Alice's complaints about "story armor" in Borderlands S2 completely miss the point

Borderlands season 2, episode 7's Alice made it seem like the show had a plot armor problem, but that's not the case when the entire episode is considered.

WARNING: Contains spoilers for Alice in Borderland season 2.

Alice in Borderlands season 2, episode 7 was criticized for using "plot armor," but those criticisms missed the point of the show's big reveal. While Borderlands Alice is known for its tragic and gruesome character deaths, season 2 of Borderlands Alice didn't see many main characters die. In fact, Borderlands Season 2's Alice keeps coming back to them even when popular characters like Akashi seem to be dead.

Considering how many significant Borderlands Alice players died between Season 1 and the first half of Season 2, expect a lot of Alice deaths in the Borderlands Season 2 finale. From the moment Chishiya was shot, to the fight with the King of Spades, it seemed like Arisu and Usagi would be the only two characters in Borderlands season 3 who could be Alice. However, things ended on a happier note.

Alice In Borderland Season 2 Finale Explained The Show’s Plot Armor Issue

Borderlands' Alice's "plot armor" has been a common criticism since season one, as even falling off a building without catching fire is enough to kill certain characters. The plot armor issue got worse in Alice in Borderlands Season 2, especially In episode 7. Most of the Alice characters in Borderlands were brutally injured by the King of Spades, who shot and stabbed the show's hero dozens of times. However, none of them died. It seems Borderlands' Alice characters have become immortal, but their survival has less to do with plot armor and more to do with the nature of Borderlands itself.

Nothing that happens in Alice's Borderlands game is real, as Borderlands is a state between life and death inhabited by victims of meteorite explosions. Only a minute has passed in the real world, which means that none of the injuries that Borderlands' Alice character suffers in-game actually happened. The Borderlands' Alice season 2 finale didn't make it clear that the Borderlands world had more to do with the character's soul or consciousness, but the only physical damage the character suffered was still that from the meteor explosion itself.

Alice In Borderland’s Plot Armor Issue Was Actually The Show’s Main Message

It's not their resistance to physical damage that determines whether a character can survive a match, as Alice's Borderlands season revealed, it's not physical damage at all 2 endings, but how their bodies react in the real world. For example, Arisu's real-world injuries are the ones he has at the end of all games. Admittedly, Alice's Borderlands ending twist has led to an interesting debate about the story - do the characters have any free will in the Alice: Borderlands games, or is this just a reflection of what's going on in the real world? ?

Either way, the main message of Alice in the Borderlands is to find a reason to keep going and realize that life is always worth fighting for. Borderlands' Alice games are all about testing a character's will to survive, which is why the episodic armor issue actually represents the show's main massage. For example, Alice in Akashiya in Borderlands, after waking up in the real world, realized that she had to become a different person. Similarly, the reason why Aguni was shot but not killed, or Kuina was not killed after being stabbed, is also because they still want to continue to live in the real world.