Squid Gameseason 3 will bring the hit South Korean drama to a close, and here are the major developments that audiences must remember before heading into the final installment. Created by Hwang Dong-Hyuk, the series explores a mysterious competition that gives people the opportunity to win a life-changing fortune by surviving a series of twisted childhood games for the entertainment of wealthy spectators.Starring Lee Jung-Jae,Squid Gamewas a streaming hitwhen the first season debuted in 2021, leading to a second season entering production and being released in 2024.
The first season ofSquid Gameintroduced audiences to Lee’s Gi-Hun, a gambling addict, who is convinced to join the games alongside 455 other players. With his initial experience of the Games, Gi-Hun is exposed to the lowest depths humanity will go to survive, forced to fight childhood friends, all while facing ever-increasingly difficult games. Despite this ordeal,Gi-Hun wins while retaining his faith that humanity can be better, leading to him sacrificing his own happiness and security to return to the Games and bring them to an end.
6Why Did Gi-Hun Return
Gi-Hun’s Belief That Humanity Will Prevail Drives Him Forward
When audiences reunite with Gi-Hun inSquid Gameseason 2, they learn that he has set up operations to track down the mysterious Recruiter (Gong Yoo) and reenter the Games while fulfilling his promises to Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) and Kang Sae-Byeok (Jung Ho-yeon).After allying with Jun-Ho (Wi Ha-joon), Gi-Hun is apprehended by the Pink Guards and requests that the Front Man (Lee Byung-Hun) reenter him into the Gamesafter failing to bring about their end with words. Gi-Hun’s request is granted, and he is made a player once more.
Gi-Hun attempts to use his experience to convince the latest batch of contenders to end the Games, to little success. As such, he instead decides to take the fight directly to the controllers of the Games, organizing an uprising after the third game of the current competition. He and a small group of players overpower some of the guards who come to clean up after a bloody massacre between the contenders, seizing their weapons and setting out to find the control room.
5Why Did The Front Man Rejoin The Games
The Masked Overseer Was Intrigued By Gi-Hun’s Mission
Despite his best efforts, however, Gi-Hun’s rebellion is quickly quelled by the Pink Guards, as his team had been infiltrated by a mole with incredible power over the Games. Intrigued by Gi-Hun’s efforts and wishing to challenge his belief that humanity can be better and leave the Games behind, the Front Man discards his mask and coat and rejoins the Games for the first time since his victory. Taking on the persona of Oh Young-Il, the Front Man is the deciding vote in continuing the Games upon Gi-Hun’s initial plea.
Yet despite this vote,the Front Man quickly endears himself to Gi-Hun as an ally with a partially true backstory and his willingness to do anything to help Gi-Hun win.When Gi-Hun enacts his uprising, the Front Man joins him, only to kill two other players and fake his death as the guards halt the uprising. With Gi-Hun in custody, the Front Man once more takes on his masked appearance, encountering the man he deceived, killing his old friend Jung-Bae (Lee Seo-Hwan), and asking Gi-Hun whether his good-intentioned mission was worth it.
4What Happened To Jun-Ho’s Strike Team
The Police Officer’s Group Is Compromised
While Gi-Hun returns to the Games, Jun-Ho sets out on his own mission to bring them to an end. Having narrowly survived an encounter with his brother, the man now known as the Front Man, Jun-Ho had been searching for the island where the Games are held, bringing him into contact with Gi-Hun.As Gi-Hun attempts to sway the hearts of players from the inside,Jun-Ho assembles a team of mercenarieswhen it becomes clear the authorities won’t aid him.
However, when Jun-Ho and his team believe they have found the island, it is quickly revealed that they have been lured into a trap, as the entrance they discover is a decoy rigged to explode, killing one mercenary.Another member of the strike teamis killed by Captain Park (Oh Dal-su), the shrimp boat captain who appeared as Jun-Ho’s savior following his initial ordeal, revealing that he has been an agent of the Games all along. As of season 2’s conclusion,Jun-Ho is unaware that his team is compromised.
3What Happened To The New Pink Guard
A New Guard Has Upended Games Operations
Though the Front Man and the forces behind the Games may have been able to trap Gi-Hun and Jun-Ho in a losing game, they are unaware that there is someone within their ranks working against them.Season 2, episode 2 “Halloween Party” introduced audiences to North Korean defector Kang No-eul (Park Gyu-young), who hopes to extract her daughter from across the border. As such, she too joins the Games, but as one of the Pink Guards, rather than another contender.
Despite it initially appearing that she is loyal to the Games by seeing her end a player’s life despite Gi-Hun doing his best to save them during the initial “Red Light, Green Light” game, it is soon revealed that she does not accept every facet of the operation, as she begins sabotaging the other guards' organ-harvesting scheme. While she is quickly apprehended and warned not to intervene further, No-eul is still active as part of the staff, making her a wildcard.
2Which Players Are Still Standing
Several Notable Season 2 Players Met Their Ends
With Gi-Hun returning to the games, audiences were introduced to a new set of key players among the 455 new competitors. These include Gi-Hun’s former colleague Jung-Bae, the chaotic disgraced rapper Thanos (T.O.P), the anxious Young-mi (Kim Si-eun), and Se-mi (Won Ji-an). However, as the deadly games progress, each player falls, with Thanos in particular meeting his end at the hands of longtime enemy Myung-gi (Im Si-wan) after taunting him about his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Jun-Hee (Jo Yu-ri).
Going into season 3,there are eight named players who survived season 2’s events.Myung-gig and Jun-Hee stay behind in the dorms during Gi-hun’s uprising alongside son and mother duo Yong-Sik (Yang Dong-geun), Geum-Ja (Kang Ae-shim), former shaman Seon-nyeo (Chae Kook-hee), and timid young player Min-Su (Lee David), while Dae-ho (Kang Ha-neul) and Hyun-Ju (Park Sung-hoon) survive the guard’s retaliation. Theme park worker Kyung Seok (Lee Jin-wook) is also not confirmed to be deaddespite being shot, leading to speculation that his former colleague No-eul spared his life.
1What Is The Fifth Game
A Terrifying Technological Threat Returns
After witnessing Gi-hun’s ideal-shattering loss in the seventh and final episode ofSquid Gameseason 2, “Friend or Foe,” the series has one last teaser to leave audiences on. In a mid-credits scene, several players make their way into a new arena, discovering the familiar motion-detecting Young-hee animatronic that quickly senses players' movements in “Red Light, Green Light.” This time, however,she is joined by her “boyfriend,” the male animatronic Cheol-su.
While it is unclear just how the fifth game will function,it is confirmed that the two animatronics will preside over a twisted remix of “Jump Rope.” The rope is held by the two dolls, while players are expected to successfully maneuver their way across a narrow bridge, avoiding falling into the flowery abyss below. ThoughSquid Gamemay be in its final act, it is clear that the twisted childhood games are far from over, but Gi-Hun’s battles with the Front Man over the ideology behind the competition may see the harmful cycle finally reach its end.
