Attack On Titan Season 4 - What We Know So Far

While the modern anime series, Attack on Titan, began airing back in 2013, the series is only in the midst of its fourth season as a result of multiple gaps in its production. First, its second season premiered nearly four years after season 1. And although its production company, Wit Studio, never gave an explicit reason for the delay, some fans have theorized that the gap was mostly driven by profit. Then, its third season was split into two parts with a roughly six month gap in between part one and part two. While considerably less severe than the four years between its first two seasons, the divided third season only served to lengthen the amount of time it would take to build the series to its eventual conclusion.

In December of 2020, what was labeled as the final season of Attack on Titan began, helmed this time by MAPPA rather than Wit Studio. The season appeared to be 16 episodes in length, which confused some fans with knowledge of its comic book source material, who wondered how the low number of episodes could possibly cover all of its remaining story beats. With the conclusion of those 16 episodes, MAPPA then announced that the series would return for a second part of its final season, which would act as a mirror between parts one and two. Here's everything we know so far about Attack on Titan season 4 part 2.

On March 28, 2021, the day before the Attack On Titan season 4 part 1 finale, the official Attack on Titan (titled Shingeki no Kyojin in Japanese) Twitter account announced that the series would return this coming winter. While anime shows are generally released according to a uniform seasonal schedule, this winter timeline is ultimately indeterminate as it pertains to Attack on Titan.

Most anime included in the winter 2021 anime season premiered sometime between January 6 and January 13. Those series then continued to air new episodes weekly. If Attack on Titan follows this pattern, audiences could expect the show to return in January of 2022. That said, Attack on Titan season 4 part 1 was something of a dark horse — its premier didn't coincide with an established anime season, and instead, it aired in December shortly before the winter 2021 season would officially begin. If the next batch of episodes does the same thing, then the series could return as soon as December 2021.

When Attack on Titan returns, the focus will likely be on the series' main protagonist, Eren Yeager, who is also likely to become the show's primary focus moving forward. When Eren first appeared in season 4, he slaughtered numerous innocent citizens in an attack on the nation of Marley (the existence of which was only just revealed to viewers in the season 3 finale, and promptly became the focus of the season 4 premiere). From then on, Eren seemed at odds with virtually everyone, and that blatant war crime hung heavy over the formerly heroic protagonist. Then, season 4 part 1's final two episodes revealed that Eren was supposedly cooperating with his beastly half brother, Zeke, on a plan to sterilize all Eldians in order to end the suffering caused between those with titan powers and those without. In short, the already dark series got a little bit darker.

Fans have theorized that Eren was only feigning cooperation with Zeke's sterilization plan, and has another approach to end both human, and titan-human, suffering. Given that Eren was always presented as sympathetic to viewers prior to season 4, the season's conclusion is likely to feature a redemption arc for Eren. In any case, the tension between the nation of Marley and the series' longtime Eldian protagonists should also be resolved before Attack on Titan's conclusion, be it at the hands of Eren or a character untainted by the slaughter of innocents.

MAPPA shared a short trailer for Attack on Titan's return along with its announcement of the winter release timetable for season 4 part 2. The trailer is only 15 seconds long, some of which is merely text explaining its return date. This first look at the show's return doesn't offer information much beyond the announcement of the second part of the season being forthcoming, and the timeline for which it's scheduled to air.

That said, the brief trailer does include a couple of evocative images. The trailer opens with the scene of a girl who appears to be drowning underwater, and then quickly cuts to a visual of the same girl in haggard clothing amidst a circle of accusative people pointing their fingers at her. She's then shown underwater again with a sort of glowing spine behind her. While her identity is unverifiable, she's framed as an Eldian, likely from the series' past given that the character doesn't yet exist in its present. Then, after a montage of short clips from Attack on Titan history, the trailer ends on an image of what appears to be Eren facing a glowing tree. This is most likely representative of Eren's role in the final batch of episodes as the Founding Titan, capable of influencing all other titans.

More concrete details should be revealed as this coming winter approaches and production on Attack on Titan season 4 part 2 draws nearer.