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Squid Game season 3 made its highly anticipated return to Netflix on June 27, 2025. With the third season, the show brought back the brutal competition, psychological tension, and social commentary that turned the franchise into a global sensation. Squid Game season 3 continued the legacy of deadly children’s games disguised as a survival challenge for desperate adults.
The new season features a gripping ensemble of returning and new characters. While Lee Jung-jae reprises his role as Seong Gi-hun (#456), Lee Byung-hun returns as the Front Man, Hwang In-ho, whose control over the games grows more complex. Wi Ha-joon also returns as Hwang Jun-ho, the tenacious police officer still hunting for the truth.
New faces include Im Si-wan as Lee Myung-gi (#333), also known as "MG Coin," Kang Ha-neul as Kang Dae-ho (#388), and Park Gyu-young as Kang No-eul. The cast also introduces Lee Jin-wook as Park Gyeong-seok (#246) and Park Sung-hoon as Cho Hyun-ju (#120).
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While viewers were busy with betrayals, eliminations, and dramatic disclosures, Squid Game season 3 secretly spread small subtleties throughout the show that many people missed. These small details, often hidden in plain sight, added layers of meaning that enriched the viewing experience.
This article contains major spoilers for Squid Game season 3. Reader discretion is advised.
Some of the things that many didn't notice in Squid Game
season 3
1) The games in the walls weren’t played
One of the most iconic visuals in the Squid Game franchise is the dormitory where players sleep. The gray walls, peeling paint, and stacked metal beds create an eerie, prison-like atmosphere.
However, as players get eliminated and the beds are removed, drawings of games are revealed on the walls. Many assumed these drawings hinted at the games that would follow. That theory was especially popular during season 1, where some fans used the images to predict upcoming challenges.
In Squid Game season 3, many believed the same logic applied. The walls displayed strange symbols and games like “capture the flag” and “dodgeball,” yet none of these games appeared in the season.
In a Netflix interview, director Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed that the move was intentional. He explained that while the drawings foreshadowed the games in season 1, he had no plans of repeating that technique.
The images in seasons 2 and 3 served more as a psychological layer, reminding the players of their childhood and heightening the contrast between innocence and violence. According to the director, this technique was a trick played on both the players and the audience, using familiar visuals that had no significance in the context of game design.
2) “Hodiemihi Crastibi” on the walls
During the final set of games in Squid Game season 3, a chilling Latin phrase appeared on the wall of the dormitory. As the number of players dwindled, their individual beds were spaced apart in a solemn, almost grave-like arrangement.
Above them, the words “hodiemihi crastibi” were painted in large red letters. The phrase puzzled fans throughout the season. After much speculation, Latin scholars pointed out that it translates to “today is for me, tomorrow is for you.”
This eerie message wasn’t just decorative. It spoke directly to the fatal nature of the game. Each day, a new player falls. Those who survive today could very well perish tomorrow. The phrase acted as a morbid reminder of how temporary survival is in the world of Squid Game season 3. It also reflected a grim philosophy—the inevitability of loss and the cycle of sacrifice.
The show's art direction ensured that the phrase was visible but never explained, adding to the haunting mood of the final episodes.
3) The Jump Rope song’s hidden meaning
One of the games in Squid Game season 3 featured an intense and nerve-wracking version of jump rope. Unlike the playground version, this one came with deadly stakes—those who tripped met an immediate end.
What added to the tension was the haunting children’s song that played on loop as the players took turns jumping. At first listen, the lyrics seemed like a typical jump rope rhyme, but a closer inspection revealed something darker.
"Little one, little one, turn around. Little one, little one, touch the ground. Little one, little one, lift up your shoe. Little one, little one, goodbye to you!"
These were not just eerie nursery rhymes—they described exactly what happened in the game. Players who failed to jump in time fell, either through trapdoors or collapsing platforms. The phrase “turn around” symbolized betrayal, as in the moments when players had to turn their backs and were suddenly sabotaged.
The lyrics became a literal foreshadowing device, cleverly masked as childhood nostalgia. This subtle songwriting choice added layers to the game’s horror and revealed how deeply embedded the cruelty was in every element of the challenge.
4) Is Wonder Woman a Marvel superhero?
The VIP lounge came back in Squid Game season 3, keeping up the practice of showing the wealthy watching and betting on the deadly games. These people, who were usually veiled and mysterious, often had strange talks when they were betting. In one episode, a male VIP compared a female contestant to Wonder Woman, praising her strength and agility, saying, "She's like Wonder Woman, the Marvel superhero."
Wonder Woman, of course, is a DC Comics superhero, not Marvel. But the line was not a writing error. It was an intentional detail inserted by the creators to reflect the VIPs’ ignorance. These wealthy spectators have the money to control lives but lack basic cultural knowledge. This was not the first reference to comic book characters in the series either.
Earlier in Squid Game season 3, one of the players even used the nickname “Thanos,” directly naming the Marvel villain. These references, both accurate and inaccurate, served as a commentary on how pop culture is carelessly consumed and misrepresented by the powerful.
5) Handwriting and handprints on the wall
In the Hide and Seek game of Squid Game season 3, the set design drew special attention. There were scribbles, drawings, and painted handprints all over the walls, making it feel like a true children's playroom. People thought that the production crew had intentionally planned this to seem like the pandemonium of children.
However, in another interview with Netflix, the director shared a surprising detail: the drawings were created by the writer's daughter.
While visiting the set during production, the writer allowed her young daughter to freely decorate the space. She added drawings of animals, sunshines, and flowers and even wrote words in crayon. The idea was to make the setting look authentically innocent before the violence began.
As the players struggled through the game, they were surrounded by the raw, joyful artwork of a real child. This created a disturbing contrast between innocence and danger—another recurring theme in the Squid Game franchise. The authentic handwriting and handprints added emotional depth, reminding the audience of the games’ disturbing roots in childhood.
Squid Game season 3 is now available for online streaming on Netflix, alongside the first and second seasons.
