Netflix’s Alice in Borderland season 2 concludes with the Queen of Hearts, and her game is anything but straightforward. Essentially the game’s final boss, the Queen of Hearts is the culmination of the face cards and yet her challenge appears to be deceptively easy. The other face cards, like the King of Spades, ramp up the difficulty by offering even more advanced physical challenges, but the Queen of Hearts is the embodiment of the psychological nature of the hearts suit. Arisu and Usagi’s battle with the Queen not only tests them as individuals but tries their relationship as well.
The main premise of Alice in Borderland is that characters are trapped in a mysterious version of Tokyo and forced to compete in various games in order to collect playing cards from a standard deck. Every game in Alice in Borderland is difficult in its own way, and each suit represents a different type of game — physical (spades), teamwork (clubs), intelligence (diamonds), and trust (hearts). The Queen of Hearts’ game is unique among the other hearts games, and it tests an entirely different form of trust than is seen in other games from the first two seasons.
Mira Kano Is The Queen Of Hearts
During the game’s first stage in Alice in Borderland season 1, Mira Kano is shown to be a high-ranking member of The Beach, but it’s eventually revealed that she is actually a Game Master when the heroes complete the final game of the season. She returns in season 2 as the Queen of Hearts, and her later appearances pay off the gleeful and sadistic nature of her character from the first season. The ending of Alice in Borderland season 2 sees the Queen of Hearts challenge Arisu and Usagi to her own special game, and she actually pulls from her namesake in the novel Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Unlike the Jack of Hearts game from earlier which involves trust and also has deadly consequences, Kano’s game is merely playing croquet with her. The game features no additional rules and carries the caveat that the player has to complete three games with the Queen without “retiring” from the competition. Of course, the Queen tries to tempt Arisu to leave the game by causing him to hallucinate that he’s in a mental institution, but he’s eventually able to overcome her hypnotic sway with the help of Usagi.
The Queen Tests Arisu & Usagi’s Relationship
Kano is defeated when Usagi is able to convince Arisu to come back into the game. While the Queen of Hearts game mocks fan theories about Alice in Borderland, it also speaks to the nature of relationships and the importance of trust within them. Arisu is able to win the game because his love for Usagi is the ultimate form of trust, and he puts himself back on the line to save her. Though the outcome of their relationship in the real world is left open-ended, it’s clear that Alice in Borderland‘s ultimate test is the strength of the bond between its two main characters.
