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Since a lot goes on in Alice in Borderland before season 3, viewers might need a quick recap of every plot development in the show’s seasons 1 and 2 before checking out the third installment. The Japanese show is based on a manga series of the same name written by Haro Aso and fully exhausts its source material’s content towards the end of season 2.
With Alice in Borderland season 2’s ending aligning with that of the original manga, the show adopts an original storyline in season 3. Despite drifting away from its source material, though, Alice in Borderland season 3 marks the return of many main characters from previous seasons and continues their story.
Owing to this, a quick brush-up of seasons 1 and 2’s main story beats seems necessary before watching Alice in Borderland season 3.
Arisu Loses His Best Friends, Chota & Karube, In An Early Game At The Borderlands
Arisu and his best friends, Chota and Karube, together end up in the Borderlands in the show’s opening arc. After winning a few initial games, however, they face the ultimate test in the Seven of Hearts game, where only one player, “the wolf,” survives. To Arisu’s shock and devastation, his friends sacrifice their lives so that he can live and complete the games.
Almost throughout seasons 1 and 2, Arisu carries the crushing guilt of their deaths before finally coming to terms with it. With the eventual acceptance of their deaths, he finds a newfound purpose to live and embrace his life in the real world.
Arisu & Usagi Meet Other Players Who Collect Game Cards
Soon after losing his friends, Arisu crosses paths with Usagi, and they team up in a game before finding a community of other players. Takeru Danma, Hatter, who is the leader of the community, forces them to surrender the cards they won after winning each game. He and many others believe that collecting a full deck of all the playing cards may hold the key to escaping the Borderlands.
Hatter Is Found Dead Before A Horrifying Witch Hunt Game Begins
Hatter gradually grows more and more disillusioned and starts believing that sacrifice is a necessary evil for them to make it back to the real world. However, he is suddenly found dead before his friend, Aguni, takes over as the leading figure. Meanwhile, Arisu and Usagi are tricked by an incredibly sharp player, Chishiya, who also steals all the cards.
Soon, a witch hunt game begins, in which players are expected to find Momoka’s murderer and throw them into the fire. To win the game, Aguni goes as far as throwing the bodies of many players into the fire. Arisu, though, eventually puts his deductive skills to good use and concludes that Aguni killed Hatter while Momoka died by suicide to start the Witch Hunt game.
The Face Cards Raise The Stakes
After acquiring every number card, Arisu and his newfound crew find themselves in the Second Stage of the games, where they must acquire face cards. This set of games proves even more challenging because, in order to complete them, Arisu and his friends have to beat the Citizens of the Borderlands in their respective games.
While Arisu leads his friends to a King of Clubs game win, Chishiya single-handedly outsmarts everyone in the Jack of Hearts game. Arisu, Usagi, and the crew later beat the Queen of Spades, hoping she would tell them how they could leave the Borderlands. To their dismay, she takes her life soon after her loss.
After Barely Surviving The King Of Spades, Arisu & Usagi Face The Queen Of Hearts
The Queen of Hearts, Mira Kanō, in Alice in Borderland, initially claims that Arisu only has to beat her at a game of croquet to win. However, things soon take a twisted turn when Mira gradually draws him into a game of manipulation and mind control by skewing his sense of reality and perception.
She almost convinces him he is in a psychiatric ward, imagining the Borderlands. Luckily for him, Usagi saves him before he almost gives up by reminding him that he promised her they would survive.
The Surviving Players Get A Choice
After Arisu and Usagi beat the Queen of Hearts, all the surviving players get a choice: stay in the Borderlands as residents or return to their previous lives in the real world. Arisu, Usagi, and their surviving friends, including Chishiya, decide to return to the real world.
The Truth About The Borderlands Is Revealed
After choosing to return, Arisu awakens in a hospital and has no recollection of the games. The show soon reveals that they were a result of a meteorite hitting Tokyo. This revelation suggests that the Borderlands existed somewhere between life and death. All the players in the games were actually the people who had been caught in the disaster and were hovering on the edge of survival.
Did You Know: According to Netflix’s production notes for the series, Alice in Borderland‘s original mangaka, Haro Aso, based Arisu and Usagi on himself. While Arisu captured what he was like at the age of 20 and how he lacked direction at the time, Usagi was based on his ability to later depend on himself instead of relying on others.
While their bodies lay unconscious in the real world, they fought for a second chance at life in the Borderlands. The ones who survived the games ended up returning to the real world, while the ones who died were seemingly sent to the afterlife.
Alice in Borderland season 2’s final story arc never truly reveals whether the players had any free will in the games, or whether their fates were actually influenced by what happened to them in the real world.
Alice In Borderland Season 2’s Ending Suggests The Games Are Far From Over
Despite having no memories from the Borderlands, Arisu and Usagi reunite at the hospital and soon become friends. However, Alice in Borderland season 2 ends on an ambiguous and seemingly dark note, hinting at the existence of an overarching Joker. Since the Joker card is barely mentioned before the final scene in season 2, the ending hints Alice in Borderland season 3 will have something to do with it.
