In Classroom of the Elite season 3, the second half of the school year moves on as Ayanokoji’s class moves up to Class C. The season is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Plot summary:
Ayanokoji’s class has gained enough points to move up to Class C, deposing Ryuen’s class. They are now headed to the mountains for their first test in their new position.
Ryuen is considerably withdrawn after getting beaten by Ayanokoji and his threat is momentarily nullified.
A new school president is elected as Manabu Horikita and the rest of the third years enter the final stretch of their time at the school.
The mixed training camp in the mountains involves students of all classes working together in teams and new bonds of respect are formed.
Ayanokoji continues to use Kei as his information gatherer so that he can remain in the shadows and pull the strings of his class.
Manabu meets with Ayanokoji and asks him to get Suzune elected onto the student council in exchange for favors when required.
The mixed training camp goes on without major issues, and the students return to school where a bout of nasty rumors begins to spread.
Yamauchi is summoned by Sakayanagi of Class A, and he readily agrees to meet her. He begins the rumors under her instruction, using Kushida as the messenger.
The rumors are particularly targeted towards Ichinose and her past, and she comes clean about it.
Ayanokoji does his bit to help her get through this tough time, and Sakayanagi draws him in with her guile.
She proposes a competition in the next exam, with conditions of expulsion on the line. The competition is halted when a special exam is held.
The students of the first year pass without a single expulsion, and the school decides to have a special exam where each class votes out one of their own.
Chairman Sakayangi is suspended and a puppet is placed by Ayanokoji’s father to ensure his son is expelled.
Suzune tries to figure out a way to save everyone but cannot come up with anything. Ayanokoji and Manabu help her realize that she must make hard decisions sometimes.
Ichinose needs 4 million points to make up the 20 to save their class from expelling anyone, and she approaches President Nagumo for help.
He agrees to give her the points if she agrees to date him, giving her a deadline to make her decision.
Yamauchi pushes for Ayanokoji to be expelled and word begins to spread, but Suzune stands up for him and reveals that Yamauchi is the disruptor.
Everyone believes her words, except for Hirata who doesn’t want to turn on anyone from his class. He suddenly gets aggressive and says that he’ll be giving his negative vote for Suzune.
Yamauchi ends up getting expelled and the Suzune gains the respect of the class. Ayanokoji orchestrates things to help Ichinose get her points and save Ryuen from expulsion.
With that exam out of the way, the final test is underway as Class C and Class A are pitted against each other.
It gives Ayanokoji and Sakayanagi a chance to finally face off against each other and see who will triumph.
Ending explained:
A lesson in humanity
Sakayanagi knows about the White Room because her father showed her the place when she was young.
He said the place bred exceptional students without relying on the importance of human connection.
Sakayanagi promises to prove the flaw in their mission by beating Ayanokoji. During the exam, a chess match takes place between Suzune and Hashimoto.
Ayanokoji and Sakayanagi have the option to help for 30 minutes, essentially playing against each other.
The two are equally matched but Sakayanagi ends up winning. However, the interim chairman revealed that he changed Ayanokoji’s final move to ensure that.
Gaining his respect and acceptance
Suzune’s goal when she joined the school was to get closer to her brother and emulate his achievements.
However, Manabu was always cold toward her and she couldn’t build up the courage to talk to him.
In reality, Manabu cared for his sister and wanted her to excel as her own person and not be like him.
She used to be caring and empathetic but she left all that behind to be like him and Manabu didn’t want that.
He worked with Ayanokoji to give her a helping hand and observed as she slowly grew into the person she was supposed to be.
By the end of the school year, Manabu was glad to see how Suzune had progressed and urged her to continue on the same path to success.
Getting ready for the future
With the school year at an end, Ayanokoji gets Sae and the teacher of Class A to back him against interim chairman Tsukihiro.
Sakayanagi also agrees to help them with this endeavor. Tsukihiro tells Ayanokoji that another student from the White Room will be joining the incoming class.
If Ayanokoji can figure out who it is, he can continue to stay in the school. Otherwise, he will be forced to return to his father.
Ryuen is slowly getting back to his best, and President Nagumo approaches him with a plan.
Ayanokoji also has a conversation with Ichinose, urging her to try her best in the coming year.
He then asks Kei if she’d like to date him. She says yes, but Ayanokoji is only doing this to learn more about romance and will discard her once he’s learned all that he can.
Also Read: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End summary and ending explained