This article contains spoilers for Squid Game Season 2.
Easily one of the most anticipated shows of the year, and it feels like with the return of Netflix’s smash hit Squid Game we’ve all received an extra gift this Holiday season. The intrigue-filled story of a kids game inspired death-match enraptured audiences in 2021 and its back with another wild season following Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) as he attempts to take down the wealthy madmen behind the brutally violent game show. Other returning cast members include a cop on a mission to stop the games, Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), and The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) AKA Hwang In-ho who both play key roles in the wild sophomore season. So, now that you’ve obviously binged the entire show we’re here to answer all your questions and explain that wild ending and how it sets up Season 3 of Squid Game which will air next year.
Squid Game 2 Ending Explained
After a season of new and terrifying games, the penultimate season of Squid Game ended with a violent uprising and some shocking character moments which set us on a chaotic path into the third and final season. As Hwang Jun-ho led a crew to find the island where the games take place, it was revealed that there was a traitor among their ranks. The friendly
fisherman (Oh Dal-su) who had been helping Seong Gi-hun search the ocean for the islands was actually a killer. We saw him murdering one of the soldiers in order to hide the fact that he had sabotaged the team’s drone, which was the main tool they’d been using to get a better look at the islands where they suspected the games may be taking place. The big question is whether he’s a part of the game organization or has an agenda of his own.
On the island within the game compound the group vote whether to stay or leave — a big change this season is that they are given the opportunity to vote after every game, setting up larger conflicts between the group — and it comes to a tie. After a brutal fight in the bathroom reveals that killing your fellow players also ups the prize pot, a violent night ensues. Because he’s already played the game, Seong Gi-hun predicts what will happen and gets his allies to hide under the beds and avoid the madness. The killings begin when the side who wants to keep playing waits for lights out and begins to slaughter those who want to leave. After a brutal battle that sees many players — including fan fave Se-mi (Won Ji-an) — killed Seong Gi-hun uses the chaos in the wake of the riots to ambush the guards playing dead and stealing their weapons. It’s a smart gambit that enables many of the players to gain weapons and begin making their way to the top floor to find leadership.
Alas, the young navy seal Dae Ho (Kang Ha Neul) freaks out while on a mission for more ammo, hiding in bed and resulting in the group running out of bullets and eventually being captured by The Front Man. This leads to the murder of Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) in front of his best friend Seong Gi-hun, leaving our leading man’s fate up in the air and the rebellion’s chances looking worse than ever. It’s clear that this will directly lead into Season 3, which was filmed at the same time as the sophomore season, with the show then split in two. So, as we wait for that next entry here are all our burning questions about what we can expect from Squid Game 3.
Why Did the Front Man Enter the Games?
While there is precedent for an organizer to enter the games — as we saw with Season 1’s Player 001 Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su)— this is definitely the biggest question coming out of this season. His interest in Seong Gi-hun and his fight against the games seemed to have at least some truth to it but of course we’ve now seem him fake his own death in order to escape the game and seemingly reappear behind the mask to murder Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) as way to punish Seong Gi-hun for attempting to rise up against the organizers.
So what we need to know before the show ends with its final season is whether or not Player 001 is always a plant. That would seem to be the case now that we’ve seen Hwang In-ho take the number on too. Was there any reality to the sob story that he told about his family and needing the money? It feels like now that we know people who call the number can also become guards, there’s a chance that Hwang In-ho once was a guard who worked his way up to being the Front Man, but will he stay loyal to the game? Most of all, we need to know if it is really him behind the now iconic Front Man mask at the end of the Season. Could he really heartlessly have shot a man who has been his comrade and who he helped survive? Seeing as Jung-bae did see him kill a man, perhaps he’s protecting himself. Though as the Front Man it seems unlikely he’d need to. There’s a tiny chance he faked his death to potentially help with the uprising from the inside out, but if that’s the case then it’s unlikely the Front Man we saw at the end was actually him.
Will Hwang Jun-ho Reunite with Seong Gi-hun ?
Early on in the second season we saw the parallel storylines of both Hwang Jun-ho and Seong Gi-hun hunting for those who put on the games. For the former it’s all about reuniting with his brother and shutting down the operations, for Seong Gi-hun it’s about revenge and ending the games by any means necessary. Their inevitable team-up felt like a powerful move towards ending the games, but their plan was at least partially thwarted when the tracker that Seong Gi-hun had implanted in a fake tooth was taken by the games makers and used to put Hwang Jun-ho and his crew on the wrong path but that only worked for so long.
