Gi-hun's Story Comes to a Close: Squid Game Season Three

Seong Gi-hun and his allies, including Hwang In-ho, the malicious Front Man who has been playing in the games under the name Young-il, successfully orchestrated a revolt. Armed with guards’ guns, they opened fire on the workers running the game.

Hyun-ju uses her expert knowledge from her time as a Sergeant First Class in the Republic of Korea Special Forces to lead the rebels. We see Dae-ho, who had been sent to retrieve more ammo, panic and hide in the dorm.

When Hyun-ju goes to get the ammo herself, guards descend, and the motherly Geum-ja urges her to stay put and protect herself.

When it seems like the rebellion might actually be successful, In-ho, the Front Man, decides he’s done pretending to be a player and uses his radio to tell the guards to quash the uprising for good. He fakes Young-il’s death and dons his front man mask. 

In the last gut-wrenching moments of the season, In-ho mocks Gi-hun’s dreams of being a hero and shoots his best friend, Jung-bae, right before his eyes. We leave Gi-hun at his lowest point of the whole series.

Separately, detective Jun-ho, who you may recall is In-ho’s brother, is still on his boat with his team of hired men, determined to locate the island of the game and shut it down once and for all.

But alas, in another shocking twist, we see his captain acting suspiciously and then killing one of the men, showing that disloyalty and malice lurk beyond Jun-ho’s knowledge.

What to expect? I think we all know that the safest way to approach this show is to expect the unexpected twists we can’t even yet imagine.

But here’s what we know:

The players will be thrust back into even deadlier games than they have played up to this point. In-ho will go back to being the Front Man, and the wealthy VIPs will arrive to watch the games as an extremely messed-up form of entertainment.

Jun-ho and his crew will continue their search for the island, unaware of the traitor at the helm.

Squid Game director, writer, and executive producer Hwang Dong-hyuk says that the premise of season three asks whether Gi-hun’s spirit and hope for humanity will finally be broken by the brutal ending of season two.

Will he become as apathetic as the Front Man is towards humankind, or can he somehow find it in himself to keep fighting to put an end to the game?

Season three, says Hwang, is “the ‘second chapter of Gi-hun and Front Man’s showdown.’” 

As this is the final season, we will see the end of Gi-hun’s story, and we can only hope to leave him with any shred of belief or happiness after all he has been through.

Seasons two and three of Squid Game were filmed back to back, so you can expect much of the same cast to be featured.

But, here’s a recap to jog your memory. 

Lee Jung-jae will, of course, return as Gi-hun, a role that earned him a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe nomination. 

Lee Byung-hun will continue to play Hwang In-ho, the Front Man, and Wi Ha-jun will continue as his brother Hwang Jun-ho, his police detective brother. 

Gi-hun’s surviving fellow players will also return, including:

Im Si-wan as former YouTuber Myung-gi, Kang Ha-neul as former marine Dae-ho, Park Sung-hoon as transgender former Special Forces soldier Hyun-ju, Yang Dong-geun as remorseful gambler Yong-sik, Kang Ae-sim as Yong-sik’s mother Geum-ja, Jo Yu-ri as Myung-gi's pregnant ex-girlfriend Jun-hee, Lee David as quiet and young Min-su, Roh Jae-won as (the late) Thanos’ right-hand man Nam-gyu. 

Additionally, Park Gyu-young will return as No-eul, a North Korean defector working as a guard at the games. 

Season three of Squid Game launched on Netflix on June 27th! You can stream it right now!

Featured photo: Siren Pictures ; additional photos: Siren Pictures

Sources: 

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/squid-game-season-2-ending-explained

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/squid-game-season-3-plot-release-date-news