This article discusses who survives in Alice in Borderland season 2, and by extension who dies, so needless to say it contains major spoilers.
The Japanese battle royale series Alice in Borderland is based on the Haro Aso manga series and has thus far enjoyed two seasons on Netflix, both of them pretty closely resembling a live-action anime. The plot revolves around a group of people in an abandoned, almost otherworldly Tokyo who are forced to compete in a series of games, many themed around Lewis Carroll’s literary classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
In Alice in Borderland season 2, the stakes are suitably raised as Arisu, Usagi, and the others find themselves competing in games engineered by the dangerous face cards. They’re still under the impression that if they can accumulate a complete deck of cards they will be able to “win” the game and return to the real world.
In our Alice in Borderland season 2 ending explained article we laid out the particulars of the final episode, but here, we’re going to go over the specifics of who lived, who died, and who decided to remain in Borderland when given the option.
Who dies in Alice in Borderland season 2?
Given that Alice in Borderland is about deadly games of physicality and psychology, it’s surprising in the second season how many people don’t die. Almost all of the main characters survive, for instance, despite some being grievously injured. But despite this, there are plenty of casualties, even if most of them don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Kyuma, the King of Clubs, and his entire team consisting of Shitara, Kanzaki, Kisaragi, and Maki, are all killed when they lose the Osmosis game. The most significant good-guy death of the season also occurs during this game, when Tatta expires after ensuring victory by smashing his own hand to bits to remove his bracelet. The assumption is that he died from blood loss, though this isn’t made clear.
Kaito is a minor character who doesn’t make it, and he joins a great number of incidental characters who die in the course of the games (for instance everyone indiscriminately gunned down by the King of Spades).
Beyond this, the primary deaths are the villains. Enji, The Jack of Hearts, Lisa, The Queen of Spades, Kuzuryu, The King of Diamonds, Shirabi, The King of Spades, and Mira, The Queen of Hearts are all killed when Arisu and the others are able to win their games.
Who survives in Alice in Borderland season 2?
One of the most surprising aspects of this season is that virtually all of the main characters survive. Some might see this as a detriment to the storytelling since it suggests that the show is hesitant to commit to killing anyone off, even though it frequently pretends to by causing them a tremendous amount of bodily harm. This can also damage immersion. Alice in Borderland is a show that obviously requires a healthy suspension of disbelief, but some of these survivals push that idea to breaking point.
It’s the big battle with the King of Spades in the penultimate episode that threatens to kill off half the cast. Ann, Akane, and Aguni were all shot. Usagi was stabbed multiple times. Chishiya had already been shot by a vengeful Niragi, and even got what seemed like a farewell death scene until he turned out to be alive. The show pulls the same trick with Ann, implying she has expired for the emotional moment and then retreating from that decision to undercut its emotional power in the end. It feels a little cheap.
Still, Arisu, Usagi, Kuina, Chishiya, Aguni, Akane, Ann, and even Niragi all survive, as do some of the minor players from previous games.
Who stayed in Borderland?
During the final battle with the Queen of Hearts, a defeated Mira tells Arisu that he will be presented with two choices, and the one he ultimately settles on will reveal who he really is.
This choice turns out to be whether to remain in Borderland as a “citizen”, like the previous face-card game masters presumably did, or return to the real world. Returning to the real world has been a persistent theme all throughout the season, with several characters speculating on whether that would even be possible.
Arisu, Usagi, Kuina, Chishiya, Aguni, Niragi, and Akane all decline to stay in Borderland. They are transported back to the “real world”, where they wake up as survivors in a hospital after a meteorite has struck Tokyo. Ann, despite obviously being dead in Borderland, turns out to be in a coma and survives.
Many incidental players choose to remain in Borderland, with Banda and Yaba from the Solitary Confinement game probably being the most prominent.
