Alice in Borderland Season 3 highlighted many deaths during Arisu and Uriga's unexpected return to the games, but some are wondering if these characters are really dead. Netflix's Japanese thriller series returns for a highly anticipated third season following Season 2's happy ending which saw Arisu and Uriga return to the real world after enduring the games in the Borderlands (a world between life and death).
Season 3 began with Usagi being manipulated by the mysterious Ryuji Matsuyama to return to the games, which caused Arisu to make a comeback to the twisted death dimension as well. As expected, there are many notable deaths that are sprinkled throughout the six-episode series, with some dying in a noble way while others getting what they deserve after taking advantage of others.
Directed by Shinsuke Sato, Alice in Borderland follows the story of people trapped in a parallel version of Tokyo where everyone must fight to survive. The series stars Kento Yamazaki, Tao Tsuchiya, and Ayaka Miyoshi. Alice in Borderland Season 3 premiered on Netflix on September 25, 2025.
Does Arisu Die in Alice in Borderland Season 3?
Arisu is an established veteran of the deadly games of the Borderlands which is why he became a target of Banda in the first place. For those unaware, Season 3 showed Banda (a serial killer in the real world who became a permanent citizen of this alternate world) urged Ryuji to bring Usagi back into the Borderlands so that Arisu will be forced to return. Banda noted that they need a player like Arisu in their world because "it gets boring without good players."
This meant that Arisu's life is in peril throughout much of Alice in Borderland Season 3 because of the deadly games that ensued. What makes the final season different from the previous two is the fact that Arisu and Usagi are in separate teams and they need to rally their teammates to survive and reach the final game while also keeping in mind to reunite in the end.
While Arisu had close calls in The Runaway Train game and Kick the Can, he eventually survived and made it to the final game. After winning the final game with Usagi and six other players, Arisu's one last act so that they can return to the real world is to do a final dice roll. Unfortunately, he drew a seven, meaning that is the only required number of people who can leave. Arisu decided to stay behind so that Usagi and the others can return to the real world.
However, Arisu is still a tough cookie to crack because he had one final encounter with The Watchman, the overseer of the world between life and death. The Man in the Hat gave him a chance to choose between living and dying, pointing out that death is easy and more peaceful instead of returning to the real world where pain and tragedy awaits him due to a looming disaster.
In the end, Arisu decided to choose to live and be with Usagi and their baby in the real world, meaning that he ended up surviving the chaos again in Alice in Borderland.
Does Usagi Die in Alice in Borderland Season 3?
Although Usagi and Arisu started off their happy lives in Alice in Borderland Season 3 by being married, it was evident that she still has unresolved grief over her father's death, which is why Ryuji used this to manipulate her into returning to the Borderlands.
Similar to Arisu, Usagi also endured the deadly games once more and had several close calls before making it to the final game. However, one shocking twist is the fact that Usagi learned that she was pregnant in the final game. What makes this reveal even more complicated is that the game makers of Borderlands counted Usagi's unborn baby as a player in the last game, repeating the same baby twist of Squid Game Season 3.
With a baby inside her, Usagi fought hard in the final game, using Arisu's guidance and her own strategy to reach the last room. After Arisu saved her by staying put in the final room, Usagi has one more thing to contend with: her grief and guilt toward her father's death.
During the final challenge of the Borderlands where a great flood sucks the remaining players into the vortex of dead and permanently die in the process, Usagi was about to be thrown into the black hole before Ryuji unexpectedly saved her and push her into Arisu's direction. This was more than enough to save Usagi's life before having a final closure with her dad to fully resolve her grief.
In the end, Usagi ended up surviving after she was saved by Arisu and they lived happily ever after in the real world. Well, until the looming disaster strikes again.
Who Dies in Alice in Borderland Season 3?
Masato
Masato is a middle school teacher who is part of Arusi's team. To recap, the second game is called Zombie Hunt where players engage in a high-stakes card game where they must decide an alliance between humans and zombies. The winning team (either humans or zombies) will clear the game while the losing group will be shot dead instantly.
