Classroom of the Elite Season 2's Planets Exam Explained

While fans are glad Classroom of the Elite Season 2 is back after a too-long wait, they can't really agree on whether the premiere was rushed or packed. For one, that special exam felt like a lot to grasp in 24 minutes. Good thing we got our thinking hats ready! Here's an explainer on Classroom of the Elite Season 2's Planets Exam.

Related: Classroom of the Elite Season 2 Dub Release Date

What is the Planets Exam in Classroom of the Elite Season 2?

The Planets Exam is the latest test to shake up the students at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.

The students were only beginning to enjoy their luxury cruise after the previous survival test when it was announced that a special exam was coming up.

Students were to go to a certain place at a time specified in the emails they got for a briefing.

While the school is known to give out tests that no normal high school student would pass (or understand, for that matter), the Planets Exam is different in that the students can only pass or fail in groups with members from their rival classes.

Planets Exam Mechanics

• The first-year students at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School are divided into eight groups, representing the eight planets in the solar system.
• Each group consists of a few members from Classes A through D.
  • Kiyotaka and Kei from Class D are in the Mars group, where Class B's Ichinose and Class A's Machida are also in.
  • In the case of the Mars group, there are four members each from Classes C and D, and three each from Classes A and B.
• A random member of each group is designated as the VIP. The exam group's objective will be to guess who the assigned VIP is.
• The exam will run for four days, with a full rest on the third day. It starts in the morning after the briefing.
• Twice on each exam day, the members will have to discuss among themselves who they think their group's VIP is. That makes it a total of six discussions over the course of the test.
• Thirty minutes after the final discussion, the students (excluding the VIPs) will submit their guesses to the school via email. They will only have one chance.
• Even after the exam ends, the VIP's identity and everybody's guesses will be kept secret. Only the groups' pass or fail status and the changes in class points will be revealed.

Quick note: In the original light novel, the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac are used to name the groups instead of the eight planets in the Solar System.

This is because the 40 students per class in the novel had been reduced to only 25 per class in the anime.

Believe it or not, this change makes the exam easier to understand because while the rules are more direct in the light novel, the exam itself is a lot more complicated there.

You might enjoy: Who Does Ayanokoji Kiyotaka End Up With in Classroom of the Elite?

Planets Exam: Possible Cases

By default, VIPs will not be required to send in their answers. Four possible cases or scenarios could happen by the end of the exam:

Cases 1 and 2 will happen if everybody sends in their guesses as scheduled.

Case 1

• After the final discussion, if everyone in the group correctly guesses the VIP's identity, they all get 500,000 private points.
• The VIP gets an extra 500,000 points, making it a total of 1 million points for them.
• Guesses from members of the same class as the VIP will not matter, but they will get points from everybody else's correct guesses.
• Everyone wins in this scenario, with the VIP slightly winning more points than the other members.

Case 2

• After the final discussion, if even one group member doesn't answer or gets the VIP wrong, only the VIP gets 500,000 private points.
• Guesses from members of the same class as the VIP still won't matter, but they will not get points if even one of the other members doesn't participate or makes the wrong guess.
• Only the VIP wins in this scenario.

Cases 3 and 4 will happen if the VIP's identity is discovered and a traitor submits an answer before the exam ends or within the 30-minute gap between the final discussion and the answer submission.

There is a penalty for wrong answers submitted before schedule (Case 4).

Case 3

• If a group member who doesn't belong in the same class as the VIP makes the correct guess early, he or she receives 500,000 private points.
  • The students refer to this early guesser as the traitor.
• The class in which the traitor belongs will also be given 50 class points.
• This makes the exam over for the group.
• If the traitor is in the same class as the VIP, the correct answer is considered invalid and the exam continues.
• The traitor and his class are the winners in this scenario.

Case 4

• If a group member who doesn't belong in the same class as the VIP makes the wrong guess early, the VIP receives 500,000 private points.
  • The students refer to this early guesser as the traitor.
• The VIP's class will also be awarded 50 class points.
• On the other hand, the class in which the traitor belongs will lose 50 class points.
• This makes the exam over for the group.
• If the traitor is in the same class as the VIP, the wrong answer is considered invalid and the exam continues.
• The VIP and their class are the winners in this scenario, with an extra blow to the traitor's class.

Related: Where to Watch Classroom of the Elite Season 2: Crunchyroll, Netflix or Amazon Prime

Mars Group Discussions

First Discussion

In the first episode, we were only given a peak into Mars group's discussions.

• Ichinose of Class B took the lead role in the discussions. She and her class opted to go for Case 1, wherein everybody wins. So did most of the group.
  • In Case 1, everybody is given equal chances to earn personal/private points, without anybody's class standing improving or worsening.
  • Though personal points don't directly affect the class rankings, they can be used to influence factors that would. This was illustrated in season 1 when personal points were used to gain intel that ultimately helped a class increase their points.
  • Since Case 1 is a win for everyone, it also is the most difficult to achieve. Even if the group's VIP agrees to reveal his identity for everyone's benefit, there is no telling if a traitor will go and make an early guess. After all, only Cases 3 and 4 promise benefits to whole classes.
• Machida spoke for Class A. They decided not to participate in any of the discussions to reduce the chances of accidentally revealing the VIP's identity if the VIP is from their class, and having a traitor go and make an early guess.
  • Class A is avoiding an outcome of Case 3, where a traitor can gain points for their class. An increase in the points of these other classes will be a disadvantage to Class A.
  • They are also not too accepting of only the VIP and his class winning if they end up going into Case 4 because of a wrong traitor guess.
  • Though selfish, the option of abstaining would make the most sense for Class A—losing half a million private points wouldn't be much of a blow to them, especially if it meant keeping their class ranking intact.
  • Ichinose knows this and doesn't want Class A to get away with it, which is why she wanted to go for Case 1, where winning was guaranteed.

Second Discussion

Nothing much happened during the group's second discussion. Everybody had pretty much the same opinions they had during the first discussion earlier in the day. The group was in a deadlock status.

In the internal monologue that Kiyotaka had, he mentioned that the exam was all about observing and anticipating how other people will act, and understanding their actions to know how best to guide them to the most favorable outcomes... nothing that the sly and scheming Kiyotaka Ayanokouji couldn't handle!

We're pretty sure Kiyotaka has something up his sleeves, but nobody knows what. Needless to say, fans can't wait for the experience the next episodes will give!