Squid Game season 3 marks the final instalment of the hit Netflix show, bringing the story to an undoubtedly intense close.
Picking up where season 2 left off, Gi-hun, aka Player 456, and the remaining players must battle through the final deadly games to fight for their survival. With Gi-hun personally seeking his revenge against Front Man. Meanwhile, Jun-ho continues his search for the island, hoping to reunite with his brother and free any survivors before it's too late.
With the 45.6 billion won prize continuing to divide players, Front Man and the VIPs watch on as they take on game after game to pay off their debts in the outside world. But, at what real cost?
Here's a recap of everything that happened in Squid Game season 3 episode 4.
The episode picks up on the fifth game, jump rope. Player 096 is waiting to push players off the bridge before they make it to the other side. He says to Gi-hun, it can just be the two of them left and then they can vote to leave, claiming half the prize pot each. He shoves another player off. Player 100 will be the next to reach the other side. As the players are suspended on the bridge with no-one wanting to cross, more start to fall off. Player 100 bargains with Player 096 and says he’ll help him knock the others off if he lets him over.
Player 349 wants to turn back, but as she forces the player behind her to go back, he falls off. She jumps her way back to safety. But, Player 203 kicks her off when she gets there. Player 125 takes the last pill from Thanos’s necklace. Gi-hun tells Player 096 to move out the way. He says he’ll push him from behind if he doesn’t. He moves and Player 100 makes it across. There’s only seven minutes left. Player 333 offers to help Player 222 across, but she refuses. She asks him why he killed Player 120 when she was helping her, but he argues that he didn’t know that's what she was doing. He was just trying to protect her, like he said he would.
He tells her he just wants to help them get out of there so they can have a life together. She shows him her swollen ankle and asks him if he’s going to carry her across. She tells him she created the baby and that baby has nothing to do with him. He leaves her sitting on the bench. As Gi-hun tries to help players get across, Player 096 knocks him to the ground. They struggle on the edge of the platform while more players fall off the bridge. Gi-hun throws Player 096 over his head and onto the bridge, getting him thrown off by the swinging rope as it knocks into him.
There’s only three minutes left. Player 125 is hallucinating on the bridge. Player 222 starts walking forward and Gi-hun tells her to stay there because he’s coming back for her. She watches as Player 333 lets another man fall to his death, jumping over him on the gap as he clings to the side. With one minute left, Gi-hun goes to head back to help Player 222. But, she limps to the edge and tells him not to come. She tells him that if he doesn’t survive, her baby will die, too and that she wants to watch over her. She walks off the edge and falls to her death. The game is over.
Elsewhere, the guards are scanned before they head out to the outer perimeter. While they scan guards 11 and 16 and send them outside, the officer watching orders the pursuit team to get ready. Meanwhile, the remaining players return to the main room. The VIPs discuss what they’ll do with the baby now. One suggests they eliminate it. Another argues that because Player 222 is gone, the baby should be too. But one argues that the baby crossed without her, so it should be independent. The VIPs can’t agree, so they ask Front Man. He suggests the baby competes as Player 222 in the next game. He says the voting and game will be more interesting if they do. The six VIPs agree.
Player 336 asks Player 353 if he can work out what the prize pot will be for the eight players remaining. He answers, 5.6 billion. Player 336 thinks that’s good enough to leave and 353 agrees. They look at Player 100 and say he owes 10 billion won, so he won’t leave. The guards enter to announce the results. 16 players were eliminated, so there’s nine left, making it 4.9 billion won each. The players argue there’s only eight players. The guards call out their numbers, including 222. They’re angry that the baby counts as a player. They want the baby’s share of the money and order for her to die. They start walking towards Gi-hun, demanding he hands over the baby. The guards fire a warning shot and say that physical violence between players is no longer allowed.
For reaching the final game, each player is given a box. At the police station, Woo-seok and his friend have been brought in for questioning. Woo-seok pleads with the officer and tells him he knows who Captain Park is, but the officer won’t believe him. He says they’re on an island that his team are trying to find. He takes out the photo of Captain Park and the recruiter and tries to explain what he did to his boss. The officer says he needs more information on the recruiter, but he says he doesn’t know who he is.
The officer instead says he’s looked into Woo-seok and starts listing his criminal convictions. He tells him that Captain Park was only convicted of illegal gambling and was issued a fine, other than that he’s clear. Meanwhile on the boat, Jun-ho points to the island on the map where he got shot. He says he used a tank of air to get there from the game’s location through an underground cave and that took about 40 minutes. They narrow down the search perimeter. Jun-ho says they’re running out of time and asks Captain Park for advice. He crosses out a section of the map and says the island won’t be there.
