We have your exclusive first peek at season 7 of The Walking Dead, and if it looks a lot like the end of season 6, that is no accident: there is still a bit of unfinished business to be revealed when things pick back up on AMC in October.

What sort of unfinished business? Well, learning the identity of the Negan’s first victim, for one thing. And while the wait for that intel has been looooooooong, the producers promise the answer will indeed come in the season premiere. “Yes, who was at the receiving end of Negan’s bat will be revealed in the first episode,” confirms executive producer Greg Nicotero, who directed both the season 6 finale and the season 7 premiere.

And if you thought Negan’s epic speech that closed season 6 was an isolated event, think again. Nicotero teases that Jeffrey Dean Morgan has plenty more rants to come in season 7. “Negan is that kind of guy,” says Nicotero. “He’s the kind of guy who imagines himself on stage at a high school production and he loves every second of it. So, I don’t really see a lot of quiet contemplative moments with Negan. I feel like with Negan it’s really going to be about him gesticulating and him sort of relishing in the sound of his own voice while he commands the stage in front of whoever’s alive.”