'Empire' season 3 spoilers news: Rhonda dies in premiere but Kaitlin Doubleday will hang around

"Empire" fans said goodbye to Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) in the musical drama's season 3 premiere.

Mere moments after the season 3 opener kicked off on Wednesday, Sept. 21, Rhonda, Andre's (Trai Byers) wife, fell from the roof of Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Anika's (Grace Gealey) impromptu wedding hall. Her body landed on a car and the look on her face confirmed that she was indeed truly dead.

Back on the roof, Andre confronted Anika for killing his wife. Right on cue, his father's new wife, who was carrying his brother Hakeem's (Bryshere Y. Gray) child, went into labor.

But while Rhonda has exited the world of the living, her death scene wasn't the last viewers saw of Andre's poor wife. Later in the episode, Rhonda re-appeared via Andre's hallucinations, essentially setting up a new storyline for the troubled Lyon, who has been struggling with mental illness since the series began.

Now that fans have seen Rhonda alive in Andre's mind, will Doubleday continue to be a regular presence in the FOX series?

"We could still see her," "Empire" showrunner Ilene Chaiken told Variety. "Rhonda is quite likely not out of our 'Empire' world just yet. I don't want to say how long Andre will have this unusual relationship with his deceased wife, but there's a good chance that we will see more of her," she added.

Meanwhile, Chaiken also recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the changes taking place in the new season of the Emmy-winning show.

According to the "Empire" boss, unlike the show's first two seasons, which were crammed with celebrity guest stars, the third season will put the spotlight back on the core characters and concentrate on the series' substance and story.

"Every single story and every single character in 'Empire' in season three started in the writer's room," she said.

"We're not doing any stunt casting, we're not jumping through any hoops to figure out how to use some fabulous guest star," she explained.

Chaiken said that while she wouldn't call season 3 "slower," it is definitely "more thoughtful." "It's completely different rules this year," she told THR.

"Empire" season 3 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on Fox.