Season 3, Jepperd has come to rely on the boy he’s worked so hard to protect. That role reversal even made waves in the Sweet Tooth cast’s group chat. “We’ve got a WhatsApp group with all the cast and we’ve been talking about how different the third season is and the vulnerability and humanity of all of the characters,” says Anozie. “Jepperd not only loves this kid but he can depend on him too. He actually needs this kid to actually keep pushing forward. It was a beautiful experience to be able to play Jepperd all three seasons, but I think this might have been my favorite.”

As for the rest of the final season, executive producer Susan Downey promises “a ton of twists and turns, character reunions, and new discoveries.” Fellow executive producer Amanda Burrell adds, “There are dark forces coming, tracking [Gus] across a much wider landscape. It’s really an expansion of our universe.”

That “dark force” is Helen Zhang (Rosalind Chao), who isn’t seen in these opening minutes, but brings a prominent, ominous feeling to Season 3, making her one of the characters Mickle is most excited for fans to see in this final installment. “Zhang is a new sort of piece of the puzzle that was not a part of the comic book, but I love [her] story,” says Mickle. “This is a season that’s about motherhood in a lot of ways with Birdie. [Helen] is sort of the dark side of that story.”

There’s an existential question looming over Season 3: Who will survive and inherit the Earth — humans or the hybrids? As Gus, his friends, and their enemies race toward the Arctic, it’s anyone’s guess.  Says Downey, “It’s the culmination of a truly epic journey for Gus.”

All eight episodes of Sweet Tooth Season 3 arrive June 6.