The success of Squid Game requires no introduction.
Not only did this South Korean series dominate modern culture in 2021, inspiring everything including homemade video game adaptation to real-life robotic dolls, but it also broke many streaming milestones as well as fundamentally altered how Netflix evaluates the performance of its programming.
How does Squid Game season 1 finish, & what may occur in season 2 of Hwang Dong-survival hyuk’s drama, which is just nothing short of a blockbuster for Netflix as well as the entertainment world as a whole?
Squid Game Ending Explained
Let’s start by recapping the events of the last game to have a clearer idea about where Squid Game may head next.
Remember, approach with caution as there are Squid Game spoilers below
Soon after Sae-byeok is slain by Sang-woo in Episode nine, Sae-hun & Gi-hun are the only players still alive in the game. The last test is the titular Squid Game, in which Gi-hun & Sang engage in a gory knife battle. The former prevails, however as the game is about to conclude, pauses to use Clause 3 of the contract, which states that “if the majority of participants choose to exit the game, the game terminates.”
Gi-hun considers this occasion to be significant. Gi-hun retains some morals and compassion all through the progressively brutal games, in contrast to Sang-woo that spends earlier episodes slipping into a worse & darker state of mind. Gi-hun, however, exhibits a brief vicious streak in this battle that enables him to overcome Sang-woo, but he finally refuses to be completely corrupted by that of the game, saving Sang-life woo’s and choosing to forego the cash prize & go home.
It is obvious that things do not go as planned. When Gi-hun goes back to tell Sang-woo what he has decided, the latter stabs himself there in neck, perhaps as a result of his remorse. Gi-hun is asked to take the award money & assist his mother in Sang-final woos’s words.
The game is finished at this moment. The VIPs depart, the cash falls from of the roof, & the Front Man announces Gi-hun as the victor before wishing him luck. Gi-hun questions the Front Man why he conducts the game as they are being driven home, & he responds, “You guys are horses,” i.e., it was made for sporting events and wagering. This is partially accurate; however the program adds further justifications later on.
The Difficulty Of Adjusting
When Gi-hun gets home, he discovers 45.6 billion won (about $38 million and £28 million) in his bank balance. He sees Sang-mother woo’s on the way back to his flat, who inquires regarding her son’s whereabouts. Gi-hun remains silent; it’s unclear if she takes this as proof that Sang-woo passed away.
When Gi-hun arrives home, he learns that his mom has passed away. Indeed, this is a significant turning point for the role because his mother’s condition served as the impetus for his initial involvement in the game.
Gi-hun is still traumatized by his incident a year afterwards. Despite being wealthy, he seems scruffy & poor as he takes the subway to just a banker who informs him that he has actually spent any of his wealth. In a nod to a frequent ask he created in the early episodes of the program, Gi-hun begs the banker for permission to borrow 10k won when he leaves.
Gi-hun purchases fresh flowers at a neighboring beach only to find a second invite to a game tucked away inside the arrangement. This time, it requests that he meet his “gganbu” at a structure on Christmas Eve.
The Brains Behind
He discovers Oh Il-nam, Player 001, who Gi-hun previously believed to be dead during the 4th game of episode 6. Il-nam, who is unconscious in a hospital bed, emerges as the game’s creator. He explains that he did it in order to liven up his monotonous life of luxury & as a trial of people’s inherent goodness. He reminds Gi-hun that competitors killed one another in order to benefit financially.
Il-nam also adds that he actually played this specific version of the game out of nostalgia & that it was centered on games he used to play as a kid. This clarifies why Il-nam identified the imitation town’s layout in the 4th game since it was based over his own boyhood home.
Gi-hun is then asked to join Il-nam in a last game as a final examination of humanity’s virtue. They notice a homeless guy outside, and Il-nam bets that no one will come to his aid even before clock hits midnight. Gi-hun triumphs after a passing stranger helps the homeless guy, but Il-nam perishes. Il-nam may or may not witness this act of compassion before he goes, yet there are 2 possible meanings to be inferred from this incident.
First is that before he passes away, Il-nam believes he has won a game & that all of mankind has perished. The second: After understanding he has lost a game, Il-nam passes away after witnessing a deed of compassion that allows him to finally pass away peacefully. The moral quandary at the center of Squid Game is represented by this moment, despite the fact that the program doesn’t explicitly address either situation.
In the next scene, it is also revealed that Il-nam was the owner of the golden rabbit mask that was found in the Front Man’s home. The elderly man is shown setting the mask on the dressing table before assuring the Front Man that he will take part in the games personally.
Keeping promises
After an unspecified period of time, Gi-hun cleans up & keeps his word to Sang-woo & Sae-byeok. He gives Sang-mother woo’s custody of Sae-sibling byeok’s & removes him from the children’s home, leaving them both a portion of the winnings.
The next time we see Gi-hun, he has red hair and is travelling to the United States to see or move in with his daughter. Director Hwang Dong Hyuk has later explained that Gi-hun changes his hair color since it’s “the wildest thing for someone like him to do.”
