Squid Game is over... or is it? Netflix’s hit Korean series shocked viewers in 2021, and it only has gotten more intense since then. But Seasons 2 and 3, very much two parts of the same story, were advertised as the final seasons. If that’s true, then how do you explain the shocking ending to Season 3?
Sure, the Games have come to an end, but this is (apparently) far bigger than Seong Gi-hun’s quest to take down the games from the inside. It’s now a franchise in every sense of the word.
Warning! Major spoilers for Squid Game Season 3 below!
Let’s start by breaking down the final game of the Squid Games, one that abandons the playground game conceit and goes full deadly: all players stand on one of three high columns and must decide amongst themselves which player to push off entirely. On the first column, a withdrawal-crazed Min-su falls after seeing specters of his fallen friends, including Thanos and Se-mi.
On the second, the remainder of the players target Seong Gi-hun, who has become the guardian of the late Jun-hee’s baby, now a player in the Games. Their plan is to force him to either give up the baby or sacrifice himself, making the choice for the third column easy. But the Front Man gave Gi-hun a knife, and in a flashback we learned that’s how the Front Man became the Front Man in the first place — by murdering all his fellow competitors in the night.
Gi-hun defends himself and the baby, leaving only him and Lee Myung-gi, Jun-hee’s ex-boyfriend and the father of the baby. The two scuffle and Myung-gi ultimately falls, but there’s a major hitch: they didn’t press the button to begin the round, so Gi-hun has to sacrifice himself, which he does after saying his cryptic final words: “Humans are...” This leaves Jun-hee’s newborn as the winner of the games.
Meanwhile, No-eul and Jun-ho both succeed in their two quests to get to the bottom of the games: No-eul set the records aflame, while Jun-ho manages to find the location. However, the Front Man goes for the nuclear option, self-destructing the entire game site.
We then get a massive epilogue hastily tying all the loose ends: No-eul returns to the amusement park where she once worked, ensuring the player she saved is home safe and with his daughter, now healing from her cancer. The baby is delivered to the door of Jun-ho, along with a code to her winnings. Remember Kang Sang-byeok, the player from the 2020 games? We even get to see her mom be reunited with her brother, who has been living with Sang-woo’s mom since the end of Season 1.
Finally, there’s the last coda to the story: the Front Man travels to Los Angeles to visit Ga-yeong, Gi-hun’s daughter. He delivers his tracksuit and winnings to her, and drives away... but hears a slapping sound. He rolls down his window only to see none other than Academy-Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett as a recruiter, engaged in a game of Ddakji with a prospective player. They give each other a knowing look as the series ends.
It’s a shocking moment, but it’s clear what it means: this is a tease for David Fincher’s upcoming English language Squid Game spinoff. It doesn’t give us much insight into what to expect from the project, but one thing is very clear: it’s going to be star-studded.
