Gi-hun’s Story Concludes, but How Does the Finale Set Up a Continuation?

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Squid Game Season 3.After three gut-wrenching seasons, Squid Game – at least as far as its original story – has come to an end. Season 3′s early episodes brought the birth of Jun-hee’s (Jo Yuri) baby and the deaths of iconic antagonists and gold-hearted heroes. Elsewhere, Captain Park (Oh Dal-su) is confirmed to be a traitor. Pink guard No-eul (Park Gyu-young) successfully freed Gyeong-seok (Lee Jin-uk), but left him to drive a boat alone as she returned to the island to erase any trace of him. With the final game looming and Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) responsible for a newborn, tension has never been higher.

The Front Man Gives Gi-hun a Choice in ‘Squid Game’ Season 3

Gi-hun, Jun-hee’s baby, Myung-gi, Min-su (Lee David), and players 039, 203, 336, 353, and their de facto leader 100 have their finalists’ feast as a guard explains that in the final game, they choose who to eliminate. Three eliminations are required, but more are allowed. The group immediately schemes to nominate Min-su, Gi-hun, and the baby. Gi-hun is summoned to the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), In-ho, who tells Gi-hun he wants Gi-hun and the baby to live, and hands him a knife. He takes off his mask, revealing that he was “Young-il”. Gi-hun stands to stab him for this, but In-ho tells him that killing him won’t stop anything and that another will replace him.

Gi-hun considers it. As he approaches the sleeping finalists, he has a vision of Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-Yeon), saying, “Don’t do it. You’re not that kind of person.” The Front Man watches Gi-hun through the cameras. It flashes back to his games where Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su) made him the same offer, and he went through with it. The next day, the remaining players make their way to the final game on a series of high platforms, shaped as a square, triangle, and circle. Each platform has a large pole that can be detached. They begin on the square. The rules are clarified: one person must be pushed from each tower while still alive; they hit a button to start and are given a time limit.

In-ho radios Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) to tell him that if he digs deeper into the games, he’ll die. Jun-ho tells him he’ll have to kill him then. Shortly after, Jun-ho sees a series of speedboats driven by pink guards. He stops them from shooting Gyeong-seok. Gyeong-seok points Jun-ho to the island. Jun-ho goes ahead while Gyeong-seok waits for the coast guard.

No-eul makes it back. She confronts The Black Guard (Park Hee-soon) and makes him delete all files pertaining to Gyeong-seok. He reminds her there are hard copies of everything in the archives on the top floor, which only black guards have access to. Holding him at gunpoint, No-eul attempts to force him to the archive room. They brawl in the elevator, where he disarms her. They fight back into the main room. He reveals he chose her for guard instead of a player to take on his role, ”I thought you’d understand me more than anyone else here.” He stabs No-eul. A call from the control room allows her to crawl away. She retrieves her gun from the elevator and kills him.

Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) looking stressed as he competes in Squid Game Season 2

Gi-hun Deserved a Better Arc in ‘Squid Game’ Season 2

The ‘Squid Game’ Season 1 winner is losing his edge.

The Final Game Turns Chaotic in Season 3

Meanwhile, the finalists deliberate on who should be eliminated. Player 100 positions himself as the voice of reason, but Myung-gi suggests Min-su should die first and they’ll separate Gi-hun from the baby later, as every single platform requires elimination. Player 100 implies Gi-hun might be the baby’s father, showing they can’t think of another reason he would protect a child. Min-su has taken the last of Thanos’ (Choi Seung-hyun) pills and hallucinates. He sees Thanos and Nam-gyu (Roh Jae-won) off the edge of the platform. Myung-gi approaches him with the pole. Min-su begins to hallucinate Se-mi reaching out to him. He reaches back and takes her hand. But it’s actually the pole and Myung-gi successfully pushes him to his death. The finalists move onto the triangle.

The other finalists decide it’s best to separate Gi-hun from the baby before starting the round. They try to convince Gi-hun to slip the baby’s makeshift carrier onto the pole. Gi-hun points out to Player 353 that the other finalists are scheming behind his back as he approaches Gi-hun with the pole. This leads to bickering, but Myung-gi says he has an idea. The finalists connect themselves, tug-of-war style, with their suit jackets tied together. Lying, they say they’ll draw strands of fabric and eliminate the shortest draw. Gi-hun doesn’t fall for it. As they move closer, Gi-hun grapples 336 and cuts at the jacket tied to his waist. Gi-hun holds his knife at 336. Myeong-gi tells Gi-hun to move and pushes 336 off.

With Myung-gi aligned with Gi-hun, the other finalists panic. Player 100 again suggests drawing lots, including the baby. Myung-gi reveals he’s the father. Gi-hun remembers seeing the pair talking on the other side of the jump-rope game and Myung-gi leaving her behind. With only five minutes left to eliminate someone from the triangle platform, the other four decide to make a “lunch box” of Player 039. They begin to beat him into submission, planning to carry him over to the final platform. Gi-hun hates this – it’s reminiscent of the trauma he faced before the first games, seeing his coworkers beaten to death during strikes at his former job. So Gi-hun agrees to draw lots if they leave Jun-hee’s child out of the draw completely.