Gi-hun spots somebody playing ddakji with much the same recruiters who brought him towards the games in first episode as he makes his way to the terminal. He makes an effort to go after the recruiter & is not able to get to him in time, so he accepts the man’s offer instead.
Gi-hun makes a call to the number somewhat on invitation right before boarding his flight to the US. Player 456 is recognized by the receiver, who warns him not to have “any crazy thoughts.” Gi-hun turns around, perhaps starting his mission to find the game’s creators.
Squid Game Season 2 Coming or not?
Netflix has finally given the go-ahead for Squid Game season 2 after co-CEO Ted Sarandos was previously reported as remarking that “the Squid Game world has only just begun.”
Even though the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, at first expressed reluctance to discuss a 2nd season, telling The Sunday Times that this wouldn’t actually occur, the show’s overwhelming popularity which garnered 1.6 billion hours of viewing in just the first month seems to have persuaded him to change his mind.
In later talks, Hwang exhibited a growing sense of assurance over prospective Squid Game plotlines. He acknowledged having some concepts for a potential season 2 in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and subsequently admitted to having “a very high-level image” of a potential follow-up plot to The Guardian.
Well before Netflix had announced it, he later assured The Associate Press that “there would definitely be a new season” of Squid Game. Hwang felt that the public had given him “no option” but to continue writing.
What would the real format of this season 2 be? For a more in-depth look at the show’s future, visit our Squid Game season 2 sites. Below, we’ve picked together some of the story hooks that potential future episodes may explore.
Gi-desire hun’s for vengeance is the most apparent subject to discuss. Considering the closing shot of the program, it is clear that the role is incensed by the game’s producers’ relentless pursuit of participants who are struggling, & that it’s implied that Gi-hun intends to reveal them.
The developer said to THR, “We could explore much about how he’s gonna navigate with his reckoning well with folks who are making the games.”
If the program chooses to do it in this direction—which seems likely—it may do it in one of two ways. Gi-hun may try to persuade others about game’s existence in the first one, revealing its corruption & dehumanization from the outside—after all, he has become a much wealthy man. In the second, Gi-hun could come back to the game after learning more about its mechanics and goals.
Even if it doesn’t really sound right for Gi-hun to play the same game which almost lost him his life again in the second scenario, the first, more plausible scenario might likely destroy most of what actually makes Squid Game so enjoyable: the games themselves.
Therefore, if the show’s creator & scriptwriters seek to replicate its popularity while still keeping narrative coherence, they have a difficult task on their shoulders. Along with Hwang, Netflix is presently “working to figure out the proper framework,” so it seems sense that a sequel season won’t be coming for at minimum a few years.
Examining Jun-fate hon’s as the undercover police officer who uncovers the Front Man to just be his brother, In-ho, is one of the many narrative lines that may be explored. There’s a possibility that Jun-hon survived the confrontation despite being shot & falling over a cliff. Considering that In-purpose ho’s for serving as the game’s Front Man is still unknown, it seems to be a storyline that the program will likely examine.
Hwang has also expressed interest in this discussion. In an interview with THR, he said, “I’d want to investigate that plot – what is going on between brothers?
It’s worth noting that the show’s creator also has suggested that the mysterious recruiter may be followed in further detail. In the very same interview, Hwang said to THR, “I could also dive into the narrative of the recruiter inside the suit who plays games of ddakji alongside Gi-hun & hands him the card in initial episode.
However, other than that, Squid Game’s debut season doesn’t left many unresolved issues because, well, almost all of its characters die. Practically, we could anticipate the return of Gi-hun, Jun-hon, In-ho, as well as the recruiter, but Sang-woo, Sae-byeok, & Il-nam won’t.
It appears that neither the living nor the dead characters’ actors are really bothered. For instance, Sae-byeok actor HoYeon Jung stated: “I was actually delighted that [Sae-byeok] can die then I can get rid of [the] worry” in a theory-debunking film feature with Vanity Fair.
Because of this, we don’t know much about where Squid Game could choose to go after what we’ve previously covered. Even though we’d like to see much of the shows lethal riddles, we really do not want Netflix to approve a subpar second season in an effort to capitalize on its success.
This might result in Squid Game suffering the same fate as HBO’s True Detective & Big Little Lies’ future seasons, which failed to capitalize on the popularity of their fantastic initial outings & ultimately disappeared.
But it seems like Hwang is fully aware of such a risk.
He actually admitted to The Guardian, “I do realize there really are big expectations for season 2.” . “I have wondered about season 2—not that I haven’t thought about it at all, but I keep asking myself if I can make it better than season 1.” I wouldn’t want the next season to fail anyone.
It is evident from this that Hwang is being cautious while making decisions about the show’s future. Squid Game season 2 could keep its enormous viewer base interested thanks to Netflix’s financial clout and continuous creative input from the show’s creator.
Our best estimation for the date of release? At the latest, late 2023.