Alice In Borderland’s Joker Card Explained (Does It Set Up Season 3?)
Here’s what Alice in Borderland season 2’s Joker card really means, how it compares to the manga, and what it means for Alice in Borderland season 3.
Alice in Borderland season 2 ended with the reveal of a Joker card, something that was missing from the show so far. After two seasons of facing several deadly games inspired by playing cards, Arisu and his friends beat all the Face Card games and concluded the Borderland challenge. Their prize was to choose between staying in Borderland or not, a choice that led to Arisu and most of the Alice in Borderland characters waking up in the real world in what appeared to be a definitive ending.
Neither Arisu nor Usagi remembered what happened during their time at Borderland. In fact, only one minute had passed in the real world. The Alice in Borderland season 2 finale reveals that the Borderland battle royale games were about people fighting to stay alive in the real world, which is why they managed to wake up after beating all the games and choosing to leave Borderland. However, if Arisu and Usagi were back in the real world, what could the Joker card shown in Alice in Borderland season 2’s final shot mean?
Alice in Borderland’s Joker Card Meaning In The Manga
Similar to what happened on the Netflix show, the Joker card does not appear in any of the games in the Alice in Borderland manga. However, after Arisu beats the Queen of Hearts game, the final Alice in Borderland game, all the residents of the Borderlands are given the choice of staying in Borderlands or not. Arisu, just like Usagi and most of the main Alice in Borderland season 2 characters, chooses to leave the Borderlands. That is when Arisu encounters the Joker, a shadowy figure who serves as Alice in Borderland’s equivalent of Charon, the ferryman of the dead in Greek mythology.
The Joker in the Alice in Borderland manga was therefore responsible for taking those who chose not to stay in the Borderlands back to the real world. As Alice in Borderland season 2 finale reveals, the world Arisu was living in was a form of purgatory, something that existed in the border between life and death. The Alice in Borderland games were all about survival, and that is because Arisu and all the other characters were actually fighting for their lives in the real world. At the end of the Netflix show, they would have to pick between living once again or staying in Borderland, hence the Joker’s ferryman role.
How Alice in Borderland Season 2 Finale’s Joker Card Differs From The Manga
Netflix’s Alice in Borderland season 2 finale did not incorporate the Joker card the same way the manga did. In fact, the shadowy Joker figure from the Alice in Borderland manga did not even appear in Alice in Borderland season 2. Instead, after beating the Queen of Hearts and choosing to leave Borderland, Arisu had a spiritual moment with Chota and Karube, who died at the beginning of Alice in Borderland season 1. After one final conversation with his friends, Arisu woke up in the real world with no help from the Joker figure. The live-action Netflix adaptation of Alice in Borderland did incorporate the Joker card – but with a twist.
Alice in Borderland season 2 finale ended with a mysterious zoom-in shot of a Joker card in the real world’s hospital where Arisu, Usagi, and all the other characters were this whole time. The shot of the Joker card in the Alice in Borderland season 2 finale works as a tease for a potential Alice in Borderland season 3, as it suggests that there is still one game left for Arisu to beat – the Joker game. However, there isn’t such a thing as a Joker game in the manga, meaning that any potential Alice in Borderland season 3 story involving the Joker would be something created for the show.
What Alice In Borderland’s Joker Card Reveal Means For Season 3
Alice in Borderland season 2 ended exactly like the Alice in Borderland manga except for some small differences. Therefore, in terms of the manga, Alice in Borderland’s story is over. Though Arisu and Usagi’s story continues in the Alice in Borderland sequel Alice in Borderland Retry, the main story covered in the Netflix series has ended. Therefore, if Alice in Borderland season 3 happens, it would have to either create an original story or adapt Alice in Borderland Retry, which takes place a few years after the events of Alice in Borderland. The Joker card teased at the end could be this original storyline.
If Alice in Borderland season 3 happens, then season 2’s Joker card reveal is enough of a setup for Arisu to return to the world. There was no trick in the Alice in Borderland manga ending - that is, Arisu did wake up in the real world after only one minute had passed. The Joker card in Alice in Borderland season 2, however, can be interpreted as a tease that the games are not actually over and that Arisu and his friends are still connected to Borderland somehow. If Alice in Borderland season 3 doesn’t happen, however, then the Joker card means something different – suggesting life was the final game.
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