When Stephen Colbert left “The Colbert Report” back in December 2014, he retired the arch conservative character that he played for nine years.

On Monday night’s episode of “The Late Show,” “Stephen Colbert” made a comeback.

The host resurrected his famous alter-ego for the first of his live shows covering the Republican National Convention, with the help of a cameo by Jon Stewart. At the beginning of the episode, Colbert finds his old boss hiding in a cabin in the woods, and after some banter about Donald Trump’s candidacy, Stewart produces Colbert the character, holding his Captain America shield in hand and donning his trademark rimless eyeglasses.

“Colbert” then makes a patriotic entrance into the Ed Sullivan Theater on a golden chariot pulled by shirtless men in Uncle Sam get-ups and accompanied by a Revolutionary War band, and launches into a six-minute segment full of throwback gems for “Report” fans.

“Hello Nation. Did you miss me? I know I did,” he says to the audience. “It’s time to say ‘Aloha’ to Stephen Colbert and Aloha to ‘Stephen Colbert.’ Wow, look at this place. The host must have quite an ego.”

The faux host then revives his beloved segment, “The Word,” to take on “Trumpiness” — which Colbert Nation fans will recognize as a reference the “Truthiness” word that he coined on his very first episode of “The Colbert Report” back in 2005.

By the time Colbert welcomed guest Zoe Saldana, his real persona returned (in his regular dark-rimmed eyeglasses), but for a few minutes at least, “The Late Show” belonged to “Stephen Colbert.”