The King of Spades
Episode 7 of Alice in Borderland Season 2 starts with Niragi deciding to make everyone suffer in agony. As he continues on, Ann and Kuina end up coming face to face again, this time while playing various games. They both offer some words of encouragement as they work their way through the different face cards, taking them all out one by one. Two blimps remain by the time they’re done – the Queen of Hearts and the King of Spades. Out in the overgrown Shibuya Crossing, Chishiya shows up and ends up reunited with Arisu. However, their reunion is short-lived when Niragi appears and shoots Chishiya. He immediately confronts Arisu and decides to play one more game with them all, a makeshift game of Russian Roulette. Niragi throws a handgun over to Chishiya and the trio end up fighting. That is, until Arisu decides to confront Niragi head-on, with his gun by his side. Arisu is intent on making his own choice in this world – which is of course resonates with Chishya given he confronted the same thing with Kuzuryu. Niragi immediately begins shooting at Usagi when she appears, which wasn’t part of the game. When he fires, Chishiya gets in the way and prevents Usagi from being shot, taking a bullet for the team. After all of this, Chishiya ends up passing away. They don’t get time to mourn him though, as the blimp for the King of Spades appears. Usagi and Arisu immediately hear gunfire and decide to hide behind the cars. Kuina and Ann survive their games and end up back with the group again… where Arisu lies and claims Chishiya is okay. When Ann is grabbed, the group all work together to outsmart the King of Spades, with a car ploughing into him and smashing him to bits. However, despite going up in flames, the guy manages to appear out from the wreckage and continues to fire. This man happens to be a military commando of some description, and he’s also clad in bulletproof gear. Akane jumps in, along with Aguni too, as our medley of characters are finally reunited. Aguni deduces that supplies are dropped from the blimp and they need to try and keep the commando distracted and attack when he runs out of bullets. They also have Chishiya’s lucky bomb too and if they can get to the drugstore and fill it with gas, it would set off a pretty big explosion, enough to turn the tide of battle in their favour. Aguni decides to be the bait in all this., luring their foe into an alley so he can’t get more ammo from the blimp. The group all work together to take the commando out, as he stalks through the alleyway towards them. Everyone works together and makes sure he’s got no ammo left. Akane is sprayed with bullets in the ensuing conflict, while Ann too takes a good number of bullets as well. Aguni is livid and immediately charges at the King, smashing him with a barrage of kicks and punches. Kuina jumps in but she ends up stabbed several times in her gut. Usagi is stabbed in the thigh several times when she jumps on his back before being thrown down the alleyway, while Aguni manages to load a stray bullet into a handgun. As he does, the King does the same thing and shoots Aguni. The King is still alive through all of this. Arisu ends up seeing all of this and lures the King into the drugstore, where he’s set off numerous spray cannisters. The King has second thoughts and decides not to enter though, until Aguni, who’s still alive after the bullet only grazed the side of his head, jumps him from behind and throws the man inside. It all happens in a blur. Arisu throws the cannister, jumps out the window with Aguni, who turns and fires at the cannister (presumably with another bullet found) and it explodes, sending them both crashing outside. Miraculously, Aguni is still alive and he helps Arisu to his feet before he himself collapses on the floor, panting and telling Arisu to move on to the last game. Aguni finds the King through all of this, who’s still alive but barely. He hands over a handgun, wanting mercy. “I’m sorry. That was the only way that I knew how to save you.” The commando says deliriously, harking back to an earlier time in his memory when he was a soldier and killed someone asking for mercy. Aguni eventually grants him just that, firing at the King and downing his blimp in the process. Meanwhile, Ann passes away from her injuries, leaving Kunai upset and holding her own wounds in the alleyway. Chishiya is somehow still alive, barely, while Akane is struggling. The final game though is about to begin and that comes from the Queen of Hearts, as the blimp arrives and the final two registered players – Arisu and Usagi – prepare for what’s to come. And what better way to finish things off than with a game that looks eerily similar to the Queen of Hearts game from Alice in Wonderland. And guess what? There’s also croquet there too! As for the Queen, she presents herself as none other than Mira. Of course it is!
The Episode Review
What an intense episode. Everything has been leading to this, as we see Arisu and Usagi face to face with the mad queen, who happens to be part of this final game. Before we get there though, episode 7 is essentially one big bloodbath, with an intense fight involving the King of Spades that ends with his plot armour cracked and our characters coming out on top. There’s a lot of death and destruction here too, starting with Niragi and then progressing through to that intense fight in the alleyway. The production design for this second season has been a step up as well and you can really see that with the expansive sets and the increased CGI too. The little nods to Alice in Wonderland have been dotted throughout this show and it works to give this a surreal edge, while also nodding back to the literary classic. With an extended chapter to follow, everything is left wide open for where this one may go next. I don’t know about you guys but I can’t wait!
