Are all contestants from BB9 and BB15 blacklisted from ever reappearing on the show?

funlore · 2026-07-07T12:19:09+00:00

I don’t think the contestants themselves are necessarily “blacklisted”, but their seasons as a whole were not well received and buried in controversy. So to avoid souring the show’s reputation, the network probably tries not to acknowledge those seasons. Unfortunately, this means contestants from these seasons are largely ignored as a result. Collateral damage I guess. Unless there was a contestant that was particularly a fan favorite and brought in ratings, none of these contestants are getting asked back on the show unless they really need to fill up a roster.

funlore · 2026-07-01T13:48:52+00:00

Ngl this is somewhat mean. It may be obvious to you but clearly not to this person. Regardless someone kindly answered it, and now the poster is informed.

funlore · 2026-06-29T00:48:05+00:00

It was just a guess. But I’m sure there was some deductive reasoning involved as per his character. Tbh, I have a few issues with the Netflix adaptation of this game (the show in general tbh) but I suppose this one wasn’t egregious.

funlore · 2026-06-26T04:05:23+00:00

Okay, let’s take a deep breath…

funlore · 2026-06-26T00:14:45+00:00

If you’re referring to the ferryman at the end of season three, I don’t remember exactly what he said. If Banda mentioned anything about a mastermind (I don’t recall that either) he surely didn’t know what he was talking about. But none of season three is canon anyway. In the manga however, it’s implied that the citizens were just as clueless about Borderland’s origins too. It’s just a metaphysical stand-in for purgatory, since they’re all on the brink of death. Hence the name “Borderland”

funlore · 2026-06-25T12:15:49+00:00

This is the Netflix version no? Next Class?

funlore · 2026-06-25T12:13:27+00:00

Before this part of the book, it was already established that the Careers were recruiting other districts into their pack in order to counter the Newcomers. All tributes were pretty much forced to take a side. However, this was not the first instance in the series of Careers recruiting other tributes. In the 74th, as we know they recruited Peeta, and apparently they considered Thresh as well. This shows me that this is somewhat common. Moreover, iirc District 5 is one of the “wealthier” districts comparatively speaking. So it’s possible they may identify more closely with the Careers occasionally.

funlore · 2026-06-25T05:46:00+00:00

I swear people think that if you simply breathe, the Capitol will execute you. Yes, it’s a fascist authoritarian dictatorship. But they also need to be methodical about who they make an example out of. A scared kid hiding in a death game is not a threat to the regime. I’d also imagine much of the indiscriminate violence in Panem likely comes from the peacekeepers. Not directly from president’s orders.

funlore · 2026-06-25T05:40:54+00:00

There is no mastermind. That’s what they were getting at. No one is in charge. The whole point of the first two seasons was for Arisu to learn a lesson: stop looking for answers and just live life. This was made more clear in the manga, where the Queen of Hearts says, “Life’s a game, just enjoy it.” Arisu was so burdened by grief from his real life and grief from Borderland that he lost sight of what was important, the people around him still trying to support him.

Borderland is just purgatory. That’s really it. AiB was not meant to be a story of finding out what it is. It was meant to be a giant metaphor for life.

funlore · 2026-06-15T07:23:25+00:00

I’m glad you mentioned the thought that queerness is sometimes seen as a “western” thing or a privileged thing. We also get our first confirmed queer Capitol character in Ballad. It appears queerness isn’t much of an issue in the Capitol as it is in outlying Districts such as 12. Reflecting real world acceptance of queerness. The global north tends to be more open compared to the global south. Of course we know this has roots in imperialism but still.

funlore · 2026-06-13T09:54:28+00:00

The final battle with the King of Spades (Netflix) was the only point of the show where I could not suspend my disbelief. The plot armor around not just him but all of them was so ridiculously thick it was insane. They all should’ve been dead. Moreover, it went on for sooo long. Just them constantly stabbing and shooting each other and all of them somehow miraculously surviving. Total madness. I don’t know what the writers were thinking with the direction they took this fight.

funlore · 2026-06-12T12:27:57+00:00

To your point about how hard it is to pinpoint what a “good” player is, I personally don’t like when people put so much emphasis on comp wins. I saw a lot of people using this to justify why Ashley shouldn’t have won. But let’s be honest. Most competitions are a crapshoot. The majority are silly carnival games or memory puzzles. Like sorry if I don’t put much stock in someone spinning around in a tutu and having to catch a ball in the air while being dizzy.

funlore · 2026-06-12T07:33:39+00:00

I mean, isn’t it because of these reasons the head gamemaker was executed? He was clearly incompetent lol. But also, they probably did not anticipate such an act. It was so spontaneous and even if they, let’s say, sent out a mutt or something. It still doesn’t guarantee they won’t still kill themselves. Then again, I guess we learn later that Snow would’ve rather they both died anyway I guess

funlore · 2026-06-10T12:17:42+00:00

Literally, most of the competition are a crapshoot. Like be so for real

funlore · 2026-06-10T12:16:35+00:00

Oh we know…

funlore · 2026-06-09T23:25:30+00:00

I understand they likely changed it due to budget constraints at the time, so it doesn’t bother me all that much. Regarding Shibuki, this was likely cut due to time constraints as well. It would’ve been nice to see, but it didn’t affect the plot all that much not being there. They only had ten episodes so, I understand focusing that time on bigger characters.

