'Sword Art Online: Alicization' Shares First Poster for Next Arc

Before the official release of Sword Art Online: Alicization, there were reports that the third [...]

By Nick Valdez

Before the official release of Sword Art Online: Alicization, there were reports that the third season of the series would run for four cours (quarter of a year) of episodes in order to fully adapt one of the longest storylines in the original light novels thus far. Now that the third season has officially hit the end of its second cour with the latest episode of the series, this seems to have been confirmed as the series will return for a new batch of episodes later this year.

This third batch of new episodes will be adapting the second half of the Alicization arc which sees the Underworld in the midst of a huge battle. You can check out the first poster for the next arc below.

Sword Art Online is set to begin the "War of Underworld" arc of the original light novel series when the third season returns in October. As teased by the Alicization Uniting arc, the next arc will see Alice bring together a massive force in order to fight off an invasion from the Dark Territory. But that's not all as by the end of Episode 24, Kirito's body in the real world is in danger as a strange military force has arrived and begun attacking.

This leaves Kirito's life in both the real and virtual worlds hanging in the balance as he's finally feeling the consequences of pushing his body to its limits. If you have yet to catch the newest season of Sword Art Online yourself, the original Japanese release of Sword Art Online: Alicization can currently be found streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu. The English dub of the series is now airing Saturday nights on Adult Swim's Toonami block. The series is officially described as such:

"Where... am I...?" Before he knows it, Kirito has made a full-dive into an epic, fantasy-like virtual world. With only a murky recollection of what happened right before he logged in, he starts to wander around, searching for clues. He comes upon an enormous, pitch dark tree (the Gigas Cedar), where he encounters a boy. "My name is Eugeo. Nice to meet you, Kirito." Although he is supposedly a resident of the virtual world - an NPC - the boy shows the same array of emotions as any human being.

As Kirito bonds with Eugeo, he continues to search for a way to log out of this world. Meanwhile, he remembers a certain memory deep down within him. He remembers racing through the mountains with Eugeo as a child... A memory that he should not have in the first place... And in this memory, he sees someone other than Eugeo, a young blond girl. Her name is Alice. And it is a name that must never be forgotten..."

-----

Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

In this latest episode, we talk about Star Wars: Episode IX , Avengers: Endgame opening early and more! Make sure to subscribe now and never miss an episode!

Trending Now: