“Squid Game” season 3 concluded the series on a pretty bleak note. Not only did Detective Jun-ho never manage to shut down the games (or even so much as make a dent in the operation), but the games themselves ended poorly for 99.56% of the players involved. Of the 456 people who took part in the game, only two survived. One was Player 256 (who was discreetly rescued by sympathetic guard Kang No-eul) and the other was Player 222, a cute CGI baby. Even our main character Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) died in the end. He sacrificed himself in order to save 222’s life, throwing himself off a ledge after a season full of pain. 

It’s a dark finale, but it wasn’t always the writers’ plan for Gi-hun. As showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk explained in a recent interview, he was originally thinking about keeping Gi-Hun alive throughout the entire series. That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that Dong-hyuk was planning to have Gi-hun throw poor baby 222 off that giant triangle. As he explained: 

“I did think about having Gi-hun live. I thought about an ending where Gi-hun would make it out of the game in one way or another, and he would go to America to see his daughter. But in the process of writing it, I had a change of heart. I thought what story do I want to tell through the show? Also, I looked at what was happening around the world at the time and how there was less hope for humanity. I thought of Gi-hun sacrificing himself for this baby, just as we all should for our future generation. That was a better-fitting ending for both the show and the character.”

While fans certainly wanted Gi-Hun to survive the games in one piece, Dong-hyuk finds his fate inspiring. Not only is Gi-Hun’s final act a noble one, but his sacrifice positively impacts the lives of multiple people around him. Even those annoying VIPs seem moved by his decision; it forces them to reflect (at least for a moment) on their own depravity, and for once none of them seem to have anything to say. 

Kang No-eul especially is moved by Gi-Hun’s choice. She’s about to end her own life until she sees him sacrifice himself, and that’s what inspires her to keep on living. Dong-hyuk noted that No-eul (whose name represents “dusk”) is someone who has been stuck living with “deep sadness and guilt that she wasn’t able to save her baby.” She redeems herself by saving Player 246, but it’s not until seeing Gi-hun’s death that she’s willing to rekindle hope that own her child might still be alive in North Korea. 

“I wanted her to be someone who goes beyond what happens at dusk and once again begins to dream of a new day,” Dong-hyuk said. He added: 

“The symbolism behind children [in the show], it’s not just about the biological child of one character, but I wanted that to symbolize any kind of hope we may have for the future as well as our will to live. … I wanted to portray this message where all of these characters and whoever is watching are dreaming of what’s to come in the future.”

Dong-hyuk noted that In-ho, the game’s ominous Front Man, was also moved by Gi-hun’s final moments. He and Gi-hun have spent the past two seasons locked in a battle of ideologies. The optimistic Gi-hun believes that people are worth protecting, while the bitter, hardened In-ho believes that humans are inherently monstrous and self-serving. 

Throughout most of “Squid Game” season 3, it sure seems like In-ho’s been proven right. Gi-hun’s rebellion falls apart, all the other players end up killing each other, and even the baby 222’s own father is willing to throw him off a cliff if it means saving his own skin. But Gi-hun gets the final word by sacrificing himself. He refuses to take the easy, self-serving route that In-ho took to survive his own time in the games. As Dong-hyuk put it:

“By sacrificing himself, Gi-hun’s actions have definitely touched something in In-ho’s heart, maybe a very small sliver of hope that he had hidden deep down in his heart. I also think it may have triggered some shame in him, because that [sacrifice] was something he wasn’t able to do for himself. With the gaming arena in Korea being completely ruined and seeing this baby who made it out of the game, there was a huge change within the Front Man, and I think that was triggered and brought about by Gi-hun’s actions. I wanted that to be what the audience feels as well.”