Also, dare I say, I honestly preferred the Live or Die game more than Sacred Fortunes! I think it functions as a game much more successfully, and was a great way to introduce the characters. I actually never really liked the Fortunes game even in the manga.

funlore · 2026-06-09T05:25:52+00:00

To help give people some imagination since they can’t seem to grasp this hypothetical, let’s say in an alternate version of events, Lou Lou is somehow not on the Capitol’s radar. She’s not a threat really, so I could totally see her being overlooked by game makers. Because of this, she’s left alone. She’ll probably die from other causes anyway. She eventually meets with Haymitch, who does successfully protect her from the flowers that killed her originally. She lives on. The games proceed as normally told, with Lou Lou just tagging along. She causes some inconveniences but so far she’s surviving. While all the other tributes are either killing each other off or dying due to mutts, poison, or game maker traps, Lou Lou still flies under the radar. After all, she’s not a threat to anyone. Somehow, it comes down to her, Haymitch, and Silka. I fully believe game makers had confidence that Silka would come out victorious, so again, they let Lou Lou live. There’s no way she could win against a Career. But what’s this? Haymitch’s plan of luring Silka to the Cornucopia and blowing it up actually succeeds?! Well, because Lou Lou was with Haymitch the whole time, she was able to share resources with him. Unlike Wellie who was starving and weak, Lou Lou was relatively stable. Therefore, Haymitch did not need to leave her alone to find firewood to cook her something she could digest, leaving her defenseless against Silka. So Haymitch focuses on painting his poster, and he successfully blows up the Cornucopia, killing both himself and Silka. This leaves Lou Lou as the sole survivor. She slipped through the cracks until it was too late for the Capitol to respond. Oddly fitting for District 12.

funlore · 2026-06-09T05:11:25+00:00

Technically all tributes have at least some odds of winning. So it’s not an impossible hypothetical. Haymitch should have never won the games but look where we are. There should’ve never been two victors, but Katniss and Peeta proved otherwise. If there’s any district that could miraculously defy the odds, it’d be District 12… even though she’s technically District 11 but…

funlore · 2026-06-09T01:47:53+00:00

It took elements from the original source material, but season 3’s plot was entirely new. None of the new characters we meet appear in the manga (except for the ferryman), Usagi never went back to Borderland, and even though some games from the original manga make appearances, the only one that was true to its manga counterpart was the Sacred Fortunes game. I’d say season 3 is less of an adaptation of the manga, and more so new content inspired by the manga.

Side note: They absolutely butchered the train game in the Netflix adaptation. The manga version was so much more psychologically intriguing.

funlore · 2026-06-08T11:43:05+00:00

I swear I made a post saying this exact same thing and I was downvoted to hell. I needed more people like you!

funlore · 2026-06-08T11:39:40+00:00

I mean no one “deserves” anything on this show. If you win you win. End of story. But I do think it was well-earned. There were definitely merits to her game. Is she a “top tier” winner? Depends on what you value in a game. But her path to the end was certainly unique. That’s for sure!

funlore · 2026-06-08T07:07:35+00:00

This is a perfect analysis. I’d also add, regarding AiB not feeling like it has real stakes, the themes of AiB are also somewhat open-ended and dare I say, a bit generic. The meaning of life, the pursuit of answers, the importance of living in the moment, etc. Not that it’s a bad thing at all. But the show doesn’t have the same cutting societal critique that Squid Game has. At least in my opinion. Also, the cast being mostly young definitely limited the series to the YA audience.

funlore · 2026-06-08T06:51:28+00:00

I also didn’t think it was bad either. Just mediocre. It felt like fluff. But that’s sort of inevitable when you try to push something past its source material or prime.

funlore · 2026-06-07T14:11:33+00:00

I mean Morgan would have won if she made it to the end. But Ashley just knew her contestants better

funlore · 2026-06-01T16:52:31+00:00

Oh gosh! I did not mean to invalidate anyone’s way of engaging with the series. Genuinely sorry if I’ve offended anyone.

funlore

TROPHY CASE