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Hwang Dong-hyuk's Squid Game season 3 springboarded off season 2's shocking finale, and fans were eager to know how Gi-hun's tryst with the horrific games would end. As predicted, the show ended on a bleak note, with grotesque murders and a distinct lack of morals all around.
With an American spin-off being speculated after Hollywood actor Cate Blanchett appeared as a recruiter in the show's the final scene, the show might not have seen its last days. However, the fates of Gi-hun and his crew are determined by the end of season 3.
From predictable to completely shocking twists, here's how Squid Game season 3 went down.
Disclaimer: All opinions in this article belong to the writer. Spoilers ahead.
From the winner of the game to unexpected murders: 7 biggest plot twists from Squid Game season 3
1) Gi-hun sacrifices himself to save Jun-hee's newborn
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After the original Player 222, aka Kim Jun-hee, gave birth to her daughter, she tragically sacrificed herself by falling off a ledge because she couldn't continue to the next game, jumping rope, with an injured foot. But before ending her life, she entrusted Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) with her daughter's life. Since she died, the newborn became the youngest player and replaced her mother as Player 222.
In the final round, Gi-hun and the baby are the only remaining contestants, and all the VIPs watching expect Gi-hun to kill the baby and take home the grand prize. But in a final act of rebellion against the twisted games, Gi-Hun kills himself, and the baby is crowned the winner in the Squid Game season 3 finale. In the end, Gi-hun doesn't survive, giving the baby a shot at a hopeful future.
2) The island exploded, leaving no trace of the games
After the baby wins the game, the Front Man, In-ho (Lee Byung-ho), tries to escape with her as a coast guard approaches the island. Jun-ho finally stumbles onto the island, only for In-ho to hit the self-destruct button and blow it up. The VIPs are evacuated, and Jun-ho barely escapes. With that, any evidence of the Squid Games even existing comes to an abrupt close.
The idea was meant to show that even after the Players' sacrifices, the games will continue without paying any heed to their struggles. While that sentiment is in line with the bleak premise of the show, the explosion itself was a sudden twist no one saw coming. In hindsight, it also didn't make sense that event did not become a national security concern.
3) Geum-ja murders her son, Young-sik
After how much Geum-ja struggled in Squid Game season 2 to protect her son and his choices, this came as a jarring twist in season 3. The old woman entered the game to win the prize money and save her son from his gambling debt. So, for her to be the one to kill him in the end was dystopian irony at its finest.
Young-sik continued to show his true colors in season 3, wearing his immorality like a shield. When he went after new mother Jun-hee and her daughter in the Hide and Seek game, his mother had no choice but to take him out of the game to protect them. She killed him with a blade in her hairpin because she couldn't bear the thought of her son killing a vulnerable newborn baby.
The act was so harrowing that the old woman ultimately took her own life.
4) Myung-gi's greed gets the better of him
Another Player nobody expected to flip so suddenly was Jun-hee's ex-boyfriend and the newborn's father, Myung-gi, aka Player 333. Granted, he entered the games after financially scamming people and losing money himself. However, those poor choices did not extend to Jun-hee and the baby in season 2 or until the finale of season 3, as he risked himself to help her during the Knives and Keys game.
In the Squid Game season 3 finale, Gi-hun, Myung-gi, and the newborn are the only three Players left in the Sky Squid Game. The game involves pushing people to their deaths off three sky towers, and the last person standing wins. With the greed for the 45.6 billion Won overtaking him, Myungi-gi suggests throwing his daughter off the building.
Doing this after betraying others to protect Gi-hun and his daughter came out of nowhere, but it tracks when fans realize how frenzied Player 333 is about winning the Squid Game prize money.
5) No-eul rescues Park Gyeong-seok
No-eul is one of the pink soldiers in the games who has a history with Player 246, aka Park Gyeong-seok. In season 2, it is revealed that she had met the player and his sick daughter before she was recruited. This side plot adds another dimension to the show, where the helpless plight of the characters extends even to those on the perpetrator's side.
In the finale of Squid Game season 2, No-eul hesitates to shoot Gyeong-seok during Gi-hun's rebellion, leading fans to believe she might not turn all the way evil. However, in season 3, she not only decided to save him, but she actually managed to. She also burns all the records and helps people evacuate the island after the explosion.
6) Hyun-ju is eliminated
Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon) could have easily made it till the end of Squid Game season 3, but the show's premise offered little wiggle room for fan favoritism. Her murder was so horrific that nobody saw it coming. In the Knives and Keys hide and seek game, Hyun-ju stays back to help Jun-hee and Geum-ja with the labor even though she found the exit and could've escaped.
However, Myung-gi shows no remorse and stabs her in the back, eliminating her from the game. She did not have the opportunity to fight and instead was killed for her final act of kindness, making it one of the most tragic moments in Squid Game history.
7) Gi-hun succumbs to his darkness
Throughout the show, Gi-hun is the moral compass and the voice of reason. He never murders willingly, and his survivor's guilt is one of the main reasons he returns to end the games once and for all. So, one of the most shocking moments in Squid Game season 3 came when he decided to murder Dae-ho.
In the Swords and Keys game, Gi-hun has Dae-ho cornered and could've killed him with a knife, making it quick. Instead, Gi-hun's rage overflows, blaming Dae-ho for the failed revolt in the season 2 finale (Dae-ho abandons the crew in the guise of returning for more weapons). He strangles him to death with his bare hands, succumbing to his darkness.
Watch all episodes of Squid Game only on Netflix.
