Breaking Down the Cliffhanger Ending of 'Squid Game' Season 2

Spoilers for all of Squid Game season 2 ahead. No, your TV isn't broken. Your Netflix account didn't skip an episode. Squid Game season 2 really does end with that abrupt, devastating, infuriating cliffhanger, a moment where all hope seems truly lost. In a way, isn't it fitting? The notoriously bleak Netflix K-drama finally returned at a notoriously bleak time to kick us as we're down, and featured scenes of people voting against their self-interest over and over.

But let's rewind: Squid Game season 2 finally hit Netflix on December 26, 2024, over three years after the first installment became a surprise hit K-drama turned cultural phenomenon turned one of Netflix's most-watched shows ever. Though news of the renewal initially prompted criticism as seeming unnecessary, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk's second season is just as expertly written, thrilling, and timely as the first, as the dystopian death game turns into a pressing commentary on greed and sectarianism taken to their harshest conclusions.

For everyone who's just finished bingeing through the episodes, and needs to process everything we just watched, here's a breakdown of the ending of Squid Game season 2.

What happens in the 'Squid Game' season 2 finale?

Episode 7, "Friend or Foe," starts with the brutal end of the X vs O bathroom fight, which shows how effective a kimbap fork can be as a weapon. (R.I.P. Thanos...and four others, damn.) This fight parallels Deok-su's (Heo Sung-tae) lunch-line murder in season 1, as it signals that players can kill each other outside of a round and benefit from it. Couple that with the ongoing tension of each side needing to recruit more people before the next morning's vote, and that evening is set to be another strobe-light bloodbath.

However, Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) realizes it's the perfect time to steal the guards' guns and bring the games down. He convinces his X allies to fight the people who created the games instead of each other. The 12 or 14 of them hide during the carnage and play dead once it's over, so they can ambush the guards and take their guns. The message doesn't get to all the X players, since the guards manning the cameras need to think everything's going to plan. (However, I'm salty because my girl Se-mi, 380, played by Won Ji-an, didn't have to go down like that, at the hands of Roh Jae-won's Nam-gyu, 124. R.I.P., queen.)

Gi-hun and his crew successfully subdue the red-suited guards who come in to end the fight. The plan to fight to the control room is a tough sell, but Jung-bae (390) (Lee Seo-hwan) gets more volunteers by appealing to the rest of the X's as the last chance to get out of there before the O's take over the vote. Hyun-ju (120) (Park Sung-hoon) then comes in particularly clutch, organizing the men and giving a mini-ballistics lesson with her special-forces knowledge. (The players likely know how to use machine guns because many have presumably completed their mandatory military service.)

The rebels get stuck in a firefight against the guards, as the pastel-colored staircases become darkened with bullet holes. Gi-hun and Jung-bae are the ones to go on and try to find the control room, and they get as far as the purple-painted management area. They get stuck fighting their way up a giant staircase, with all the square-masked guards from the control room coming out to swarm them. Their situation quickly becomes hopeless as all the rebels run out of bullets. Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) recruits three players to be backups for Gi-hun and Jung-bae, and former Marine Dae-ho (388) (Kang Ha-neul) is panicking before he volunteers to go back to the dorm for more ammo. Once he gets to the dorm, his poor mental health (perhaps an episode caused by PTSD?) leaves him frozen as soon as he steps back out into the Escher-scape. There may be 15 minutes left in the show, but by the time Dae-ho drops his walkie-talkie, it's clear that the rebels are going down.

What is the Captain Park's secret in 'Squid Game' season 2?

Several subplots outside the games also come to shocking conclusions in the season 2 finale, including Captain Park's identity. (Is it just me, or was it clear from the jump that the fishing captain was working for the Front Man?) Before the reveal, viewers learned that Captain Park had "randomly" found and rescued a drowning Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) after the season 1 finale, and that Park had been helping the detective-turned-traffic-cop search for the island facility. Even after a year and a half, they hadn't found it—which tracks because there are over 3,300 islands in South Korea—but could Park really not remember the general area where he rescued someone? Park seemed suspicious from the moment when, during their search in the season 2 premiere, he told Jun-ho, "Come and catch squid with me, okay?"

When a seasick mercenary catches Park messing with the drone, the jig is up and the soldier gets a knife to the gut for his trouble. Unfortunately, he tricks Woo-seok (Jun Suk-ho) into believing the thuds are falling boxes. Park will likely continue steering Jun-ho and the search crew in the wrong direction in season 3...or maybe he'll change course. After all, Squid Game can't end without another confrontation between Jun-ho and Front Man, the two tragic brothers who were kept apart this entire season. I'm placing my bet now: Jun-ho will make it to the right island.

