The Squid Game finale landed on Netflix last month, and the record-breaking TV series has officially come to an end. Well, as far as we know, anyway. Whispers of a US iteration have been circling, but the streaming service is yet to confirm or deny the rumours – meaning that fans will have to take the most recent instalment as its last (for now, at least).
Anyone who has already binge-watched Squid Game season 3 will know that things didn’t tie up particularly neatly. In fact, Gi-hun’s death came as a huge shock to fans who were convinced he’d find a way to outsmart the system. However, there is an alternate ending whereby Player 456 does in fact make it out of the games alive twice – but creator Hwang Dong-hyuk decided to change the protagonist’s fate for a very interesting reason.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the writer and director explained that there was an alternative ending in the pipeline – and it changes everything. Dong-hyuk’s initial idea was to wrap up things up with Gi-hun travelling to the US, but while he was writing the script his vision took a few unexpected turns. He said: “Back then, it was having Gi-hun end the game, in one way or another, and leave alive and go see his daughter in America. So originally, I thought the person who witnesses the American recruiter woman would be Gi-hun.”
As viewers know, Gi-hun didn’t make it over to the USA to see his daughter, or witness the American recruiter in actionn. During the final game, he sacrificed himself for Player 222 – the newborn child of Kim Jun-hee – and it was the Frontman who travelled overseas and spotted the recruiter (cue a surprise cameo from Cate Blanchett) playing ddakji in a quiet LA alleyway. Explaining how the ending changed, Dong-hyuk added: “As I began writing the story, and as I began to think more and more about, ‘What do I want to deliver with the ending of this story?’ And also, ‘What should Gi-hun’s journey and what should his destination be?’ I was witnessing more and more what was happening around the world and I thought it was more fitting for Gi-hun to send this powerful and impactful message to the world [with his death] and that should be how the story comes to a close.”
Gi-hun’s finale speech was intentionally open-ended, indicating that humanity cannot be summed up in one neat sentence. And, ultimately, the official ending also follows this line of thought. But the creator added that the bleak finale reflects a ‘world [that] seems to be headed for the worst’, adding: “It seems to be becoming, in so many different ways, so much worse ahead. I thought, ‘What kind of sacrifices do we need to make in the current generation for us to be able to leave the future generation with a better world?’ So I wanted Gi-hun’s sacrifice to be a symbol of that.”