Squid Game season 3: Creator on ending Gi-hun’s story
We knew entering Squid Game season 3 that it was going to be the conclusion for the Netflix series — and with that, the end of Gi-hun’s tale. It was hard to imagine him ever getting out of this situation alive.
After all, just consider for a moment the following: Even if he did get out of the bind, what is he getting out to? Where would his life be going? These are clearly big issues that he would be forced to confront over the course of time, and we think he knew there was no way he would leave without trying to make the world better. That is why, in the end, he decided to sacrifice himself rather than murder the new, infant #222 who he opted to protect.
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So why did creator Hwang Dong-hyuk come to this conclusion? Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he did his best to break that down:
…At the end of season two, he fails the rebellion. He loses the people that he had gone to rebellion with, including, of course, his best friend. But I wanted to dig even deeper than that in season three. The process of Gi-hun’s arc where that immense amount of guilt that he carries and all of that tragedy through the rebellion, it just completely consumes him and he cannot take it any longer. So he projects that immense guilt onto this character Dae-ho [Player 388], who failed to return with the ammo [during the rebellion]. Gi-hun struggles in order to escape this immense sense of guilt and that leads him to, as you see in [episode two during Hide and Seek], kill someone for the first time, based on his guilt. This means that now there is blood in Gi-hun’s hands. He commits an irreconcilable original sin.
And so depicting and writing the process of that character arc where Gi-hun is in that state and how he comes back from that? That was the biggest challenge. That was what I struggled the most with. As for what I came what I came up with, hopefully after watching the entire show, the audience will understand and support the conclusion.
Ultimately, saving #222 is his way to try and recover from that sin; whether he does fully is up for interpretation. Also, his sacrifice may be a way to try and get through to Front Man, who long doubted the goodness in humanity. Could it be the thing that finally changes him? If nothing else, this is a fascinating idea to ponder over.
Related – See more thoughts on the Squid Game finale, especially via the Cate Blanchett cameo
How do you feel about how Squid Game ended Gi-hun’s story?
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This article was written by Jessica BunBun.