Back at the station, the officer wants to call Captain Park. Woo-seok pleads that he needs to call someone too, he says his lawyer. He’s offered a phone, but he says he needs his contacts to get the number. The officer calls Park and tells him his house was broken into. Park asks who did it and they tell him it was Woo-seok. When they ask if he knows him, he says no, they’ve never met. They then begin to tell him all about what Woo-seok has said about the games. In the background, Captain Park listens to Woo-seok begging for his phone. They finally agree. He tells them to hurry. The officer tells Captain Park his dog is dead.
Jun-ho comes out to speak to Captain Park, but he lies about who called him. The officer tries to control Woo-seok’s phone, but he grabs it off him and runs. Jun-ho’s phone rings. Captain Park calls into boat two and tells them they’ve been exposed and to kill everybody. Woo-seok shouts down the phone at Jun-ho, telling him that Captain Park works for the men on the island.
Meanwhile, Captain Park loads his gun. He shoots most of the team on the boat to death, but Jun-ho hides. Captain Park asks the last man still left alive where Jun-ho is. He tells him to turn around, to which Jun-ho fires a spear into his chest. Before Park dies, Jun-ho demands to know who he really is and why he saved him after he was shot. He says he was following orders and was told to do whatever it took to keep Jun-ho alive. Jun-ho says Captain Park knows where the island is, but he says he can’t do anything now anyway. He dies without telling him where it is.
Back at the main room, the remaining players are treated to a sit-down dinner in suits, like the previous games. They feast on their meals and one of the guards prepares a bottle for the baby. The VIPs are worried that the players will want to vote to leave. Front Man says they won’t do that because he’ll make them believe they’ll all survive the final game.
The guards give the players a hint about the final game. They tell the players that all of them will get to choose who gets eliminated. If they can agree on three players to kill, the rest will survive. They say a minimum of three, so they can kill off even more if they choose to. If they pick three to die, the remaining six will be allowed to leave the game. They start the vote, in reverse order. Gi-hun votes to leave. Player 222’s vote is forfeited because she’s unable to make it. The rest of the players vote to continue, apart from Player 125. The majority is reached and they will proceed to the final game.
The VIPs are happy that Front Man was right. He won’t tell them what the final game is, though. The only female VIP heads to bed. On the boat, Jun-ho tries to keep the last remaining member of his team alive. Jun-ho reveals to him that he needs to find his older brother on the island. His teammate says they’ll never find it in time. Jun-ho looks at the part of the map Captain Park crossed out.
On the island, guard 11 and 16 board the boat and drive away. Boat two calls into Front Man and tells him that his boat is cleared, but that Captain Park was killed. Meanwhile, the officer tries to talk to guard 11. She says she has nothing to say to him, but he tells her the boat won’t get them far. He tells her to hand over guard 16. Then, the officer threatens her by saying he knows that Player 246 will be heading to the hospital to see his child. With this threat, she turns the boat around.
In the main room, Player 100 says they should kill Gi-hun and the baby. For a third, Player 125, calling him a junkie. Then, the remaining six will get 7.6 billion each. One of the players argues that they don’t know what the game actually is and that more might go, but they all put their hands in to agree to the plan. Player 333 joins. Meanwhile, guard 11 jumps off the boat and tells guard 16 to head to land and call the police because his daughter’s in danger. When they split, the officer orders the pursuit team to shoot them both.
In the main room, while everyone else is sleeping, a guard tells Gi-hun that Front Man wants to see him. On the island, guard 11 looks at the vent coming out the side of the cliff. Gi-hun is taken to Front Man. He sits down across from him. Meanwhile, guard 11 scales the cliff to get to the vent. Front Man brings Gi-hun a proposition. He says the players have made a team to vote him and the baby out. He says he’s trying to help them, but Gi-hun doesn’t believe him.
To this, Front Man hands him a knife and tells him to kill anyone who wants to kill him or the baby. When Gi-hun asks why Front Man is saying this now, he removes his mask revealing his true identity as Player 001. He says he’s sorry for killing Jung-bae and Gi-hun grabs the knife. He tells him to kill him if he wants to, but it won’t change anything. Gi-hun holds the knife down and tells him that if he goes and kills the other players while they sleep, he and the baby will win and they won’t be able to play the final game with just two. The games will have to finish. Front Man gives him his word. As Gi-hun goes to leave, Front Man asks him if he still has faith in people. He continues to walk away.
All episodes of Squid Game are available to stream now on Netflix.
