Squid Endgame Explanation: What Happens Next?

Squid Endgame Explanation: What Happens Next?
Squid Game Spoilers Continue It's no secret that Squid Game's 9-episode first season has taken the planet by storm, breaking records, encouraging copycats and also infiltrating malls in its ongoing quest to become the show. most popular on Netflix. But how did it all end? What has become of its main characters? Is there going to be a season two of Squid Game and where could it go next? Now, we strive to answer your burning questions by breaking out the ninth and final episode of the series, titled One Lucky Day.

Squid Game: The Endgame Explained

Let's get rid of the simple things first. Episode nine picks up shortly after Sae-byeok's death at the hands of Sang-woo, leaving him and Gi-hun as the last remaining players in the game. The final challenge is the eponymous Squid Game, in which Gi-hun faces Sang. -woo in a bloody (and rainy) knife fight. The first one wins, but he stops immediately before the end of the game and instead invokes clause 3 of the agreement: "if the majority of the players agree to abandon the game, the game is over."

Gi-hun and Sang-woo in Squid Game

(Image credit: Netflix) This is an essential moment for Gi-hun. In contrast to Sang-woo, who spends the preceding chapters sliding into a gradually darker state of mind, Gi-hun upholds an increasingly inhuman degree of morality and humanity during the games. In this confrontation, however, Gi-hun reveals a momentary brutal burst that allows him to defeat Sang-woo, yet he still refuses to be fully corrupted by the game, sparing Sang-woo's life and choosing to forfeit the prize money. and come. back. living place. Obviously, it is not this way. Gi-hun returns to Sang-woo to inform him of his decision, but the latter stabs himself in the neck, presumably as a result of Gi-hun's guilt. Sang-woo's last words prompt Gi-hun to accept the cash prize and attend his mother. At this point, the game ends. The VIPs leave, the prize money falls from the ceiling, and Gi-hun is declared the winner by the Front Man, who congratulates him on his victory. On his way home, Gi-hun asks the Front Man why he is hosting the game, to which he replies, "they are horses", meaning that it was created for sports and gambling purposes.

The struggle to adapt

Gi-hun returns home to find forty-five and six billion won in his checking account. On the way back to her flat, he runs into Sang-woo's mother, who asks where her son is. Gi-hun did not affirm anything; it is unclear if he interprets this silence as confirmation of Sang-woo's death. Upon returning home, Gi-hun discovers that his mother has passed away. Again, this is a crucial moment for the character, as his mother's health proved to be the catalyst for his involvement in the game in the first place. A year later, Gi-hun is still traumatized by his experience. He seems destitute and impoverished, taking the subway, despite his wealth, to a banker who tells him that he has barely spent his money. On the way out, Gi-hun asks the banker if he can borrow ten with zero won, a reminder of a regular request he made in the early episodes of the show. Gi-hun buys flowers on a nearby beach, only to find another play treat hidden in the bouquet. This time, he asks her to meet his 'gganbu' in a building on Christmas Eve.

Brain

There, he finds player one, Oh Il-nam, who Gi-hun had presumed deceased after the fourth game of episode 6. Il-nam, sick in a hospital bed, is revealed to be the mastermind behind the game. , explaining that he created it as a way to enjoy his half-hearted life of wealth and as proof of humanity's innate goodness, reminds him of Gi. -I think the contestants killed each other to make money for themselves. Il-nam also reveals that the games were based on the ones he played in his childhood, and that he participated in this particular iteration of the game for the sake of nostalgia. This explains why Il-nam recognized the design of the fake city in the fourth game: he was inspired by his childhood home.

Il-nam in the squid game

(Image credit: Netflix) Il-nam then asks Gi-hun to play one last game with him, a final test of humanity's goodness. They look outside to see a bum; I bet absolutely no one is going to help the man until midnight. Gi-hun wins - the homeless are helped by a passing citizen - but Il-nam dies. It is not clear if Il-nam sees this act of kindness before proceeding, but the interpretations of this scene are double. The first: Il-nam dies thinking that he has won the game and that there is no more humanity on the planet. The second: Il-nam dies after realizing that he has lost the game, seeing an act of kindness that ultimately allows him to pass away in peace. The show doesn't clarify either story, but this scene nonetheless represents the ethical issue at the heart of Squid Game. By the way, in the next (very brief) scene, it is revealed that the golden rabbit mask in the Front Man's dwelling belonged to Il-nam; we see the old man placing it on his dresser, before telling the Front Man that he will 'participate in the games himself.

Promises fulfilled

Some unknown time passes, but Gi-hun cleans up and keeps his promises to Sang-woo and Sae-byeok. He takes Sae-byeok's brother out of the children's house and hands him over to Sang-woo's mother, leaving the two of them with some of the prize money. We then see red-haired Gi-hun at the airport, on his way to visit, or live with, her daughter in the US. Walking towards the terminal, Gi-hun notices someone playing ddakji with the same recruiter who invited him to the games in episode one. He attempts to pursue the recruiter, but fails to arrive in time and admits the invitation given to the man.

Gi-hun in the squid game

(Image credit: Netflix) Just before boarding his plane for the US, Gi-hun calls the invitation number. The receiver recognizes his voice as player four hundred and fifty-six and tells him that he does not have "absurd ideas". Gi-hun turns around, presumably beginning his quest to expose the organizers of the game.

Where is Squid Game going now?

While Netflix hasn't yet confirmed a season two of Squid Game (author Hwang Dong-hyuk has "other things working on" now), the latest episode of season 1 leaves plenty of room to wonder where the series might go next. . The most obvious common thread to explore is Gi-hun's quest for revenge. Obviously, given the last time in the series, the character is enraged at the continued prosecution of oppressed players by the game organizers, and the suggestion is that Gi-hun wishes to expose them. If the program decides to go in that direction, there are 2 ways to do it. The former might see Gi-hun attempting to persuade others of the game's existence, exposing its corruption as well as inhumanity from the outside; after all, he is now a considerably richer man. The second could see Gi-hun return to the game itself, with a better understanding of its inner workings and his ultimate goals. As unlikely as this second scenario seems, it truly makes no sense for Gi-hun to return to a game that practically cost him his life, the more realistic first scenario would surely remove a lot of what makes Squid Game so entertaining: the characters themselves. games.

A promotional image of the hit Netflix show Squid Game

(Image credit: Netflix) Clearly, the show's author and writers therefore have work to do if they hope to repeat their appeal while still upholding narrative logic. Netflix is ​​"trying to find the right structure now," so it's no wonder we're unlikely to see a follow-up season for at least a few years. Other possible plot threads include examining the fate of Jun-hon, the masked cop who discovers that the Front Man is his brother, In-ho. Although he was shot and then fell off the edge of a ravine, there's a chance Jun-hon survived the encounter, and since we don't yet know In-ho transforms into the game's Front Man, that sounds like a Probable narrative thread. in order for the show to explore. Elsewhere, however, the first season of Squid Game doesn't leave many questions unanswered, mainly because, well, most of its characters end up dying. We could realistically expect to see Gi-hun, Jun-hon and In-ho return, but the likes of Sang-woo, Sae-byeok and Il-nam do not return (or so the laws of life and death). I would suggest, anyway). As such, we don't really know where Squid Game might decide to go next. While we'd love to see more of the series' deadly puzzlers, we also don't want Netflix ordering a low-quality second round to capitalize on its popularity. But then again, wouldn't it be criminal to cancel your most popular show after just one season? The best Netflix deals right now