Squid Game Season 3 airs on Netflix on June 27th, at 12 a.m. PT (3 a.m. ET). Before the final season, let’s catch up on Seasons 1 and 2 of the international sensation. From refreshers on cliffhangers to fan theories, here’s everything that you need to know before you watch Season 3.
Warning: this article will contain spoilers.
Let’s catch you up so far…
After airing on Netflix in 2021, Squid Game reached global praise for its thrilling premise, distinct characters, and binge-worthy drama. The show centers on Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), an indebted man who is invited to play a series of Korean children’s games. If he wins, he gets a cash prize of 45.6 billion won. The catch? There are 456 other players, who all have their own debts to be paid off, and the money must be split amongst them at the end. Losing a game results in death, so the ensemble cast works in their own interests to sabotage other players.
Gi-hun makes it to the end, alongside a former classmate (Park Hae-soo), and a North Korean defector (Jung Ho-yeon). In the final moments of the game, Gi-hun wins, but at the cost of both of his competitors’ lives. Alongside the dystopian horror of the games, the underbelly of the operations is slowly unraveling as detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) infiltrates the game to find his brother. Posing as a guard, he discovers his brother, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), is actually the Front Man, the ringleader for this twisted competition.
In season 2, Gi-hun returns to the games, intent on taking down the Front Man from the inside. Much to his dismay, though, competitors in Season 2’s games aren’t listening to his warnings. After multiple games–new ones that Gi-hun wasn’t expecting–tensions amongst the players are at an all-time high. At the culmination of the season, Gi-hun is leading a revolt against the guards. In the final moments, Gi-hun discovers that his closest friend is none other than the Front Man himself.
Did Squid Game Season 2 live up to the hype?
Season 2 released three years after the original premiere. It was definitely a different take on the games, with a stronger focus on the ensemble characters than the games themselves. While Season 1 follows Gi-hun and the final few competitors, with cartoonish villains and in-depth depictions of the games, Season 2 is morally grey. The connections between characters and their decision making are more well-developed, rooting deeper into their backstories. Additionally, the games are entirely new and interesting, tweaking the formula that viewers were expecting.
Season 2 received plenty of positive praise, earning an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. While some critics called it “creatively bankrupt”, the general consensus has been that the new formula for the season worked well. In the third season, we can only hope that the showrunners continue to lean on the powerful relationships they have built to guide the show. With Season 3 being the final installment of the show, doubling-down on the ensemble connections that make the show so good is essential.
Let’s talk about season 3, shall we?
The Squid Game Season 3 trailer dropped the other day, and it looks so good. In fact, numerous trailers have been released, some focusing on the actual contents of the season and some playing on the viewer’s emotions. Season 3 is set to be intense, morally challenging, and a complete wrap up of this gripping thriller. Despite the best efforts of Gi-hun and his fellow players, their revolt hasn’t worked. They are back to playing the cruel games they tried so hard to escape.
Season 3 is set to be the final installment of the show, so it is only natural to assume Gi-hun will either succeed or… die. Netflix has the original creator and writer, Hwang Dong-hyuk, returning to wrap up his masterpiece. At a press conference, the director voiced concerns about the ending and whether he made the right choice. That would fall in line with the general questions viewers have had: who will live? Will the Front Man prevail?
What are viewers predicting for Season 3?
The largest prediction about Season 3 is that Gi-hun will die. ScreenRant pointed out that Gi-hun’s living is not necessary for the conclusion of the show, because he could “die a hero”. While I agree with this, I think that having Gi-hun die would be in line with the type of anarchy the past two seasons have exhibited. If Gi-hun were to survive and the Front Man were to stop the games, there would be a lot of… nothingness to the ending.
Hear me out here. We’ve followed Gi-hun for two intense, emotional seasons, ones where he has made difficult moral decisions and made great friendships, only for them to end tragically. Gi-hun’s success in taking down the Front Man would obviously be the happy ending. But nothing about the show has been a happy ending so far. Why change what works to please a concept that doesn’t have a place in the series? There’s nothing more frustrating than a show changing their mind about what kind of show it wants to be in the final episodes.
However, fans have several alternate or unrelated theories. Twitter user @luvbyunghun believes that an interview with actors prove that Gi-hun will forgive the Front Man. If this is the case, I imagine the forgiveness will only be one-sided, and Gi-hun could be walking into a trap with In-ho in the show’s final moments. Another major prediction circling is that the surviving player will be Kim Jun-hee, who is pregnant. With In-ho’s reveal that his wife died while pregnant, fans think he will have a soft side to Jun-hee and want to keep her alive.
Season 3 should be one for the books!
Regardless of what you predict will happen, it is a guarantee that Season 3 will be big. Whether you think Gi-hun will survive or maybe even take over the games himself, I imagine viewers will be pretty divided by the ending. All in all, Squid Game has been a fantastic and thrilling journey. There’s no doubt that this conclusion will be bittersweet, but will it live up to Squid Game‘s legacy?
