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Squid Game creator reveals that devastating finale moment wasn’t in the original plan – and why it had to happen [spoiler]

Nick Staniforth

28 June 2025

Hwang Dong-hyuk wasn’t playing games with that ending

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(Image credit: Netflix)

Squid Game finally met its final round this week with the release of its third season, and the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has spilled the beans (via Tudum) on perhaps one of the show’s most heartbreaking exits. It’s here that we press pause and advise that there are major spoilers ahead, so turn back now if you haven’t finished the game yet.

Still with us? Well, great. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about the enigmatic Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who did his best to bring down the games, only to sacrifice himself for the good of Player 222, Jun-hee’s (Jo Yuri) baby. The decision to kill off the show’s lead wasn’t initially set in stone, but as the development of seasons 2 and 3 progressed, Hwang accepted what needed to be done. It’s a heroic act for the show’s leading man, but one that meant so much more than saving the game’s youngest player.
“The message I wanted to communicate was that if we solely pursue our immediate self-interest, and refuse to self-restrain, sacrifice, or bear any costs — and if we don’t put our heads together — we have no future,” Hwang explained. “ Gi-hun’s self-sacrifice to save the baby is the message we need to hear today. This character, who is thrust into the game, endures everything, and then jumps back in to end it, is the one who should deliver this message.”

And yet, even with this sacrifice and the baby safely leaving the island with the prize funds, the games aren’t over, as revealed in the show’s final moments. To many fans’ shock, Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) was seen pulling up on a side street, where he saw a recruiter, played by Cate Blanchett (crazy, right?), luring another unsuspecting civilian into the tournament. “I thought it was an incredible ending that no one could predict,” confesses Lee. “Despite all the noble efforts of so many people, the world still continues as it was before.”