Summary
- Alice in Borderland’s season 2 had plot armor moments, but season 3 must avoid repeating them to maintain the show’s high stakes and sense of danger.
- The characters survived in season 2 due to the liminal nature of the Borderland, but season 3’s games will take place in the real world where plot armor would be unrealistic.
- Season 3’s Joker game needs to challenge the characters without giving them any plot armor, or it risks diminishing the series’ sense of urgency and danger. Realistic consequences are necessary.
Alice in Borderland season 2’s most bizarre episode 7 scene was great, but season 3 should not try to emulate it. Considering how Alice in Borderland is a show about survival games, it is not surprising that it brims with unpredictable shock-and-awe action where anything can happen to any character. The third episode of season 1, where only Arisu survives after the 7 of Hearts game, perfectly captures how the show’s central Borderland games spare no one.
However, despite establishing the high stakes of its games in season 1, Alice in Borderland seemingly gives some plot armor to its main characters in season 2. In some ways, this brings some novelty to a show that previously took a no-holds-barred approach towards character deaths. However, Alice in Borderland season 3 must not avoid repeating season 2’s bizarre plot armor moments for several reasons.
Alice In Borderland Season 2’s Plot Armor Made Sense
H3: Everybody Almost Died During The King Of Spades Game
In Alice in Borderland‘s season 2, episode 7, characters get shot multiple times by the King of Spades, Isao Shirabi, and still somehow survive. During the same game, others even get stabbed but still somehow manage to live long enough to make it out of the game after Usagi and Arisu win the Queen of Hearts game. Although the plot armor in episode 7 was heavily criticized by many viewers, the show seemingly explained why the characters survived in its ending moments.
Alice in Borderland season 2’s ending revealed that the Borderland was a liminal place between life and death, where the characters became players after a meteorite crash left them in a half-dead state in the real world. Owing to this, everything from their injuries to their deaths in the games was a mere reflection of what was happening to them in the real world. Players who survived the games despite falling off buildings and getting shot in the Borderland were almost destined to live because their real-world fate determined what happened to them.
Why Alice In Borderland Season 3’s Characters Cannot Have Plot Armor
H3: Even More So If The Games Are Set In The Real World
Season 3’s Joker game might be the final survival game that Arisu, Usagi, and others will have to beat to completely escape the Borderland. Owing to this, the game should present the characters with the toughest challenges they have faced so far. To portray the high stakes of the Joker game, Alice in Borderland season 3 will have to establish how even main characters like Usagi and Arisu could potentially die without giving them any plot armor. If it fails to do so, season 3 might end up diminishing the sense of danger and urgency that has been a hallmark of the series. Not to mention, Alice in Borderland season 2’s ending also hints that season 3’s games will ensue in the real world where plot armor will make no sense because gunshots and stab wounds will realistically kill a character in seconds.
