It’s still early when it comes to what we know about One Piece Season 3, but we have clues on where the Straw Hat Pirates will be heading after the end of the second season.

The idea that Season 3 will focus on Alabasta isn’t that surprising. The episode title for the final eighth episode of Season 2 is “Deer and Loathing in Drum Kingdom,” referencing the Drum Island arc that features the introduction of the lovable reindeer doctor Tony Tony Chopper. The arc right after this is Alabasta, as noted by the image of the desert sands in the official Instagram post for the One Piece show that announced the production of Season 3 (which we assume will also be eight episodes long.)

If anything, fans might be disappointed that the crew won’t reach this desert kingdom by the end of season two. That said, it was already going to be tough for the second season to get there, even with its blistering pace that will barrel through nearly 45 episodes from the anime. But it’s looking like there’s a reason why the showrunners are leaving Alabasta out: So that it can be main star of Season 3.

In November 2025, Netflix’s Tudum revealed that production of the third season had already begun in Cape Town, South Africa. The main crew of the Going Merry will make their return, including Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp, and Taz Skylar as Sanji. New characters in Season 3 will be Portgas D. Ace, Luffy’s older brother who is played by Xolo Maridueña, along with the assassin Bon Clay (Cole Escola), Miss Doublefinger (Daisy Head), and Mr.1 (Awdo Awdo). A handful of characters in Season 2 will be making their return as well, including “cast members Charithra Chandran as Miss Wednesday, Mikaela Hoover as Tony Tony Chopper, Joe Manganiello as Mr. 0, Lera Abova as Miss All Sunday, and Sendhil Ramamurthy as Nefartari Cobra.”

More importantly, the article says that viewers should expect to see four of these cast members “in a larger capacity” for the third season. This includes Manganiello, Hoover, Abova, and Ramamurthy, who will all be promoted to series regulars. A “series regular” is loosely defined as a cast member who appears in the majority, if not all, of the episodes in a season. So given that Mr. 0 and Nefartari Cobra are characters central to the Alabasta arc, it’s more likely that Season 3 would naturally conclude there instead of moving onto the next storyline, specifically the Jaya Arc (if we’re following the manga; the anime series has a bunch of filler arcs after Alabasta).

One Piece Season 3 would feel bloated by including the Jaya arc

There are more than several clues suggesting that One Piece Season 3 will not go beyond the Alabasta arc. This is despite the pattern that the first two seasons of the show have been comfortable leaving the last arc of a saga out; namely, the Loguetown arc in the East Blue Saga and Arabasta arc in, well, the Arabasta Saga.

First off, the Alabasta arc is one of the longer plotlines in the One Piece series, covering roughly 8 volumes in the manga and 39 episodes in the anime. Seasons 1 and 2 of the live-action One Piece show both covered material spread across 8 volumes or 45 episodes as well, so the length would be comparable. If padding is necessary, there’s plenty of material for the show to choose not to skip over, and it could include scenes from the anime-only post-Arabasta arc if it wanted.

As an appropriate ending, it would be awkward for the live-action series to include parts of the Jaya arc, the first story of the Sky Island Saga. The thrilling fight at the end of the Alabasta arc would be a fitting climax to the season, and having the Straw Hats leave the desert kingdom at the end would be a good way to lead into Season 4.

More than that, the Jaya Arc introduces a lot of new, significant characters to the show, such as Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Tsuru, Bartholomew Kuma, Donquixote Doflamingo, and The Five Elders (just to name a few). The Alabasta arc is already packed to the brim with cast members, including additional agents from Baroque Works, the Arabasta royal family, and several Marines like Smoker and Tashigi. So needing to add any more cast members to the roster would severely stretch the budget for the third season. That’s likely why we haven’t heard any official details of actors playing any of these Jaya arc characters.

In terms of production and pacing, it would also be easier for One Piece Season 4 to start and finish with the Sky Island Saga, which includes the Jaya and Skypiea arcs. While this saga is slightly chunkier at around 9 volumes (or 50 episodes), that’s nothing that the showrunners can’t handle in a single season.

It’s unclear when One Piece Season 3 is set to release. Given the more than two-year gap between the first two seasons, late 2027 would be an optimistic release date.