Squid Game Season 3’s 10 Biggest Twists, Ranked By How Shocking They Were

MAJOR SPOILERS for Squid Game Season 3 are ahead!

Netflix’s Squid Game season 3 featured many big twists, ranging from predictable to incredibly shocking, making the story a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Four years after its debut, Squid Game has finally come to an end, wrapping up the story of Gi-hun and his fight to shut down the sadistic games. As expected, most of the Squid Game characters died by the finale, keeping true to the bleak tone of the show.

However, many of the other aspects of Squid Game season 3 weren’t expected, specifically the plot twists. After Squid Game season 1 pulling the unexpected twist with Il Oh-nam, I didn’t expect anything in the final season to rise to that level of dramatic and shocking. Surprisingly, some of Squid Game season 3’s twists are completely unpredictable and out of left field.

10

Dae-Ho Wasn’t A Marine

Dae-Ho Lied About His Military Past In Squid Game

By far, the least shocking twist in Squid Game season 3 is what’s really going on with Dae-ho. While a small number of fans thought that he might be a Marine defector or have PTSD, most people guessed correctly that Dae-ho never actually was a part of the Marines.

The only part that was even a little bit surprising was the fact that he didn’t lie to appear stronger. Considering they are in a kill-or-be-killed environment, it would make sense for Dae-ho to make himself seem more capable of defending himself so others wouldn’t attack him. In reality, he lied to make friends with Gi-hun and Jung-bae.

9

Captain Park Is A Pink Soldier

Captain Park Is More Than Just A Mercenary Hired By The Games

The end of Squid Game season 2 heavily implied that Captain Park was working with the games to hide the island, meaning most of his actions in season 3 didn’t feel shocking. However, one major part is a surprise.

Woo-seok finds a pink soldier uniform with money buried underneath Captain Park’s dog house. While it’s not explicitly confirmed, this heavily implies that Captain Park was one of the pink soldiers in the past, a twist that wasn’t easy to guess but makes sense upon reflection.

The Recruiter also previously worked as one of the masked men in the games before taking on the new job, so that might be a starting point for people within the Squid Game company before they move on to higher-ranking jobs.

8

The Island Exploded Before Authorities Could Find It

The Authorities Won’t Be Able To Find Any Evidence Of The Games

From the start, Squid Games makes it very clear that the world isn’t fair and justice rarely happens. They continue this message when it comes to the twist in the finale of Squid Game season 3. Rather than allowing the authorities to find the island that Jun-ho has sought out for years, In-ho hits a self-destruct button, causing an explosion.

Consequently, Woo-seok goes to jail, Jun-hee doesn’t obtain proof of the games, and the people in charge can continue their games in a new location. It’s not shocking that they’d have a way to get out of trouble. The only surprise is the actual explosion. It seemed more likely that they’d just evacuate the building instead of blowing it up.

7

No-eul Saves Park Gyeong-Seok

No-Eul’s Job Didn’t Remove All Of Her Humanity

Squid Game season 2 expanded the audience’s understanding of the games, showing that the pink soldiers are people preyed upon by the games, just like the contestants. This became an issue when No-eul, a pink soldier, recognizes Park Gyeong-seok, a player in the 37th Squid Game. She met Geong-seok and his sick daughter before being recruited into the games.

Related

Player 333’s Squid Game Season 3 Fate Was The Show’s Ultimate Twist

Squid Game season 3 is filled with plot twists, but none are as shocking as what Player 333, Lee Myung-gi, decides to do in the final game.

She hesitates to shoot him in season 2, hinting that she cares about him. This led many fans to correctly theorize that No-eul saves Gyeong-seok during Gi-hun’s rebellion at the start of Squid Game season 3. However, the part that’s actually shocking isn’t her desire to save him but that she succeeded in getting him out alive.

6

Squid Game Season 3 Teases A Potential American Spinoff

In-Ho Sees An American Recruiter In Los Angeles

Since 2023, a US spinoff of Squid Game has been rumored to be in development with David Fincher attached. Although the topic has been discussed and speculated about to no end, it hasn’t actually been confirmed. As such, the teaser at the end of Squid Game season 3 was highly unexpected.

After Hwang Dong-hyuk’s insistence that he was done with Squid Game after season 3 (via Variety), it seemed more likely that he would finish off the show without any references to the potential spinoff.

The surprise was also heightened by the fact that A-list actor Cate Blanchett plays the Recruiter in Los Angeles, and they’re playing ddakji, which isn’t a popular game in the United States. If they were going to tease a spinoff, it seemed more likely they would focus on a popular US children’s game.