Masato became a vulnerable target in the game after he is exposed as a zombie by Ikeno (a leader of the humans). Ikeno used a "shotgun" card to eliminate Masato, with the blast killing him instantly during one of the rounds.
Ikeno
Ikeno, the human group's de facto leader, also died during the Zombie Hunt game, mainly due to Arisu's strategy of turning as many people as he can into zombies. His aggresive leadership and arrogance came back to bite him in the end where he realized that the zombies fully outnumbered his group in the end, leading him to be shot by the red laser of the Borderlands.
Shion
The "Kick the Can" game involves players kicking the can and returning it to the original spot. The twist here is that one player must return the can into the base before the bomb explodes. Whenever the can's owner changes, the time limit shortens by five seconds, and the cans explode upon strong impact.
Arusi's team worked together to send each of their members into the next round, but all hell broke loose after the other half of players wanted to advance because only 10 players would be given the chance to make it out.
Shion, a CEO of a start-up company in the real world, tried to protect fellow team member Natsu from the hostile players, but she ended up with a tense confrontation with one of them in the escalator. As a result, the can fell down to one of the steps, which caused an explosion that instantly killed her.
Natsu
Natsu, a novice dancer and a member of Arisu's team, was still heartbroken over the death of her best friend, Shion. She tried to advance to the next round by taking the can to its base, but another female player tried to stop her. In the end, she didn't make it in time and an explosion happened that killed both of them.
Kazuya
Kazuya is a Yakuza member who was initially a rival of Arisu, but eventually became an ally of his during The Runaway Train and Kick the Can games. After letting Arisu take the ninth can to the base, Kazuya entered the final round knowing that it might be his last chance to survive. Unfortunately, he was overwhelmed by the hostile players and got stabbed twice before the can exploded which killed everyone.
Sohta
The final game is called Possible Future where the players need to strategize by choosing a door and find the endpoint. Each player has 15 points and each room has its own point system, meaning that it is unknown how many points will be deducted once one enters it. In an unexpected twist, the walls project potential futures for each player’s life, and choosing a door locks that future into reality upon escaping to the outside world.
Sohta is a firefighter in the real world who is part of Usagi's team. He has his sister, Yuna, with him in the final round, making things far more complicated. He tragically died after entering one of the rooms with a large number of point deduction, much to his sister's distraught.
Tetsu
Tetsu is one of the elder statesmen in Arisu's team who is a drug addict in the real world. During the Possible Futures game, Tetsu's drug addiction took a toll on him as he struggled with grasping what's real or not due to being overwhelmed with seeing all his potential futures.
After seeing his former love, Yukiko, via hallucinations, he accidentally stepped inside a room with an eight point deduction. However, he only has seven points by the time this happened, which led him being killed instantly after his collar exploded.
Ryuji
Perhaps one of the most interesting characters in Alice in Borderland Season 3 is Ryuji Matsuyama. He is an assistant professor obsessed with the concept of the afterlife and death and one of the reasons why Usagi and Arisu ended up returning to the Borderlands in the first place.
While Banda tried to manipulate Ryuji into killing Usagi to allow Arisu to stay in the dimension, he defied his wish and instead saved her from certain death. Ryuji ended up sacrificing himself by allowing him to be sucked into the vortex of death, permanently killing him in the process.
Banda
Banda's obsession in trying to convince Arisu to stay in the Borderlands came back to bite him in a drastic way in the end. After Arisu narrowly escaped death in the massive flood that pulled everyone toward a deadly vortex, Banda confronted him one final time, menacingly pointing a gun to persuade him to stay.
However, in a shocking twist, Banda was killed by the red laser beam from above, with the Man in the Hat explaining that he was never ready to assume the role of becoming one of the leaders of the Borderlands due to his sadistic intentions.
