How Does Squid Game End? The Shocking S3 Finale Explained
The third season of Squid Game began in the midst of the deadly rebellion that started in the season two finale. Ultimately though the rebellion fails and the games continue as before. Oh Young-il (Lee Byung-hun) is no longer a player and has resumed his role as the Front Man' – not that Gi-hun knows this of course and he's struggling with survivors' guilt.
Squid Game S3: Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun ©Netflix
Meanwhile the brother of Young-il, whose real name is In-ho, Hwang Jun-ho (the detective played by Wi- Ha-joon) is searching for the island but is continually sabotaged by Captain Park. Luckily Woo-seok (Jeon Seok-ho) comes to his aid.
Jun-ho is then able to help rescue Gyeong-seok (Player 246, played by Lee Jin-wook) thanks to the efforts of Pink Guard No-eul (Park Gyu-young) who had met him at an amusement park before the games. No-eul rescued Gyeong-seok because his daughter was diagnosed with cancer – he entered the games to try and win the money for her care - and wouldn't survive without her father.
Then comes the next game: hide-and-seek during which Jun-hee (Player 222 played by Jo Yu-ri) is badly injured and gives birth to a baby girl. Following that is Jump Rope, in which Jun-hee is sadly eliminated. Gi-hun manages to get her baby girl to safety but when she dies, the newborn is forced to enter the competition and take her dead mother's number. Yes, really.
This is where it gets a bit (more) confusing because there's a lot going on.
Being the great guy that he is, Gi-hun begins to protect the baby and just before the final game is set to begin he is summoned in front of the Front Man, who – after revealing his identity - offers Gi-hun a proposition. He claims that if Player 456 kills the other players ahead of the final game, he and the baby will win the 37th Squid Games as the next round can't proceed with just two people. Obviously Gi-hun doesn't do this.
The final game, Sky Squid Game then commences. The aim of the game is to move across three different pillars, each a different shape, and push at least one other player off the pillar. By the third and final round, only Gi-hun, Lee Myung-gi (the baby's father aka Player 333 played by Yim Siwan) and the baby remain.
Myung-gi attempts to kill both Gi-hun and the baby at knife point, but ultimately falls to his death leaving Gi-hun and the baby as the victors.
Or so we thought. Realising that the game will only end when one victor is left standing, Gi-hun sacrifices himself – following a powerful speech about how humans aren't horses which reminds us of his conversation with the Front Man in season one - for the baby and jumps from the platform. Player 222, the baby, is declared the winner of the 37th Squid Games.
Initially Gi-hun was intended to survive, but series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk ended up changing his mind. He told TUDUM, 'As I began to write and develop the storylines for Seasons 2 and 3, I realized I needed a resolution that would bring both the game and Gi-hun's journey to a close.
'I need to wrap up Gi-hun's journey and convey a message to the audience right now. The message I wanted to communicate was that if we solely pursue our immediate self-interest, and refuse to self-restrain, sacrifice, or bear any costs, and if we don't put our heads together, we have no future.'
Seeing that his detective brother has finally found the island, the Front Man detonates timers that explode across the island, erasing any evidence of the games, but first grabs the baby.
The final few scenes of Squid Game season three all take place six months later.
Six months after the end of the games, No-eul visits Gyeong-seok at the amusement park, learns that his daughter is doing well, and also receives word that her own daughter – who we were all led to believe had died during a previous Squid Game - may have escaped North Korea and could be in mainland China.
The Front Man leaves the baby with his brother, along with her 4.56 billion won prize money. 456 is a pretty important number because, it was also the number of…. Well remembered main man Gi-hun.
As for Gi-hun's prize money from the first Squid Game which he left in the hotel, that was given, by the Front Man, to Gi-hun's daughter Ga-yeong – the one who moved away with her mother in the first season and wanted nothing to do with her father. He also informs her that he has passed away.
In the very final scene of Squid Game , as the Front Man is driving through LA he sees someone who appears to be a recruiter for an American version of the games (Cate Blanchett). She's winning a game of ddakji against a man in and alley and doesn't say anything, but it's a powerful scene.
Cate Blanchett's cameo in Squid Game S3 ©Netflix
Nope, that's it. The words, 'Game Over' which flashed on the screens when evacuation protocols were started also seeming referred to the series as a whole as well. It makes sense really, without the Squid Games there can be no Squid Game !
The fact that season three would be the final season of Squid Game was confirmed back in July with a statement from series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk who wrote, 'I am thrilled to see the seed that was planted in creating a new Squid Game grow and bear fruit through the end of this story.'
Notorious director David Fincher is however directing an English-language Squid Game spin-off but sources have revealed that Cate Blanchett's cameo in the final scene of Squid Game is not intended to set up any future storylines 'at this time'. The pair do have a history of working together though, most notably in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , so never say never.
Daisy Hall is a News and Entertainment writer on Grazia, specialising in TV and film meaning that you can count on Daisy for the latest (and best) recommendations
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