What Happens in Squid Game Season 2? The Cast and Creator Explain the Ending
The bloody competition of Squid Game has taken just about everything from its protagonist, Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) — other than his life. His mother (Kim Young-ok) died during his first foray into the competition. In order for Gi-hun to win the game in Season 1, his friend Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) had to die. Yet, it isn’t until the final scene of Squid Game Season 2 that we see Gi-hun at his absolute lowest. He closes out Episode 7 wailing on the ground, looking into the lifeless eyes of his best friend, Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), who’s just been murdered by Front Man (Lee Byung-hun). To make matters even worse, Gi-hun has no idea that Front Man is actually Young-il, the player who Gi-hun thought was one of his closest allies in the new game.
“The end of Season 2 is going to make people more curious about how Gi-hun will do in the game now that this traumatic event has happened to him,” Lee Jung-jae tells Tudum. “After what’s happened to his friend, can he still maintain his objective of saving the other people in the game?”
And Lee Jung-jae, along with co-star Lee Byung-hun and Squid Game creator, director, and writer Hwang Dong-hyuk, are ready to answer those burning questions — along with many more. Keep reading for the inside scoop on Season 2’s biggest mysteries, from what’s going on with that pink guard to what’s next for Gi-hun.
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Who is Player 001?
In Season 1, Gi-hun learns his ally Player 001 — aka Oh Il-nam (Oh Young-su) — isn’t at all who he said he was. Il-nam was never a down-on-his-luck old man desperate for fortune — he was always the wealthy business scion behind Squid Game.
And little does Gi-hun know, there’s a similar subterfuge at play in Season 2. Once Gi-hun decides to reenter the game, Front Man also chooses to play. He takes over the Player 001 mantle and slips into the persona of “Young-il.” Lee Byung-hun, who plays Front Man, tells Tudum that his character enters the game to deal with some essential ideological differences between himself and Gi-hun. Front Man is “someone who believes that there is absolutely no hope for the world or humanity,” he says, while Gi-hun hopes for the best in society.
“It’s almost as if they’re betting against each other,” Lee Byung-hun continues. “The Front Man is asking questions like, ‘Do you really think you’re going to be able to end the game? Do you really think there’s hope in people? Do you think the world’s going to change?’ ”
Lee Byung-hun says the two characters’ conflict is at the heart of Season 2.
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What is the Front Man’s backstory?
Although Front Man is using a false identity, Young-il’s personality is heavily influenced by his own life. Before he was the Front Man, he was In-ho, a police officer who loved his wife. But she died of acute cirrhosis years before Season 1.
In the first four episodes of Season 2, we get some insight into her death. As Front Man tells Gi-hun under the guise of his Young-il persona, his wife’s cirrhosis eventually became so bad that she needed a liver transplant. As the pair were figuring out her treatment, Front Man and his wife also learned she was pregnant. Although doctors recommended terminating the pregnancy, she was determined to give birth, no matter the danger. The couple struggled to find a liver donor and her condition worsened. So, Front Man borrowed as much money as he could and eventually accepted a loan from the wrong person. Front Man’s superiors saw the cash as a bribe and fired him despite his years of loyal dedication to his work.
A conversation between Jun-ho and his mother — who is Front Man’s stepmother — further explains the family’s history. Years before Front Man’s wife’s diagnosis, he gave Jun-ho his kidney. Therefore, when his wife became ill, Front Man couldn’t sell his own kidney to pay for her treatment. The entire family was also going through a difficult financial time, so Jun-ho and his mother couldn’t help with the bills. In the ensuing years, Front Man has avoided his family, as well as his wife’s grave.
These details helped Lee Byung-hun portray Front Man. When preparing for Season 2, he had many conversations with Hwang. “I would ask questions like, ‘Why does he act this way? Why does he say these things? And to what degree do I want to express the complexity of the character?’ ” he explains.
“Having to give different nuances to each of these three aspects was the most challenging — as well as the most fun — for me as an actor,” Lee Byung-hun says about juggling the identities of Front Man, In-ho, and Young-il.
What happens with No-eul?
In Episodes 1 and 2, we meet No-eul (Park Gyu-young), a mysterious woman who seems like the perfect candidate to play Squid Game. But, as the end of Episode 2 shockingly reveals, No-eul isn’t a player. She’s a pink guard and an expert sniper.
Season 2 gives us a few details about No-eul’s past. She’s a North Korean defector who left her family — including her daughter — behind. “[No-eul] has no other purpose in life than to reunite with her child,” Park says. “[She’s] harboring the kind of indescribable agony that cannot be expressed in words.”
Although No-eul may seem like nothing more than a mercenary, Park says she’s quite the opposite. “No-eul begins working at the game with the mission of letting hopeless people pass on peacefully without pain. She’s someone who can’t go on living but must do so,” the actor explains. “She joins the game with the idea of lifting others’ pain and giving peace to those suffering just like her.”
