After 9 years, “Attack on Titan” was set to end on Season 4: Part 2 with what was promoted as “the true final season.” Viewers were shocked on April 4th with a cliffhanger and announcement of a year-long hiatus for a part 3, leaving fans hungry and waiting for more to come.

“Attack on Titan” is a shonen anime series that takes place in a fantasy world where people battle against man-eating giants called “Titans” to protect the human race from extinction. As the series goes on, it slowly develops into human conflict with Titan action still in the mix. The main characters are faced with propaganda and discrimination from another race of humans called “Marleyans,” due to some of them being able to transform into Titans, making them monsters to the rest of the world.

Like the rest of Attack on Titan, this season was dark, gritty, and brutal. However, this season might be one of, if not, the most brutal out of all of them, as it involves more deaths on a global scale, including deaths of iconic and beloved characters. There were calm and funny moments every now and then, but overall, the show’s mood felt grim and intense. Each episode always had a feeling that something bad would happen, in one way or another.

This season has received positive feedback from fans and critics alike, scoring a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and has been praised for its well-written characters, overarching plot, hidden foreshadowing, and of course, titanic battles. However, the ending was controversial. Not necessarily because of the plot, but because of how Season 4 was handled. The season ended with a cliffhanger, with the main villain’s true goals being revealed, and his plans working.

Season 4: Part 2 was marketed as the “final season” of “Attack on Titan” up until the last episode of Part 2, where Part 3 was revealed for 2023. People have complained that Season 4 has stretched for too long, and are worried for Part 3, especially because of the controversial final story arc in the manga that has not been received well by fans. Waiting a year for such an ending would harm everything Attack on Titan has been built on.

If you don’t want to wait for another year to see the true finale, read the “Attack on Titan” manga, where the events of Season 4: Part 2 starts on Chapters 115-117. If you are a new fan trying to catch up, you should watch all the seasons first before Season 4 because of how Attack on Titan is written, as this prevents spoilers and makes it much easier to understand the plot. Alongside that, because of the shows’ violent and brutal nature, this show might not be for the faint-hearted.