What The Borderland In Alice In Borderland Is & Where Arisu Really Is During The Show

Although many questions surrounding Alice in Borderland‘s central setting remain unanswered, the developments in the show’s season 2 have hinted at its purpose. Alice in Borderland is often compared with Squid Game because of its similar “survival game of the episode” format. However, beyond having a few similar themes and featuring survival games, Alice in Borderland is nothing like the hit Netflix Korean drama. Unlike Squid Game, Alice in Borderland maintains an air of ambiguity surrounding its setting and the purpose of its creation.

The show also involves supernatural undertones, where its primary setting not only unfolds in an alternate version of the real world but also has a relatively different passage of time. Owing to this, one of the primary conflicts in the Japanese drama’s seasons 1 and 2 revolves around the characters’ quest to find out where they are and what they must do to return to the real world. Even after Alice in Borderland season 2’s ending, many questions about the main setting remain unanswered. However, the show has dropped enough clues and story details to leave room for speculation.

The Borderland Is A State Between Life And Death In Alice In Borderland

It Is A State Of Limbo

Before Arisu and his friends find themselves in the Borderland in Alice in Borderland season 1’s opening episode, they hide inside a bathroom stall at Shibuya Station. When they exit the station, they suddenly find themselves in an abandoned version of Tokyo with no humans in sight. Since the show does not reveal where they are and how they ended up in the strange location in its opening arc, it is hard not to associate its story setup with the Isekai anime trope in which characters get magically transported to a fantastical land.

However, the true nature of the show’s fantastical setting becomes a little more evident when season 2’s ending shows how the survivors of the Borderland games wake up in the real world. The final sequence in the show suggests that all Borderland players were between life and death, stuck in a state of endless limbo.

Arisu And The Others Were Fighting For Their Lives At A Hospital In The Real World

The Games Were Seemingly A Metaphor For Their Desperation To Survive

Alice in Borderland season 2’s ending reveals that moments before Arisu and his friends found themselves in the Borderland, a meteorite disaster hit Tokyo. The disaster led to many deaths and casualties. All the characters who ended up in the mysterious place as players were actually lying unconscious in the real world. Only their consciousness had seemingly moved to the Borderland, where the games served as a test of their will to survive.

The ones who wished to return to their world after surviving the games woke up in a hospital in the real world. Meanwhile, others who opted to stay at the games as citizens or died during them passed away in the real world. Owing to this, it is hard not to see the games as a metaphor for one’s willingness to survive. Only the ones with strong wills fought through the games, which symbolized their bodies’ ability to endure and their minds’ determination to keep them alive.

However, Alice in Borderland season 2’s ending also raises an existential question about whether the players’ fates were under their control. If the games merely served as a reflection of their fates in the outside world, they never really had the choice to determine their destinies in the games and, in turn, in the real world. On the flip side, if the games were a test to determine one’s worthiness to return to the real world, then the players’ survival was primarily dependent on their ability to confront some of their deepest fears and desires while playing the games.

Was Arisu Dreaming The Whole Time In Alice In Borderland?

Season 2’s Ending Twist Raises Questions About Where Arisu Was

Since Arisu awakens in the real world after he wins the games and chooses to return home, it would be fair to say that the games were somewhat of a dream. However, considering how Arisu and the other survivors’ fates seemingly depended on their performance in the games, the Borderland can be seen as a hellish realistic dream that can even kill those who fail to overcome its challenges. Alice in Borderland season 2 ends with a massive twist which reveals that despite surviving the Borderland and beating all the face card games, Arisu still has to face another antagonist: the Joker.

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Alice In Borderland’s Joker Card Explained & How It Sets Up Season 3

Alice in Borderland season 2 ends with the reveal of a Joker card, which is different from the manga’s Joker and teases what season 3’s story will be.

Before season 2’s credits start rolling, the show hints that the Joker is still a looming figure over Arisu and the other survivors’ lives even though they have managed to escape the Borderland. This story development makes it hard not to wonder whether Arisu is still dreaming and has been tricked into believing he is alive in the real world. Arisu and all the surviving players also have no memories of the Borderland after they awaken in the real world. Owing to this, if their return to the real world is another illusion and test for survival, it would be interesting to see how season 3 will unfold.

Who Controls The Borderland (Is It The Queen Of Hearts?)

The Joker Might Be The All-Encompassing Figure Over The Borderland

The Queen of Hearts in Alice in Borderland is presented as the final challenge in Arisu and his friends’ journey to survive the Borderland. However, as the show confirms, she does not control the Borderland. Like all face cards, she, too, is a citizen of the Borderland who previously played the games and willingly chose to stay behind. The choice between leaving the games or staying behind as a citizen is given to the players by a higher power who is even above the face cards.

The original Alice in Borderland manga never reveals who this overarching power is. It only ends with Arisu and the survivors returning to their real world. Even the Joker in the source material is treated more like a “ferryman“ who transports the dead to the afterlife from the world of the living. Although the manga hints he could be the ruling higher power behind the games, it never confirms his role. Since Alice in Borderland season 2’s ending seems to establish the Joker as the final challenge in Arisu’s quest, he might be portrayed as the overlord behind the games in season 3.

What The Borderland Really Is In Alice In Borderland

The Borderland Can Be Interpreted As A State Of Purgatory

Given how the Borderland tests one’s will to survive and to continue living despite overwhelming odds, it can be seen as a metaphorical representation of purgatory. Many viewers complained about Alice in Borderland season 2’s plot armor issue. However, the plot armor was seemingly less of a story flaw and more of a representation of how some characters were willing to push through all injuries and traumas instead of settling for death.

Owing to this, even after the surviving characters learn about everything they lost during the meteorite disaster, they choose to move forward with their lives instead of giving up on it. Their willingness to look forward to what lies ahead highlights the reason why only they made it out alive. Even Arisu’s best friends, Chota and Karube, sacrificed their lives in Alice in Borderland‘s early episodes because they knew that, more than them, Arisu had a strong will and reason to survive in the real world. They realized that, unlike them, he could do more than just survive and live a meaningful life.