What happens with Jun-ho on the boat?
Early in Season 2, Gi-hun teams up with detective Jun-ho in an attempt to destroy Squid Game. They plan on staying in touch via a tracker that Gi-hun embeds in a fake tooth, but they lose track of each other when Gi-hun is taken back to the arena. (The problem is, they hadn’t planned on security discovering the tracker and disposing of it, and yet that’s exactly what happens.) The tracker is eventually found — not on the island but mixed in with a pile of fishing bait. (Apparently, someone handed a fisherman a bag of leftover worms, which was hiding the tracker.)
But Jun-ho doesn’t give up, and he and the people he’s hired continue the search from their boat. While Jun-ho assumes he’s surrounded by friends (or at least loyal hired hands), the finale reveals something nefarious is afoot on the vessel — and the problem starts at the helm. In the middle of the night, one of the men on the boat finds the captain messing with a drone that was being used to search for the island. Once the man starts asking questions, Captain Park stabs him and throws him overboard. The captain then pretends nothing happened and blames the commotion on the waves.
The twists and turns of Squid Game clearly aren’t limited to the competition. You can expect the series to unravel more secrets around this story when Season 3 debuts next year.
Why does Jung-bae die?
The Squid Game Season 2 finale escalates to an armed rebellion between Gi-hun and some of his allied players and the people running Squid Game. Gi-hun’s best friend, Jung-bae — among many other players — winds up as collateral damage, because Gi-hun doesn’t know that Young-il is actually Front Man. At the start of the rebellion, the players think they have a good chance of emerging victorious — that they just might be able to seize control of the Squid Game arena.
But the game is not designed for the players to win, and Front Man makes sure the rebellion fails. Once he splits off from the group, he kills two of the rebels and fakes Young-il’s death. He then switches his radio to the guard frequency and tells his team to finish quashing the rebellion. They do. By the time Gi-hun and Jung-bae surrender, Front Man has discarded his Player 001 tracksuit in favor of his usual black cloak and mask.
Front Man takes this opportunity to prove to Gi-hun that his “little hero games” were ultimately empty. He shoots Jung-bae, killing him. This way, he can finally teach Gi-hun that there really is no hope in the world. Knowing that Gi-hun will have to live with that lesson is far more appealing to Front Man than simply killing Gi-hun. Death is too easy a way out.
“Audiences are definitely going to be shocked and very sad to see Jung-bae go,” Hwang says. The Squid Game creator sees Jung-bae as someone with the same optimism and warm heart that Gi-hun once possessed but has now lost. “He’s also the only person within the games that Gi-hun can trust and completely rely on.”
Hwang thought Jung-bae’s devastating loss would be the perfect place to end Season 2. Lee Jung-jae believes Jung-bae’s death will fundamentally change Squid Game’s formerly hopeful protagonist.
“How much pain can someone endure in order to achieve their goal?” Lee Jung-jae asks. “Would that determination he had in the beginning still be intact? Would he still have that feeling inside of him? Because now his best friend is dead.”
Does Gi-hun know about Front Man’s betrayal?
Gi-hun’s deadly season-ending meeting with Front Man is also his most honest conversation with his friend Young-il. However, Lee Jung-jae says, “I don’t think Gi-hun knows the truth yet.” He’s incapable of realizing Front Man’s villainous switcheroo because he’s too busy “blaming himself for everything that happened.”
Hwang doesn’t exactly categorize Front Man’s actions as a true “betrayal.” “Because that was his intention and plan all along,” the writer says. “That moment is really the climax of Season 2. The Front Man starts off the season with his mask off, but then returns to himself and ends with his mask back on.”
What’s next for Gi-hun in Squid Game Season 3?
The final moments of Squid Game Season 2 leave Gi-hun in the darkest place yet. His allies and friends have been murdered in the rebellion. His dream of overthrowing the guards seems to be dead as well. “And now, his best friend’s gone,” Lee Jung-jae says. “He’s been ripped of everything. He’s lost all he’s got.”
Director Hwang says this is an integral moment for Gi-hun. “You realize that Gi-hun’s attempts to put an end to the game have failed — in two ways,” he explains. First, he wasn’t able to persuade his fellow players to stop Squid Game through voting. Then, Gi-hun “failed at trying to use physical power and strength to go up against those that were hosting the game.”
But the Squid Game creator is excited for audiences to find out where this “state of deep despair” pushes Gi-hun. “Is he still going to believe that he will be able to persuade others and leave together or put an end to the game?” Hwang asks. “Or will he give in and become a completely different person? Someone just like the Front Man, who thinks, ‘What can I change?’ ”
These questions set up the story for Season 3, which Hwang calls the “second chapter of Gi-hun and Front Man’s showdown.”
Look out for that emotional battle of wills when Season 3 premieres on Netflix in 2025. And, to dig even deeper into Squid Game Season 2, listen to Squid Game: The Official Podcast wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
