Alice in Borderland season 2 ending explained: What is the Borderland?

After more than two years of waiting, Alice in Borderland season 2 has finally arrived! An ideal Christmas gift, many fans have probably already binge-watched all of the eight new episodes. Below we’re going to dig into the ending and what it could mean for the show’s future (if there is one).

Spoilers for Alice in Borderland season 2 ahead

Alice in Borderland season 2 sees the return of Arisu, Usagi, Kuina, Chishiya, and more notable characters as they continue to play the Borderland’s deadly games. This time around, they’re deadlier than ever as the characters must defeat the face cards, like the King of Spades, King of Clubs, and Queen of Hearts.

Alice in Borderland season 2 ending: What is the Borderland?

We don’t know exactly what the “Borderland” is in Alice in Borderland season 2, but the show gives us enough clues and implications to develop reasonable theories. Based on how the second season ended, we can assume that the Borderland is a liminal or purgatorial space between life and death.

Even the name “Borderland” suggests a border between two things, which would make sense. Everyone who died from the meteorite also died in the games. At the same time, those who were hanging on between life or death determined their outcome by the decisions they made at the end, whether to accept permanent residence in the Borderland or to move on and, therefore, return to the real world.

Alice in Borderland season 2 ending: What did the fireworks mean?

Throughout the show, we saw a fireworks display go off around the same time everyone vanished from Tokyo and reappeared in the Borderland. In season 2, it is hinted that the fireworks are the key to figuring everything out. We learn that the “fireworks” were not fireworks at all but a meteor that crashed into the city and caused a massive explosion.

Alice in Borderland season 2 ending: Did everything that happened in the Borderlands really happen?

The show suggests that the events in Borderland were real but doesn’t confirm or deny it. No one remembers what happened in the Borderland when they wake up. But Usagi and Arisu get the sense that they have met before, which would suggest that even if they don’t remember, everything they experienced together throughout the games did happen.

Alice in Borderland season 2 ending: Does Chishiya die?

Chishiya is easily one of the most popular characters on the show. But he seems to die in the end after a shootout with Niragi. Luckily, though, he holds on until the very end and accepts the chance to return to the real world. He is shown alive in the hospital at the end, as is Niragi (unfortunately).

Alice in Borderland season 2 ending: Who all dies?

Other characters whose fates are left in the air include fan favorites like Kuina, Ann, and Akane. The King of Spades fatally wounds all three, but they live long enough to return to the real world. Kuina even reunites with her parents, although we sadly don’t see her and Ann reconnect. Akane and Aguni also agree to return to the living world, so it seems like these characters all “survive,” although Aguni is still in a coma in the end.

Alice in Borderland season 2 ending: How does Arisu defeat the Queen of Hearts?

The final face card game is against Mira or the Queen of Hearts. Initially, the game seems really easy. All Arisu has to do is get through three sets of croquet. He doesn’t even have to beat the games. But after the second round, Mira invites him for tea and promises to answer his questions about what the Borderland really is.

She messes with him by lying about the future, claiming the Borderland is high-tech virtual intelligence and everyone participating is hooked up to a VR machine somewhere to play the game because they’ve grown bored with the future. Another lie involves aliens experimenting on humans via the games. Finally, Mira convinces Arisu that he’s a patient in a hospital unable to cope with the death of his friends Chota and Karube, who he saw get hit by a car on that fateful day in Tokyo.

Mira claims she’s his nurse and tries to convince him to take his “pills” and forfeit the game. Arisu comes very close to succumbing to Mira’s mind games. In the manga, Mira puts a drug in Arisu’s tea to make him more susceptible to her manipulation, but it’s a little unclear if that happened in the show.

Ultimately, Usagi helps pull Arisu out of the false memories and brings him back to the croquet scene, where he does defeat the Queen of Hearts by completing the third and final set of the game.

Alice in Borderland season 2 ending: What does the Joker card mean?

The final shot of the second season shows a table full of playing cards outside the hospital. All of them blow off except for the Joker card, which the camera zooms in on. Does that mean the hospital and everyone in it still exist in some false reality or area of the Borderland? Could the Joker card signal a third season?

It seems unlikely because the show overall finished where the manga did. In the manga, the Joker is supposed to be similar to the ferryman in Greek mythology, someone who takes people from death to the netherworld. The card may imply that there is more to be explored. There is a sequel manga called Alice in Borderland: Retry where Arisu is forced to return to the Borderland, so if a third season happens, it could cover that story.