Praise be! The Handmaid's Tale season three premiere date has been announced.

Praise be, for it has been confirmed that we will all be returning to Gilead on June 6 when season three of The Handmaid’s Tale will premiere.

The long-awaited season three announcement was made by Hulu senior vice president of originals Craig Erwich during the recent Television Critics Association tour, and did come as a bit of a surprise to critics and viewers alike, considering the last two seasons of the award-winning drama both premiered in April.

Season three of the dystopian feminist drama , which will air in Australia one day after the US, will pick up where season two left off, after June (Elisabeth Moss) decided not to escape to the safety of Canada and instead passed her newborn baby to Emily (Alexis Bledel) for protection, choosing to remain in enemy territory to track down her older daughter, Hannah.

Watch the trailer for season three of The Handmaid’s Tale, post continues after video.

The late release date is actually a little odd, considering that the late premiere date pushes The Handmaid’s Tale season three out of contention for the 2019 Emmy Awards, with June 1 confirmed as the eligibility cut-off date, which is not great news for the cast and crew who have previously dominated the award season categories.

However, speaking to reporters at the Television Critics Association, Erwich said the delay was not to position the series away from the final season of Game of Thrones, which was many people’s first guess as to the reason behind the delay, but because the later date was needed in order for the series to maintain its current high production levels.

“Maintaining the quality of The Handmaid’s Tale, which is impeccable, takes time,” he told reporters, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “We wanted to give the show enough time to maintain the incredibly high standards of storytelling set in seasons one and two.”

The third season of The Handmaid’s Tale will consist of 13 episodes and the premiere date marks a full year since the season two finale aired.

All of the key cast will return for season three, including Commander Fred Waterford ( Joseph Fiennes), Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski) and, despite the fact that she was stabbed and left for dead in season two, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd).

One of the most exciting elements of season three is that, according to Elisabeth Moss herself, we will get to see a radically different side to June as the storyline expands.

“She is staying to fight to save all the children of Gilead,” Elisabeth told The Hollywood Reporter about season three. “It’s bigger than her now. It’s bigger than her and Holly and Hannah. It’s all about the sons and especially daughters of Gilead, and fighting for their lives. Seeing the Martha network and the commander has opened her eyes. She is no longer alone. She has an army, and she’s going to fight back.”

Well then, June 6 cannot come fast enough.

 The Handmaid’s Tale will return for season three on Thursday June 6 with new episodes on SBS and SBS On Demand.

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