Season 3 of The Eminence in Shadow: Release Forecast & What’s Next for Cid and Shadow Garden

As of August-2025, there’s still no formal announcement from Studio Nexus or Kadokawa regarding Season 3. But it assumed that it is already in production. What has been confirmed, however, is a feature film titled The Eminence in Shadow: Lost Echoes. It’s slated to bridge the story between Season 2 and whatever comes next, picking up from the remaining part of Volume 4

Multiple outlets and fan speculation now suggest that Season 3 is very likely, particularly given the anime’s popularity and source material still available (light novel Volumes 5 and 6).

When will be the movie “The Eminence in Shadow: Lost Echoes” released?

As the film was announced on December 20, 2023 after the end and after the official teaser release on May 26, 2024 fans eagerly waiting for the confirmed announcement of the movie. It has already been more then a year and half but still no strong updates from the official sources kept the fans hanging. To be honest 2025 is packed with highly anticipated movie release from Demon Slayer Infinity Castle: akaza’s return to Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc movie and from that point of view studio nexus will not be interested to get in a competition with them. With that in mind it is highly unlikely “The Eminence in Shadow: Lost Echoes” will be released in 2025 anymore. Rather we have a strong chance of it returning in somewhere between February to July in 2026.

When Can We Expect Season 3?

Though no official release date exists, the most widely speculated timeframe is late 2026 to early 2027 . This appears logical—given the film’s production will likely take up much of early 2025, giving the studio time to regroup.

What Story Arcs Will Season 3 Cover?

Here’s how the light novel volumes line up:

Season 1: Volumes 1–2
Season 2: Volume 3 and roughly half of Volume 4 (Black Rose Civil War Arc)
Movie (Lost Echoes): Completing the second half of Volume 4
Season 3: Expected to adapt Volume 5 and Volume 6 (possibly Volume 7 in future if released)

Key arcs to adapt:

Volume 5 – Midgar Conflict Arc
- Rising tension between Alexia and Iris Midgar
- Corruption within the Midgar nobility
- Shadow Garden stepping in to avert an all-out cult coup
Volume 6 – Nightblades / Diabloss Incident
- Iris begins showing distrust of nobility
- Rogue factions emerge, threatening to resurrect Diabolos
- Zeta’s underground activities and potential betrayal threads
(Potential Volume 7) – Depending on light novel release and pacing, more intrigue and Shadow Garden expansion could be included

What’s Next for Cid and the Shades?

For Cid Kagenou (“Shadow”)

He’ll continue his dual life—managing the clueless “Cid” persona while masterminding Shadow’s antics.
Expect deeper layers of world-building, especially around Earth connections and alternate dimensions hinted at in Season 2’s finale.
His strategies will need refinement as enemies grow more sophisticated.

For the Shades

Alpha & Beta: Likely more active in politics and covert operations as Shadow’s public figure expands.
Gamma: Her economic empire will play a central role in funding operations, especially amid political unrest.
Delta & Zeta: Field operations intensify—expect high-stakes missions in Midgar and beyond.
Epsilon & Eta: Rumored technological leaps—perhaps new magical weaponry or advanced surveillance systems.

What Fans Are Speculating

“Season 3 would be focused on Midgar… tensions between Alexia and Iris, corruption in Midgar nobility, Shadow Garden intervening, rogue factions revived by Zeta”.

“The movie will cover rest of Volume 4. Season 3 will cover Volumes 5 and 6”.

“Summer 2025 is a safe bet for Season 3 after the film. If the movie hits in early 25, fall anime schedule is open”.

These popularly echoed theories align well with what light novel content remains and how anime scheduling typically works.

Image credit Studio Nexus.