Squid Game's third and final season: Some burning questions we need answered
The highly anticipated final season of Squid Game premieres on Friday (Jun 27) on Netflix, bringing the intense battle of survival and betrayal to a final end. Season 2 left us with plenty of unanswered questions and as fans gear up to dive back into the deadly games in the third season, here's something to get you up to speed.
In Season 2, Seong Gi-hun – Player 456, the winner of the brutal games in Season 1 – returns. This time with a mission to bring down the game once and for all. Despite once refusing to even touch his prize money, viewers discover that Gi-hun has been secretly using his winnings to fund an underground operation aimed at locating the game's elusive recruiter.
Meanwhile, Detective Hwang Jun-ho, last seen being shot in the shoulder by his own brother, the Front Man Hwang In-ho, has been transferred to the traffic department. He appears to have left his past behind. But beneath the surface, the trauma of what he uncovered still haunts him. Learning that his own brother is deeply entangled in the games – not just as a participant, but as the Front Man himself – drives Jun-ho into desperation to seek the truth.
As both Gi-hun and Jun-ho pursue their own missions to bring down the games, their paths inevitably cross. Realising they share the same goal, the two join forces to dismantle the sinister operations. As part of their plan, Gi-hun re-enters the game, this time with a discreet tracker hidden inside a dental crown. But the plan fails when the device is discovered and removed.
KEY PLOTLINES AND BURNING QUESTIONS HEADING INTO S3
One of the biggest twists in Season 2 comes when the Front Man infiltrates the games, in disguise as Oh Young-il, Player 001. He forges what appears to be a sincere connection with Gi-hun. Being the emotional idealist, Gi-hun lets his guard down once again, trusting Oh Young-il – a cruel echo of Season 1, when that same misplaced trust he had with Play 001, Il-nam, led to devastating revelations.
But the true gut-punch comes when Gi-hun's best friend, Park Jung-bae, Player 390, is shot at point-blank range by the Front Man himself. The season ends on a harrowing note, with a wounded and guilt-stricken Gi-hun collapsed in anguish beside the lifeless body of his friend.
After everything he has lost, will Gi-hun give up his mission realising it has caused the deaths of so many innocent lives? Or has the cost broken him so deeply that he might do the unthinkable and join the very system he once vowed to destroy?
Interestingly, the Front Man assumes the same player number – 001 as Il-nam in Season 1, who was later revealed to be the original creator and mastermind behind the games. Is this a coincidence, a twisted homage, or could the two be connected in a deeper and more sinister way?
In Season 2, we also get a glimpse of the Front Man's tragic past. Under the disguise as Player 001, he tells Gi-hun that his wife is gravely ill and pregnant. He joined the games in a desperate bid to fund her treatment, a plea for empathy and even justification for his actions. But the truth unfolds when we learn that his wife has already passed. The lie exposes deeper emotional fractures. What truly happened to his wife and what pushed him down this dark path?
A deeper flashback reveals more. The Front Man once donated his kidney to save his brother, Jun-ho's life. This led to his own life crumbling as he was left with nothing when his wife becomes critically ill. Drowning in debt, he too joined the games. Does Jun-ho feel responsible for his brother's descent into evil? What secrets lie buried between the two?
Meanwhile, Jun-ho, receives help from once-trusted ally, Captain Park, a seasoned boatman who helps him trace the location of the secret island where the games are held. A flashback reveals that Park had rescued Jun-ho after he was shot and fell off the cliff. However, the truth cuts deeper. Park has been a mole all along, secretly working for the Front Man.
The greater twist comes when it is revealed that his rescue was orchestrated by his brother all along. Does the Front Man harbour a personal vendetta against his brother? Can there ever be a reconciliation between the two, or will their story end in tragedy?
The trailer for Season 3 hints at a final, high stakes showdown between Gi-hun and the Front Man. In a chilling glimpse, the Front Man locks eye with Gi-hun and asks "Number 456, do you still have faith in people?". It's more than just a question, it encapsulates the theme of the entire series. In a world built on vengeance, betrayal and survival, that single line may ultimately determine Gi-hun's fate to challenge the darkness or become part of it.
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