“Squid Game” took the world by storm when it debuted in 2021, but that’s quite a long time ago to remember everything from the intricate K-drama.
The series follows a large number of down-on-their-luck South Koreans recruited into a competition where deadly-violent versions of classic children’s games are played for a $45.6 billion prize. The pot increases based on how many die in previous challenges – and there can only be one winner. All the while, people and animal-masked VIPs bet on the competitors like live racehorses.
Here’s everything you need to remember about the final moments of “Squid Game” Season 1 to get you set up for Season 2.
How do the Squid Games end?
The final three participants in the year’s Squid Games are Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yean), and Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo). After surviving a number of creative games, they’re just thrown a knife and told to betray someone. Sang-woo – determined to win and use the money to take care of his mother – leans into the brutality and buries the knife in Sae-byeok’s neck when the lights cut out.
That leaves only the former childhood friends left for the finale, which is of course a deadly version of the titular Squid Game. Enraged by Sae-byeok’s murder, Gi-hun plays the game with increased purpose and manages to get the upper hand and ultimately beat his old friend. When the time comes to kill Sang-woo and claim his winnings, Gi-hun can’t do it – and instead forfeits the money in exchange for both the men being set free. Sang-woo realizes that he sacrificed too much to walk away alive but without the money, so he does what Gi-hun can’t and plunges his knife into his own neck. In his dying words he asks Gi-hun to promise to take care of his mom.
How did Detective Hwang’s story end?
Behind the scenes, Detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) manages to infiltrate the games as a red-uniformed facilitator, and discovers that the games also serve as an organ-harvesting operation. Seeking his missing brother, Hwang finds out that not only did he end up competing in the games in 2015, but he won.
Hwang manages to reach a separate island as the games reach their conclusion to alert the authorities. It’s there that Hwang is confronted by the Front Man – the person in charge of making sure the games run smoothly for the VIPs and others watching and betting. The Front Man reveals himself to be Hwang’s missing brother In-ho (Lee Byung-hun). The reunion is brief though because In-ho chooses the games over family and shoots his brother who stumbles off a cliff.
How does ‘Squid Game’ Season 1 end?
Following his victory and receiving his winnings, Gi-hun makes good on the promises he made to his friend – Sang-woo asked to take care of his mother and Sae-byeok asked him to watch out for her little brother. He does both by having the mother watch the brother and he gives Sang-woo’s mom half the winnings.
While he competed in the Squid Games, Gi-hun’s ex-wife and daughter moved to the United States. With money, he’s hoping to rebuild his relationship with his daughter so he heads to the airport and lets her know he’s flying to the States as well. On his way he stops when he sees a “salesman” (Gong Yoo) trying to recruit another down-on-their-luck player; he takes the salesman’s card away from the recruit and tells him off before leaving.
Right as he’s about to board, Gi-hun calls the number on the card and when asked for his sign-up info he berates the person on the other end for treating people no better than racehorses. He’s transferred to another line and the Front Man picks up. The boss tells the former competitor to just get on the plane and enjoy his life and money. After a pause, Gi-hun turns away from the plan looking determined to find a way to confront the Front Man and stop the Squid Game for good.