Now that Hwang Jun-ho seems closer than ever to uncovering the games, his arrival could save the life of Seong Gi-hun if they make it in time. It’ll be interesting to see that reunion alongside Hwang Jun-ho facing down his brother and Seong Gi-hun coming to realize that the man he thought was an ally, Hwang In-ho, is actually the Front Man that he’s been hunting all along. This feels like it has big finale energy so keep your eyes out for this being an ongoing storyline throughout Season 3 leading to those final episodes of the series.
Can Kim Jun-hee and Myung-gi Really Survive the Games?
One of the biggest twists this season was the reveal that player 222 Kim Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri) had entered the game pregnant by none other than crypto scammer and popular Youtuber Lee Myung-gi (Yim Si-wan) who also happens to be a player in the games. So far Kim Jun-hee has survived with the help of her fellow players and later in the game an alliance with Seong Gi-hun. Now that Gi-hun has been captured and Myung-gi stabbed Thanos (T.O.P) sparking the bathroom fight that inspired the riots, it feels like Kim Jun-hee and her baby are less likely to survive than ever. But Squid Game loves an underdog, and we’d really love to see Kim Jun-hee become one of the winners of the game though it’s unlikely it’ll be an easy journey. This is especially true with many of her protectors captured by the Front Man and the Guard.
When IGN spoke to the duo, Yim Si-wan revealed that the pair’s fates are entangled when it comes to where their stories go from here. “The key lies in his relationship with this character Jun-hee, whether he will be able to make amends with Jun-hee to seek out forgiveness from her. I think that dynamic will play a part into how the character develops in season three.” Jo Yu-ri agreed, sharing that one of the reasons Jun-hee sided with the rebellion was to protect the man who had gotten her pregnant, even after he’d abandoned her, so there’s still feelings there.
Will Number 11 End up Turning on the Guards
One of the most interesting twists this season has been getting to know the people behind the iconic shape branded guard masks. Spending time with the killers who execute those who fail to win those games has been a really intriguing wrinkle, especially as we learn that the guards are also people who called the number on the business card just like the players themselves. In particular we got a glimpse at what drove guard number 11 AKA No-eul (Park Gyu-young) to make that fateful call. Rather than being deeply in debt like most of the players, No-eul was manipulated into becoming a guard with the promise that the powerful men in charge of the game might be able to help her find the young daughter she left behind in North Korea.
It’s a heartbreaking story that adds an element of humanity to the guards behind the masks, but we’ve seen conflict between her and the others who are keeping people alive in order to harvest their organs and make money. It seems like that’s a top down scam that at least some of the high-level game makers are in on. No-eul has refused to play, instead killing the losers to put them out of their misery. It’ll be interesting to see if her disagreements with her cohorts who brutally attacked her could see her turn on the guards and join forces with the players.
What is the Fate of Gi-Hun and the Rebellion?
Speaking to IGN during a press junket, award-winning Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae explained his reasoning behind why Gi-hun took the dangerous step of reentering the game and leading a rebellion against its leadership. “I believe that Gi-hun felt that he can no longer stop the game being just fair and square the normal way he would play the game because he knows that there’s someone that really knows him well, and this guy’s manipulating and rigging the game,” He said. “So that’s why he chose to lead a rebellion because he realizes that he no longer has other ways to put an end to this whole game.”
But, as we see in the final moments of the series the rebellion apparently collapses with the death of Jung-bae and the capture of Gi-hu.
When we spoke to series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, he had this to say about the ending of the series and what fans can expect in Season 3. “All of his attempts to end the game come to a complete failure by the end of the second season. And the heavy price that he needs to pay because of that failure is having to lose his very best friend whom he loves dearly in the hands of the front man,” he explained.
He continued. “So the story that starts in season three is going to be about what happens to Gi-hun from that point on. And another character that’s very critical in that moment would be Dae Ho who fails to go back and return to the team with the magazine because of his immense fear and as a result contributes to the total failure of the rebellion. So what’s going to happen between him and Gi-hun, what is the result going to be of his wrongdoing and of his cowardice and what kind of emotional state is going to be in? All of that will be the most entertaining factor to look out for as you watch the story unfold.”
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.
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