Who Is the King of Diamonds in Alice in Borderland Season 2?

Back in the ending scene of season 1 of Alice In Borderland, fans were surprised to see that Mira, who was one of the executives of the Beach, was actually one of the Face cards all along. Of course, another executive of the Beach happened to be a Face card as well, and we are talking about the King of Diamonds, who was also one of the most honorable of the Face cards. So, who is the King of Diamonds in Alice In Borderland?

Keiichi Kuzuryu was the King of Diamonds the entire time when he was working as an executive when Hatter’s Beach was still at its full strength. Kuzuryu used to be a lawyer before the events of Borderland but eventually became a face card and chose to become a Face card so that he could determine the value of life.

The story of Kuzuryu is one that is quite tragic, but it is still able to allow him to find meaning at the end of his life when he chooses to accept his death in the King of Diamonds game against Chishiya. In that regard, he was one of the people that helped Chishiya’s character development during the storyline. So, with that said, let’s get to know more about the King of Diamonds.

Who Is The King Of Diamonds?

There were a lot of different familiar faces that appeared in season 2 of Alice In Borderland, and some of those characters were actually allied with the Beach back in season 1. Of course, Niragi and Aguni are one of those characters, but we were surprised to see that there was another familiar face during the King of Diamonds game that Chishiya attempted without the help of his other allies.

The moment Chishiya registered for the King of Diamonds game, he immediately recognized the King of Diamonds as none other than Keiichi Kuzuryu. For those who don’t remember, Kuzuryu used to be one of the top executives of the Beach when that organization was still around. He was third behind Hatter and Aguni in terms of authority. However, he was actually the King of Diamonds the entire time.

During the time when Chishiya was questioning him why he was with the Beach, he was largely uninterested in answering that question, as Chishiya thought that he was there for intel. Nevertheless, as the King of Diamonds game went on, it became clear that Kuzuryu was not someone who worked as the King of Diamonds because he wanted to kill people. Instead, he simply wanted to see what the value of life was all about.

Back in the real world, Kuzuryu used to be a lawyer that worked for a large company. However, he became disillusioned with the real world because he saw how the law only favored those who had money and power, whereas regular people struggled to meet their daily needs and were forced to die if they didn’t have the means to afford medicine. He saw how the bigwigs of the real world saw the life of regular and poor people as having little to no value compared to their own, and that was when Kuzuryu realized that different people saw the value of life differently, depending on who the person in question was.

However, it was the encounter with Chishiya in the King of Diamonds game that eventually allowed Kuzuryu to be the one to decide whether or not the lives of different people had inherent value. In that regard, he was able to realize the value of life during that game.

What Is The King Of Diamonds Game?

Of course, because this is the King of Diamonds game we are talking about here, it was meant to be the most difficult out of all of the Diamonds games, which we know require players to use their critical thinking and intelligence to win. And the rules of the King of Diamonds game, called Beauty Contest, are quite complicated.

First off, players need to choose numbers between 0 and 100. The average of the values of the numbers chosen by the players would be multiplied by 0.8. The person who chooses the number closest to the average that was calculated would win the round and would not lose a point. Meanwhile, all of the other players lose a point.

If a player’s points reached -10, that player would be killed by having acid poured above them. And they can’t escape their seats because they are shackled there until the end of the entire King of Diamonds game.

Every time a player is eliminated, a new rule is introduced. The first new rule introduced as if two or more people choose the same number, those numbers become invalid, and they will all lose a point. When there are only three players remaining in the game, if a player chooses the exact correct number at the end of the multiplication stage, that player loses double the points. Finally, when it was only Chishiya and Kuzuryu left in the game if someone chose 0, the player that chose 100 automatically won the round.

During the game, Chishiya used a combination of critical thinking and luck to be the only one of the players remaining as the game became a one-on-one confrontation between him and Kuzuryu. That was when he learned more about the past of the King of Diamonds, as he found out about the experiences he had when he was still a lawyer. Of course, Chishiya’s own backstory was revealed when Kuzuryu asked him if he had ever seen what it was actually like in the real world, where those who were in power were the ones in control over everything that was happening.

During that time, the 0 or 100 rule had already been introduced because only Chishiya and Kuzuryu were left. That was when Chishiya told the King of Diamonds on purpose that he was going to choose 100 so that Kuzuryu would be the one to determine whether or not his life had any worth at all. At that time, Chishiya already had a -9 on his point total, and that meant that he was going to die if he was going to lose one more round.

In that regard, Kuzuryu was placed in a position where he had direct control over whether or not Chishiya would die. This was not like the other rounds because everything was random. He didn’t know what the numbers of the other players were, and that meant that his decision was based on logical reasoning and luck. However, because he knows that he has a choice of whether or not he is going to kill Chishiya by choosing a number other than 0, he decides to choose 0 every single time Chishiya chooses 100.

When it was already the final round, Kuzuryu remembered his personal experiences before he was sent to the Borderlands. He recalled his personal belief that all human lives are equal and that no person’s life had more value than another’s. So, if he were to choose a number other than 0, that would mean that he placed more value on his own life rather than Chishiya’s, and this was something that would have gone against his personal ideals. 

He was a disillusioned person that saw how harsh the real world was when it came to treating people with no power or money. As such, Kuzuryu decided to control his and Chishiya’s destiny by staying true to his belief that all lives are equal. He decided to choose 0, and that meant that he would die and Chishiya would live. And he was smiling at the end of the game, to Chishiya’s surprise, because this was the only time in his life where he was able to live according to his ideals.

As such, Kuzuryu died a happy and fulfilled life because he knew that he lived up to his personal ideals before he became disillusioned by just how dark the world truly is. And this also affected Chishiya’s character development as he used more of his emotions in a Diamond game, which was supposed to be a game of logic and critical thinking.

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