What happens to the Front Man (a.k.a. "Young-il") at the end of 'Squid Game' season 2?

Many questions remain surrounding Front Man/"Young-il." In the "Meet the Cast" featurette ahead of season 2, actor Lee Byung-hyun said Front Man's main goal is to "shatter" Gi-hun's conviction that people are inherently kind, even in the most desperate situations. With that context, it can be argued that every new rule in this season is specifically designed to break Gi-hun's faith in humanity. When did Front Man think of this plan to lure Gi-hun back into the games to mess with him? When did Front Man decide to enter the games himself? Is the Player 001 slot always left open for some meta-fuckery, or have these been two particularly weird (or perhaps extra-entertaining) years for the VIPs to watch?

The dramatic irony of only having the audience know that "Young-il" is Front Man is a good and fascinating twist. Attentive viewers can see on the first watch that Front Man makes some choices just to fuck with Gi-hun, like being horrible at the spinning top. It also adds an extra layer to his argument early in the finale, that the Xs should attack the Os first. Sure, it matches the brutality that only Jung-bae saw in the merry-go-round, but it's also a push to see if Gi-hun will attack players he sees as innocent. I might be reading a bit of smugness into Front Man's expression when the others briefly start agreeing with him, and a bit of satisfaction when Gi-hun agrees that a few players must be sacrificed so the plan can work. "See? Man is evil."

Once the rebels step into the pastel hallways, Front Man barely tries to hide his villainous face. The shot of him glaring at the unmasked guard right before said guard is shot is priceless, as is the beat when it's clear that he's been lying about having no bullets. The way he looks straight into the camera is a bit melodramatic, but it ultimately pays off as he asks Gi-hun, "Are you sure?" as Gi-hun offers him what's believed to be the last spare magazine.

Front Man strings along Gi-hun's hope to the end. The backup team of three takes the purple hallways to a position where they can catch the guards by surprise, but instead, Front Man shoots his fellow rebels himself. Then, over a walkie-talkie, he narrates his own "death" to Gi-hun, passing off his gunshots as a guard. A quick change, and "Young-il" is behind the mask again, ready to torment Gi-hun to his face instead of at his side.

As Gi-hun's on his knees, staring down the barrel of Front Man's gun, the evil mastermind says, "Look closely at the consequences of your little hero game." He shoots Jung-bae. The guards hold Gi-hun down on the ground next to his last remaining friend, to watch him die. And that's the end of Squid Game season 2.

What will happen in 'Squid Game' season 3?

By the end of Squid Game season 2, the people left alive include the Front Man, of course, and his second-in-command (a surprise role played by Park Hee-soon, one of South Korea's most established actors), as well as Jun-ho, Woo-seok, and Captain Park, who are on the boat. A surprising amount of players we've come to know and (some of them) love are also alive: Myung-gi (333) (Yim Si-wan) and Jun-hee (222) (Jo Yu-ri); Yong-sik (Yang Dong-geun) (007) and Geum-ja (149) (Kang Ae-shim); Dae-ho and Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), both of whom will likely blend back in with the remaining players; Seon-nyeo (044) (Chae Gook-hee) and Nam-gyu (Roh Jae-won); and Min-su (125) (Lee David), somehow. As for No-eul (Park Gyu-young), she's definitely alive among the guards, as they spent too much time weaving her into the organ-harvesting plot for that to go nowhere.

A quick toast to the fallen: R.I.P. Recruiter (Gong Yoo), Thanos (Choi Seung-hyun), Se-mi (Won Ji-an), Jung-bae, and Gyeong-seok (Lee Jin-uk).

And then there's Gi-hun, a man who keeps hitting devastating rock bottoms despite being worth at least 400 billion won. (Money really doesn't buy happiness.) His time in the games likely isn't over, as both the Front Man and the VIPs will get a kick out of watching him play completely broken. This season promised six games, and there are three remaining that we still have to see (likely in season 3).

The question remaining at the end of season 2 is just how broken he is. Will he somehow rally emotionally and eventually succeed in his impossible goal? Will he be so numb that he immediately dies in round 4, and one of our other faves takes the hero role? Or will this be the final push for him, as many have theorized, to become the next Front Man once and for all? Only Netflix knows how many months we'll have to wait and theorize for Squid Game season 3.