WARNING: Contains spoilers for Alice in Borderland season 2.Alice in Borderland season 2, episode 7 received criticism for the use of "plot armor," but those complaints miss the point of the show’s big reveal. While Alice in Borderland is known for tragic and gruesome character deaths, Alice in Borderland season 2 did not see a lot of main characters dying. In fact, even when it seemed like highly popular characters like Chishiya had died, Alice in Borderland season 2 kept going back to them.
Given how many important Alice in Borderland players died between season 1 and the first half of season 2, it was expected that the Alice in Borderland season 2 finale would see a lot of deaths. From the moment Chishiya was shot, to the King of Spades fight, it seemed like Arisu and Usagi would be the only two characters left for a possible Alice in Borderland season 3. However, things ended on a happier note.
Alice In Borderland Season 2 Finale Explained The Show’s Plot Armor Issue
Alice in Borderland’s “plot armor” has been a common criticism since season 1, as not even getting lit on fire and then falling from a building was enough to kill certain characters. The plot armor issue became even worse in Alice in Borderland season 2, especially in episode 7. Most of Alice in Borderland characters were brutally injured by the King of Spades, who shot and stabbed the show’s heroes dozens of times. However, none of them died. It seemed like the Alice in Borderland characters had become immortals, yet their survival had nothing to do with plot armor but rather with the nature of Borderland itself.
None of what was happening in the Alice in Borderland games was actually real, as the Borderland was a state between life and death that the victims of the meteorite explosion were inhabiting. Only one minute had passed in the real world, meaning that none of the injuries the Alice in Borderland characters were dealing with in the games were really happening. Alice in Borderland season 2’s ending doesn’t make it clear whether the Borderland world had more to do with the soul or the consciousness of the characters, but still, the only physical injuries the characters had were the ones from the meteorite explosion itself.
Alice In Borderland’s Plot Armor Issue Was Actually The Show’s Main Message
What defined whether the characters would survive the games was not their resistance to physical injuries, which were not physical injuries at all as revealed by the Alice in Borderland season 2 finale, but rather how their bodies were reacting in the real world. For example, Arisu’s real-world injuries were the ones he ended up having by the end of all the games. Granted, Alice in Borderland’s finale twist creates an interesting debate regarding the story – did the characters have any free will during the Alice in Borderland games, or was it all just a reflection of what was happening in the real world?
Either way, Alice in Borderland’s main message was about finding a reason to keep moving forward and realizing that life is always worth fighting for. The Alice in Borderland games were all about testing the characters’ will to live, which is why the plot armor issue actually represents the show’s main massage. Alice in Borderland’s Chishiya, for example, realized after waking up in the real world that he had to change as a person. Likewise, the reason why getting shot didn’t kill Aguni or getting stabbed didn’t kill Kuina is that they still wanted to keep living in the real world.