With DreamWorks Animation's Netflix series Trollhunters set to become the streaming platform's most-watched original children's series ever, it would have been crazy not to renew the fantasy series for a second season. Today, Guillermo del Toro officially revealed the renewal of a 13-episode Season 2 for the fantasy adventure series.

The hard-working folks over at EW broke the news of the renewal, which was confirmed in a lengthy interview with the show's creator. Del Toro also spoke about the passing of star Anton Yelchin, who voiced the lead character of Jim Lake, Jr. before passing away last year. Since the epic Season 1 finale of Trollhunters, fans have wondered what's ahead for Jim, both behind the scenes in a casting capacity and on screen as he delves deeper (figuratively and literally) into the show's mythology.

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Image via Netflix

Here's how del Toro broke the exciting news of the show's renewal:

Well, we got very good news about how many people were watching the series, but we got confirmation that the next [13] episodes are a go. We’ve been working on a second season for a while now because we knew that if everything went right, we could proceed. We’re going to go ahead and now continue, rather than start, because we’ve been doing it for more than a year. The reality and the beauty of this is that we can continue not only the storyline and the characters, but we have a huge swath of work from Anton that allows us to continue Anton through more than half the season.

As for where Trollhunters will go from here, del Toro revealed that they "set out a map of 52 episodes, and created arcs that break every 13, and those were planned four years ago. So we have been recording Kelsey Grammer, Anton, Ron Perlman, Clancy Brown, everybody involved in the series for years and years. And there was a break in the arc in the right episode that allows us to preserve all the work that Anton did that was phenomenal ... And now I can tell you, we’re not only going to second season, but we’re going to be able to preserve a really large part of it with Anton’s voice."

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Image via DreamWorks TV

For those of you keeping track at home, Netflix now has orders for a total of 39 episodes over three arcs in two seasons, meaning that at least one more arc (Season 3?) is planned but not yet officially ordered. It's a good bet that Jim will continue to be the lead character throughout, so here's how del Toro plans to handle Yelchin's passing in the short term:

Actually, coincidentally, we have an event in the last episode Anton did which allows us to sort of change his voice slightly, so the character stays — but we didn’t plan this. It was pure serendipity that we had that in the works. The beats of the second season have been set for years, and as of now, we have not altered or needed to alter a single beat.

Now that a Season 2 is officially coming, fans will get some closure as to the cliffhanger-y ending of Season 1 in which [spoiler alert] Jim made quite the change to his armor and his persona, reciting the new phrase, "For the doom of Gunmar, Eclipse is mine to command!" before heading into the Darklands. Here's what del Toro can tease about the plot of the new season:

The Darklands are quite an ordeal in themselves. They are not a light walk in the park. [Laughs] They are not a one-action sequence and we go away. There’s a good [amount] in the Darklands. We have character recalls that were introduced in the first season that you didn’t know how they’d pay off, or you thought you’d knew how they pay off, and you reencounter them and go, “Oh, so this is who the mysterious lady that gives supernatural powers to Angor Rot is,” for example. She becomes quite a character in the second season. You reencounter a character I love — I won’t tell you who — but we reencounter that character now in the Darklands. We resolve a lot more of the backstory of Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!!, for example. And of course, the Mexican dentist comes back.

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Images via Netflix

The Mexican dentist, of course, was voiced by del Toro himself, one of many Easter eggs scattered throughout the series. But just as del Toro didn't pull off this show single-handedly, so too does Jim have help, notably from pals Toby and Claire:

Well, the second season gives a chance for them to become Trollhunters on their own, but the two worlds are constantly linked. We find out some of the surprisingly complex politics in the world of trolls in regards to the Darklands, and the arc [of Toby and Claire] is really very beautiful in the second season. Very heroic, I would say.

Del Toro closed by talking about how personal animation is to him, something he expressed in our recent interview with him regarding Trollhunters. And while he's certainly got animated irons in the fire, here's what he's currently working on:

I’m finishing The Shape of Water, and that is not a kids’ movie at all. I would never dream of that. And I want to finish or continue other projects that are of a completely different nature. The thing is, I am not a brand. I am an acquired taste. And as such, I don’t want to be defined by what I’ve done, but what I do next.

For more on Trollhunters, be sure to check out our recent write-ups below:

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Image via DreamWorks Animation, Netflix