Episode 8 is the eighth episode of the second season of Alice in Borderland, and the sixteenth episode overall.
Synopsis[]
For their final game, the players will need to survive three rounds of croquet, but before they can get very far, the Queen asks them to sit down for some tea.
Plot[]
For the final game, the Queen of Hearts, Arisu and Usagi have to play three rounds of croquet. They do not have to win, but they must complete three rounds without forfeiting. Assuming that the game would be easy, Arisu plays two rounds, winning one and losing one.
However, before they play the third round, Mira sits them down for tea. Mira jokingly gives Arisu two answers as to how the games came to be. At first, she suggests that aliens colonized the planet and forced humans to play games. Then, she claims that the wealthy elite have created androids with human memories to play the games, merely as their own entertainment for them to watch and place bets on. Around this time Mira reveals to Arisu that she was the one who created the 7 of Hearts game for him which ultimately killed Karube, Chota and Shibuki. Outraged, Arisu is about to shoot her with his shotgun, but realizes if he kills Mira, the game will never end leading to a slow wait until everyone's visas expire. Finally, she gives the final answer: the entire world is a figment of Arisu's imagination.
Arisu finds himself in a psychiatric institution, where Mira is merely his psychologist. Usagi is also a patient in the hospital in a neighbouring room. Arisu finds that Karube and Chota actually died on the car accident on Shibuya Crossing. Arisu entering the restroom, being transported into the Borderlands and playing the children's games were solely hallucinations created by Arisu's mind to cope with the trauma. With this revelation, Arisu loses the will to keep playing the Queen of Hearts game. He is instructed to take a pill to end the game. In the end, he rests on the ground.
Arisu prepares to take the pill, but Usagi prevents him from doing so, tackling him and even slitting her own wrist. This forces Arisu to persevere and continue the game out of love for Usagi. This touches Mira, who transports them back into the Borderlands to finish the final game. Although Mira wins the final round, Arisu wins the game for completing three rounds. Mira is killed as a result, and all surviving players are given a choice: accept permanent residency in the Borderlands or return to the original universe. All the players except for Yaba and Banda choose to return.
Before leaving the Borderlands, Arisu meets up with Karube and Chota in the bar where they used to meet. All of them recall the fondest memories they had with each other where Karube and Chota tell Arisu to live his life to the fullest.
The truth about what happened is revealed. All the players who were in the Borderlands games were all near Shibuya Crossing before the fireworks appeared. However, the "fireworks" were actually a meteorite that struck Tokyo. Those who died during the Borderlands games, including Karube, Chota, Saori and Tatta, were actually killed by the meteorite. The others, who survived all the games, were the survivors of the strike, all of whom were hospitalized. Waking up in a hospital bed, Arisu finds his younger brother Haijme waiting for him. Haijme tells him that his heart stopped for a minute and was at the border between life and death while Arisu thought it felt longer. He also mentions that their father cried when Arisu nearly died making Arisu realize that his father still cares for him.
The meteorite survivors have injuries varying in severity. Some, such as An and Aguni, are in critical condition, Chishiya and Niragi rest in their beds, and Kuina and Heiya are prepared to leave the former reuniting with her mother and father. Arisu and Usagi finally reunite, though Usagi has little memory of her ever meeting him. Outside, playing cards on a table blow away except for a single Joker card.
See also[]
Episodes | |
---|---|
Season 1 | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 |
Season 2 | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 |