WARNING! The following article contains spoilers for Season 3 of Dr. Stone, as well as the entirety of the Dr. Stone manga.
Summary
- Dr. Stone’s final season will cover 4 arcs, including a moon mission.
- The team will face off against Dr. Xeno in the New America City Arc.
- Season 4 premieres in January 2025, with a focus on global exploration.
Dr. Stone has been rocking the anime world for five years now. Despite that, it still feels like it’s all ending too soon; over the past five years, we’ve already covered 142 chapters of the manga adapted into anime format. Still, we have 90 chapters left to cover in the final additions to the Dr. Stone anime, with plenty of content to fill out the multi-cour 4th season with. The current information being reported claims the final season will be split into 3 parts, which we will break down the layout of throughout the article.
The final season of Dr. Stone will cover 4 complete arcs and finish out the current one within their three parts, so we cannot accurately guess which arcs are completely covered in what parts of the final season. We can, however, go over the remaining arcs in the manga’s main plot points and what it means for the characters, what’s likely to stay in the anime adaption, and what it means for the series overall. We will also cover popular fan reactions to the manga arcs to gauge how successful the final season of Dr. Stone will be.
Related
Dr. Stone Season 4 Releases New Teaser & Visual
Dr. Stone’s final season has released a new PV and key visual ahead of its premiere.
How Did The Previous Season End?
So We Know Where Season 4 Will Begin
The third season of Dr. Stone left off with the team having revived Tsukasa, the former major antagonist of the Dr. Stone franchise. He is petrified by the Medusa device to get him out of a cryogenic state, before being revived through revival fluid. Tsukasa Shishio immediately understood the situation and offered his ability to assist in the team’s ambitious plans to cultivate more revival fluid and revive the world. However, Tsukasa still wishes to create a morally pure world without exploitation of the innocent but will do so in less antagonistic methods going forward.
The crew finally sets sail on the Perseus, a ship constructed to explore distant lands and expand the Kingdom of Science, to find the United States. The idea is behind the historical significance of corn in the history of the United States implying it as an optimal growth place; they need corn for the alcohol it provides as an ingredient in revival fluid, but also to use corn as an additional food source. The team leaves excited, with Senku helming the charge to create a bright, new, science-led world.
What Can We Expect From Season 4?
Discovering The Americas (Again), And A Rocket To The Moon
The first arc that will be covered in Season 4 of Dr. Stone is the one the anime left partially finished in Season 3: the New America City Arc. The team arrives in what used to be North America to find fertile land to begin growing corn in. There, they meet Dr. Xeno, a former NASA scientist who has rebuilt civilization there as an authoritarian society, who also happens to be Senku’s former mentor. Dr. Xeno’s right-hand man, Dr. Stanley, aids Xeno in trying to keep the Kingdom of Science from gaining power in North America. The team forges onward anyway, and begins to build what they call New America City, which is built on the principles of hope and collaboration, unlike Dr. Xeno’s totalitarian methods.
Both sides of the civilization builders begin engaging in a technological race to justify their means, with the Kingdom of Science focusing on non-lethal solutions, and Dr Xeno’s side focusing on militaristic weaponry. After a series of fights, kidnapping, and chaos, eventually, a treaty is made to allow the Kingdom of Science to build the City of Corn as they initially set out to do, with Dr. Xeno now collaborating with the Kingdom of Science. They eventually flee to South America to escape Stanley’s vengeful rage and desire to bring Dr. Xeno back to his side.
The next arc covered is the South America Arc. Here, they are attempting to escape Stanley, who is hunting them down. The team also discovers the source of the original petrification that began the events that led to the world’s current state. It’s also discovered that the petrification event was not a one-time occurrence, and has a chance of occurring again. Senku prepares the team against the Medusa’s power, and begins to finally learn enough about the Why-Man and decide to fight him on the moon to put an end to the certification events. During this arc, the world becomes petrified a second time.
Suika is the only team member revived in the New Stone World Arc after the second petrification event. She works over years to start from scratch in the production of revival fluid, and successfully revives Senku after many years of trial and error, who then quickly revives the rest of the team. The team creates Superalloy City, where they will construct the rocket they need to fly to the moon and defeat the Why-Man. The team also develops liquid fuel and rocket engines, before splitting up to accomplish various goals needed to further civilization.
“The first stop is Spain! We will find plenty of flourite in Barcelona!”
In the next arc, called the Globetrotting Arc, the team travels around the world to gather everything they need to travel to the moon and defeat the Why-Man. This leads them to Spain to acquire fluorite for a telescope, India to find a fabled mathematician, and developing cities around the world to create more of the materials they need. This includes Alluminim City in Australia and Rubber City in Indonesia.
The final arc is called the Moon Mission Arc. The team successfully launches the rocket with Senku, Kohaku, and the newly-peaceful, Stanley, due to their various talents. On the moon, it is discovered that the Why-Man is actually artificial intelligence created by the Medusa petrification devices themselves. The Why-Man then reveals the reason for the petrification is actually to preserve humanity in a stand-still form of immortality. The team realizes the Why-Man felt as if it were protecting humanity by preventing suffering, and Senku launches into a profound discussion with the Why-Man about true humanity, and convinces the AI to stop further petrification events.
The first cour of Season 4 of Dr. Stone premieres January 2025, on Crunchyroll.
Based on Riichiro Inagaki’s shonen manga, the Dr. Stone anime takes place thousands of years after a cataclysmic event turned humanity into stone. Awakening in a Stone Age-style world, Senku sets out to speedrun humanity’s growth through the power of science.
- Based On
- Manga
- Number of Episodes
- 58
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.28 (Season 1)