This post contains SPOILERS for Squid Game Season 3.
Summary
Squid GameSeason 3 is finally out on Netflix with all six episodes, and the latest season successfully managed to haunt the fandom with some unfortunate deaths. After surviving the rebellion that he himself started, Gi-hun loses the will to fight or take part in the games. However, the Front Man played every trick in his arsenal to push Gin-Hun beyond his limits.
Despite losing several good people to the games, Gi-hun tried his best to maintain his humanity and not surrender to his darker instincts. In the final moments, Gi-hun proves to the Front Man and the VIPs that the contestants are humans, not objects or animals for their entertainment. The ending ofSquid GameSeason 3may have been predictable for some fans, but it still had a significant emotional impact on viewers.
He Possibly Wanted Gi-hun To Be The Next Front Man
In the second season, Gi-hun does everything in his power to stop the games, but sadly,that rebellion doesn’t amount to anything. Of course, the Front Man did suffer some casualties, but it was Gi-hun who lost the fight. But this begs the question —why did the Front Man spare Gi-hun? In fact, this was the very question that Gi-hun was asking in the premiere episode.
We finally get an answer to this in the final episode, when the Front Man presents Gi-hun with an opportunity by giving him a weapon. He asked Gi-hun to kill every other player while they were asleep. Without a doubt, it would be an easy way for Player 456 to walk out alive with the baby. Apparently, this was the very choice that Chairman Oh presented to Hwang In-ho all those years back when he was merely a player.
Why did the Front Man give the same choice to Gi-hun? The reason is simple:In-ho saw himself in Gi-hun,and he wantedPlayer 456 to someday put on the mask of the Front Man. But to make that happen, In-ho needed Gi-hun to see other players as “trash.” Yet, while Hwang In-ho decided to embrace his inhumane side and killed every player in their sleep, Gi-hun decided to play it fair and square.
Hwang In-ho was confident that Gi-hun would make the same choice, but unlike In-ho,Player 456 decided to hold on to his humanity until the very end. At that moment, viewers can see a little bit of sadness and frustration in In-ho’s eyes. By sparing the lives of other players, Gi-hun made In-ho realize that even he could have taken a different, less monstrous path all those years ago.
Gi-hun Makes The Ultimate Sacrifice
He Decides To Give The Baby A Chance At Life
Before falling to her death,Player 222 entrusted her daughter’s safety to Gi-hun,because she knew he was the kind of man who would never let someone hurt a newborn. And Gi-hun upholds the promise he made to Player 222 until the very end. In the final game, there are nine players left (including the baby), and, of course, Player 222’s daughter is an easy target for other players. A brief alliance with Player 333 helps Gi-hun survive two of the three stages of the ‘Sky Squid Game,’ but for the final stage, Gi-hun has to face Player 333 (the baby’s real father).
Gi-hun is ready to jump off the platform to let Player 333 walk out alive with his daughter, but a corrupted soul could never comprehend a selfless act. Player 333 doesn’t believe a single word Gi-hun said, and in an act of frustration, he even threatens to throw the baby off the platform. At this moment, Gi-hun realizes that, despite being her father,Player 333 would choose money over the baby.Gi-hun fights back, and, as expected, Player 333 falls to his death, leaving only the baby and Gi-hun behind. There’s one problem, though: Player 333 and Player 456 didn’t press the button to initiate the final round.
Apparently, at least one player had to die in each round for others to win. Since Player 456 and the baby are the only ones alive, Gi-hun is only left with two choices — either jump off the platform himself and let the baby live, or throw the baby off the platform. As expected,Gi-hun chooses humanity over cowardice and sacrifices himself for the baby.Throughout the games,the VIPslaughed when the contestants were dying, as if they were watching some animals. However, by making the ultimate sacrifice, Gi-hun demonstrated to the VIPs that they weren’t watching some horses running to win the race. Instead, everyone who died during the games was a human being. And human beings can always choose compassion over greed.
The Front Man Finally Embraces His Human Side
He Ensures That Gi-hun’s Sacrifice Amounts To Something
After Gi-hun’s death, Player 222’s daughter is the only one alive on the platform, making her the winner of theSquid Game.The Front Man, who is clearlyashamed of the choices he has made, decides to do one good deed. After Player 222 and Player 333’s deaths, the newborn child is left alone in this cursed world. Clearly, the Front Man hasn’t done anything to deserve to be the child’s adoptive father, but there is someone else. Interestingly,the Front Man sends the child and access to the prize money to his brother, Hwang Jun-ho. Maybe In-ho believes that if there’s someone out there who can actually raise this child like their own, it’s his younger brother.
It’s not the only good deed that Front Man does inSquid GameSeason 3, as he also visits Gi-hun’s daughter in Los Angeles. Gi-hun wanted to visit his daughter in America after he won the game, but never boarded that plane in Season 1. Gi-hun wanted his daughter to have a better future, so by handing over the game’s winning amount to Gi-hun’s daughter, In-ho fulfills Player 456’s last wish.
Squid GameSeason 3 Finale Drops Hints At New Storylines
These Deadly Games Aren’t Limited To Korea
Squid GameSeason 3 concluded several character arcs, but not without hinting at some new storylines. The final episode confirms that Squid Games aren’t exclusive to Korea, and these deadly games are being conducted on a global level. When the Front Man visits Gi-hun’s daughter in Los Angeles, he sees an American Squid Game recruiter (played by Cate Blanchett). Of course,the creators are hinting at an American version of theSquid GameTV show, which Netflix has reportedly been planning for a while now. There hasn’t been any official confirmation, but after witnessing the Squid Game recruitment being conducted in LA, an Americanspin-off ofSquid Gameis very much possible.
The final episode ofSquid GameSeason 3 also teased a happy ending for No-eul. No-eul never stopped looking for her daughter,whom she had to leavein North Korea. While everyone told her that her daughter might be dead, No-eul didn’t let go of the hope she had. And she might have been right, as in the final episode, the refugee broker informs No-eul that her daughter might be in China. No-eul, decides to go look for her daughter, making the choice that Gi-hun could not make in Season 1.