Meanwhile, No-eul makes it to the top floor. On her way to the archives, she finds a memorial of Oh Il-nam’s suit and mask, as well as an eerie wax figure of him. She successfully finds the archives and Gyeong-seok’s file. She finds files for the guards and looks for her own. She learns they’ve been tracking her since 2017. Her file includes confirmation that her husband was executed and suggests her daughter is dead.

The final game breaks into chaos. The men begin to fight. Player 353 is pushed from the platform. Player 203 begins to fight Gi-hun for the baby, and Gi-hun fatally stabs him. Because of the specificity of the rules, neither of these deaths count as an elimination. With the tides turning, Player 100 begins praising Myung-gi and Gi-hun. He says they should go through with the lunch box plan, and he’ll give them anything he makes over the 10 million he needs to pay his debts. Myung-gi pushes Player 100 off. Player 039, badly beaten, says that he’s sorry, but he doesn’t want to be anyone’s lunch box. As Myung-gi begs him to reconsider, Player 039 rolls himself off the platform. Only Myung-gi, Gi-hun, and the baby remain.

Gi-hun Makes the Ultimate Sacrifice by the End of the Season

A box containing the last of Gi-hun's belongings in Squid Game — Image via Netflix

At the circle platform, Myung-gi keeps Gi-hun from crossing with the pole. Gi-hun blatantly asks Myung-gi if he will kill the baby to get the money for himself. Myung-gi won’t answer. The Front Man sets a five-minute timer on the bridge between platforms collapsing. Myung-gi spirals further, accusing Gi-hun of being romantically involved with Jun-hee. With 30 seconds left on the bridge, Gi-hun reluctantly slips the baby carrier onto the pole, then retrieves his knife from the triangle platform and takes a running jump over the gap to the circle. Myung-gi dangles the baby over the edge, while Gi-hun puts his knife down and backs away to de-escalate the situation. Sitting the baby down, Myung-gi runs at Gi-hun. The pair slip over the edge. Gi-hun manages to grab an exposed part of the platform’s structure, and Myung-gi holds on to Gi-hun’s jacket. The jacket slowly tears and Myung-gi falls and dies. Gi-hun pulls himself back up, realizing Myung-gi didn’t step on the button to officially start the round. Gi-hun picks up the baby and faces the VIP’s viewing area.

Jun-ho arrives on the island. As the archives burn around her, No-eul sits and watches Gi-hun with the baby, holding a gun, planning to take her life. The Front Man is made aware of the approaching coast guard, but still stays to watch Gi-hun. Gi-hun kisses and hugs the baby, then places her down gently. He stands again and speaks. “We are not horses. We are human beings. Human beings are…” Gi-hun falls backwards, eliminating himself so that Jun-hee’s child can live.

Moved by Gi-hun, No-eul lowers the gun. The Front Man hangs his head sadly as Gi-hun fades from the player board. He calls for immediate evacuation of the island due to the Coast Guard. Before leaving, he stands over Gi-hun’s body and removes his mask. Jun-ho finds the space mostly empty. From the VIP window, he sees his brother with the baby. He shoots out the glass to call out to him. “Why? Why did you do it?” In-ho lingers to look at him, but leaves down the platform elevator silently. As the guards flee the arena, No-eul blends in and escapes. The entire arena is blown up, the explosion reflecting in Gi-hun’s empty eyes. Jun-ho escapes through the water.

‘Squid Game’ Might Be Over in Korea, but It Continues on Globally

The American recruiter, played by Cate Blanchett, faces the camera in Squid Game — Image via Netflix

Squid Game jumps forward six months. Gyeong-seok is sketching portraits at the amusement park again. He sketches No-eul and asks her if they know one another, as she looks so familiar. She brushes it off and says that it’s just that she used to work there. Gyeon-seok’s daughter, Na-yeon (Park Ye-bom), joins him, healthy and happy. No-eul gives her a sucker and says she’ll come back some day to finish her portrait. Sang-woo’s mother (Park Hye-jin) and Sae-byeok’s brother (Park Si-wan) are at the airport with the transport broker. Sae-byeok’s mother is reunited with her son. The broker sees No-eul and calls her, confirming she’s going to China to follow up on a sighting of her daughter.

Woo-seok (Jeon Seok-ho) is released from prison where Jun-ho waits for him. Jun-ho reveals that he left the police force. Woo-seok takes over the hotel Gi-hun left behind, intending to run it as a legitimate business. When Jun-ho arrives home, he finds Jun-hee’s baby with a card pronouncing her the winner. The golden card has Jun-ho’s name on it. It has 45,600,000,000 won (about 33,500,000 dollars).

In Los Angeles, In-ho finds the home of Gi-hun’s daughter, Ga-yeong (Jo A-in). He tells her that Gi-hun is dead and gives her a box of his belongings. Inside, it holds Gi-hun’s player jacket, still stained with blood, and a gold card of his remaining winnings. He returns to his car. Down an alley he sees a new Recruiter, played by Cate Blanchett, playing ddjaki with a disheveled man on the street. They nod in acknowledgment of one another before he drives on, implying there are games going on internationally (or at the very least in the U.S.)

All seasons of Squid Game can be streamed on Netflix in the U.S.