Squid Game Season 3 wrapped its final run with six episodes dropping on June 27. With that, the Hwang Dong Hyuk directorial—Netflix’s most-watched series to date- comes to an end, with no plans for another season. Season 3 picks up right where Season 2 left off, with Gi Hun stepping back into the game. Not for the money, not for guilt, this time, he’s here to shut it down once and for all. He had previously led a rebellion against the system, but it failed miserably. His heroic act ended up costing 37 lives, leaving him shattered. He was sent out in a coffin. Now, with nothing left to lose, he’s back in the arena with one mission. But the birth of a new baby gives him a glimmer of hope. So here we are, breaking down everything that went down in the finale of Squid Game Season 3.
Who’s still alive? (at the start)
- Jun Hee – Pregnant woman, Player No. 222
- Myung Gi – Jun Hee’s ex and a crypto bro
- Geum Ja – Elderly woman
- Yong Sik – Geum Ja’s son
- Hyun Ju – Trans woman
- Min Su – Timid young man
- Nam Gyu – Cold, calculated soldier
- Seon Nyeo – Shaman
- Dae Ho – Ex-marine
- Gi Hun – Our main guy
Round 4 Knives vs Keys
Players are divided into two types:
Knives: Must kill a Key to survive.
Keys: Just need to stay alive
Myung Gi tells Jun Hee he will protect her and the baby, but ends up killing Hyun Ju, who had just helped Jun Hee deliver her baby. Jun Hee’s trust is completely shattered. Geum Ja begs her son not to kill Jun Hee and instead kill her, but he leaps towards the newborn and his mother with a knife. Geum Ja stabs him from the back, yes, she ends up killing her own son. Later, she speaks to Gi Hun, telling him to save others and not to lose hope. That same night, she hanged herself to death. Gi Hun loses his mind. He blames Dae Ho for the failed rebellion. Dae Ho had claimed he’d bring back weapons, but he chickened out. So Gi Hun hunts him down and kills him with his bare hands.
Round 5 – Jump rope of death
Players this time have to cross a narrow bridge or fall to their deaths. Jun Hee is badly injured in the leg, so she hands her baby to Gi Hun and trusts him with crossing the bridge with the baby. He promises Jun Hee that he will come back and take her along, but she asks him not to come. She jumps to her death. That way, Gi Hun can live and raise the child. Her baby becomes Player 222, an actual contestant.
Also read: Squid Game Season 3 review: Brutal games and bigger moral dilemmas make you pause and reflect
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Gi Hun meets Frontman
Gi Hun is taken to a private meeting with the Front Man (In Ho). He hands Gi Hun a knife and suggests: “Kill the rest while they’re sleeping, and vote to end the Game with the baby.” Gi Hun asks why he’s doing this, and then In Ho removes his mask, he’s Player 001. He taunts player 426, saying no matter what he does, someone else will always run the Game. But Gi Hun refuses to follow his path and chooses to play the game, leaving everything on faith.
Final Game: Climb the towers or die
Players must cross three towers. To move ahead, one person must die at each level, being pushed down to death. At this point, the only ones left are:
- Gi Hun, Myung Gi, The Baby (Player 222), Player 100 (the betrayer), Player 039
Min Su gets voted off first. Player 100 is killed by Myung Gi too. Gi Hun tells the rest, who are planning to push him and the baby, that he won’t give up on the baby and will die with him if targeted. So someone from them will have to die in the next level. This causes a rift in the group, who play a game of rock, paper, scissors, slowly, everyone dies. Now, final showdown: Gi Hun vs. Myung Gi. They fight. Myung Gi falls and dies. But no one had pressed the button, so the Game still needs a death. Gi Hun has two choices: either kill himself or the baby. He lays the baby down and chooses to jump. Looks up, knowing the VIPs are watching from their secret room. Then says, “We are not horses. We are humans. Humans are…”. The Game ends. The baby wins.
The Island blows up
Jun Ho (the cop from Season 1 and the half-sibling of In Ho, the frontman) tracks down the island again. His brother, In Ho, orders the entire place to self-destruct and escapes with the baby. Six months later, Jun Ho finds the child and Gi Hun’s prize money in his apartment. It’s clear, the frontman left the baby for his brother to raise, along with the winnings.
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Other fates:
No Eul, the soldier who saved a contestant, finds out her daughter might still be alive.
Gyeong Seok, the father who joined the Game to help his sick daughter, reunites with her.
Woo Seok, out of prison, looks to reopen Gi Hun’s hotel.
Sae Byeok’s little brother is finally reunited with their mother.
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In Ho meets Gi Hun’s daughter and hands her his belongings with the winnings.
Who is the mystery woman?
The most searched question of Squid Game 3 is the cameo of Cate Blanchett. In the final scene, In Ho is in LA, where he sees a woman in a suit slapping down a Ddakji card. Her identity is revealed, she’s a recruiter. This sets up a possible spin-off of Squid Game in America. The Games are still going on. Somewhere else. Squid Game Season 3 isn’t a happy ending. Gi Hun dies, and the system doesn’t exactly collapse. But it triggers changes. We think so.
