After a wait of three years, Season 3 of Alice in Borderland was finally unleashed on fans who had been eagerly awaiting the continuation of Arisu and Usagi’s story. Season 2 left viewers with a massive cliffhanger with the now-married pair (played by Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya) being called back to the Borderland as audiences were teased with a Joker card, a sinister signal that the games were far from over.
In this third chapter, a new crop of players joins the game as they are forced to endure a fresh set of deadly challenges. School-yard standards are reimagined into games of death and destruction, including a lethal version of Old Maid involving electric chairs and a nightmarish version of the card game Zombie, which makes for some interesting and gruesome television.
As Arisu and Usagi claw their way through the gauntlet of games and approach the final round, it is clear that the story of Borderland is not over, as it looks beyond Tokyo for its next playground.
How did Alice in Borderland Season 3 end?
The season ends with most of Arisu’s teammates making it out of Game 7 alive, only to learn that the exit will allow only a limited number of contestants to leave. Arisu sacrifices himself so his teammates, wife, and unborn child can survive. He is declared the winner, while the others are nearly swept away by a sudden wave of water that threatens to kill them.
The Watchman (Ken Watanabe) appears and plays a final hand with Arisu, which Arisu loses by drawing two Jokers. The Watchman shows mercy and gives him a choice: life or death. Arisu chooses life and fights to save Usagi. With that decision, he, Usagi, and all who survived the games and the flood are returned to the real world. Arisu becomes a counselor for people who survived the meteorite that destroyed the Shibuya district, including survivors from Season 2. Fans of previous seasons learn what happened to the players of both Seasons 2 and 3.
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What was the cliffhanger for Alice in Borderland Season 3?
Months later, Arisu and Usagi are happy and expecting their child when the Earth is then hit with a series of earthquakes in coastal cities across the globe. A rare event, it seems there is a shift between the worlds of the living and the dead in the Borderlands. This ties back to the Watchman’s warnings, who cryptically said that the Borderlands would be filled with people soon and it would be worse than before.
The camera then pans to a random bar in Los Angeles where two men sit down for a beer. As they order, the camera pulls in tight on the name tag of the waitress, which reads “Alice,” the possible focus of the next round of games. Or a tease meant to just live in the minds of fans.
Will there be a Season 4 of Alice in Borderland?
Nothing is confirmed, but the tease for an American version of Alice in Borderland set in the City of Angels is enough to spark speculation that a Los Angeles-based spinoff could be on the horizon. The idea of using vast parts of L.A. for the deadly games is appealing, considering the city can offer well-known landmarks such as the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame, the Santa Monica Pier, downtown Los Angeles, and its many theme parks as possible locations. But as of right now, with nothing set in stone for the future, it is all just guesswork.
Alice in Borderland, Season 3, All episodes streaming, Netflix