5

Myung-Gi Murders Hyun-ju

Hyun-Ju Should Have Made It To The Final Game

While the previous five Squid Game season 3 twists were at least mildly predictable, the show also included completely out-of-the-blue twists. A prime example of this is Myung-gi murdering Hyun-ju during the Knives and Keys hide-and-seek game.

If any of the players other than Gi-hun should have made it to the final game, it was Hyun-ju. Besides being a fan favorite character, she possessed the grit, intelligence, and physical abilities to win all the games they played.

Related

10 Times Hyun-ju Stole The Show In Squid Game Season 2

Cho Hyun-ju is the standout character of Squid Game season 2 as she consistently steals the show with her compassion, bravery, and skill.

Ultimately, the fact that she was the first major named player to die in the season is a complete shock. Moreover, the idea that they wrote her out by making her get stabbed in the back, rather than going down fighting, feels like an unforgivable slap in the face for one of Squid Game’s best-written characters.

4

Geum-Ja Kills Her Own Son

Geum-Ja Finally Has To Stand Up To Young-Sik’s Bad Choices

In Squid Game season 2, Geum-ja makes all the excuses in the world for her son, Young-sik. It doesn’t matter how many times he betrays her or makes really dangerous decisions. She loves her son and will go to any length to protect him. That makes her killing him one of the most shocking moments of Squid Game season 3.

If she were to take his life, I would have expected it to be an accident or a sacrifice he chose. Instead, she finally stands up to her son to protect Jun-hee and her baby.

Geum-ja had an impossible choice to make, and no matter the decision, it would go against her core values. She stabs him using the blade in her hairpin, allowing Jun-hee and her baby to move forward. Ultimately, this choice broke her, emotionally, leading to her tragic death by suicide.

3

Myung-Gi Wants To Kill His Own Baby

Myung-Gi Becomes A Cartoon Villain At The End Of Squid Game Season 3

While Myung-gi is obviously a greedy scammer, he never does anything in Squid Game season 2 to indicate that he would want to hurt Jun-hee or her baby. In fact, he goes out of his way to try to keep her safe during Knives and Keys and help her in the jump rope game.

In the final game, he even tricks the other players into thinking that he will work with them, only to betray their trust and help Gi-hun and the baby. As such, the fact that he suddenly and with no foreshadowing became a cartoon villain willing to kill off his own baby for money took almost everyone by surprise.

Don’t get me wrong, Myung-gi was never a particularly good person. I could have seen him being willing to kill Gi-hun, but killing his own newborn baby, who has absolutely nobody else, just to get money? That is a whole other level of evil.

2

Gi-Hun Strangles Dae-Ho

Gi-Hun’s Darkest Moment Happens During The Hide And Seek Game

While Myung-gi was already a bad person who didn’t mind others suffering, Gi-hun was a good person who hated the games throughout both Squid Game seasons 1 and 2. During those seasons, he never killed anyone else out of vengeance, and he felt guilty any time he did murder for the games.

This makes Player 456’s dark turn in Squid Game season 3 extremely shocking and difficult to watch. He allowed his anger to consume him during the Swords and Keys game. He had the choice just to kill Dae-Ho with a knife to get through the round, but he took the more personal and anger-driven route of strangling him.

1

A Newborn Baby Wins Squid Game

Gi-Hun Dies So That 222’s Baby Will Win

Of all the shocking twists in Squid Game season 3, the one that sounds most like a joke is that a newborn baby wins the game. The baby’s innocence is meant to represent the hope that the new generation will never be subjected to the murderous games. Gi-hun’s sacrifice is meant to represent his connection to humanity.

However, it did not land right. This twist feels like it was pulled from a soap opera, not the grounded dystopian Squid Game show we’ve come to know and love. The baby shouldn’t have even been alive to win the game, given the conditions under which it was born and the limited amount of feedings it received.

Ultimately, the baby’s win was shocking for bad reasons. It felt a little too saccharinely sweet, on the nose with the messaging, and unrealistic to happen in Squid Game. Almost any other option would have been more fitting.

Squid Game

8/10

Release Date

2021 – 2025-00-00

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Hwang Dong-hyuk

Directors

Hwang Dong-hyuk

Writers

Hwang Dong-hyuk

• 

  Lee Jung-jae

  Seong Gi-hun / ‘No. 456’

• 

  Jeon Young-soo

  Game Guide