Contains spoilers for “Squid Game” Season 3

When “Squid Game” launched in 2021, it became a massive hit for Netflix, drawing viewers globally into its gripping storyline where playing children’s games had deadly consequences. The main character, Seong Gi-hun, portrayed by Lee Jung-jae, emerged victorious, albeit with significant losses. The conclusion of the first season clearly suggested that the story had more layers to unravel.

Season 2 took more than three years to premiere, providing fans a long interval to ponder Gi-hun’s next steps. Luckily, the gap between Seasons 2 and 3 was much shorter. Despite this brief pause, fans were once more buzzing with theories online. Some theories about “Squid Game” Season 3 were so compelling that many wished they would come true, but ultimately, a few actually did.

With the release of Season 3, it’s the perfect time to review which of those fan theories hit the mark. While some may seem obvious now, acknowledging those who predicted them is worth the recognition.

“Squid Game” Season 2 ends with Gi-hun leading a group of contestants to overthrow the games, and it doesn’t go well for most. Many, including Gi-hun’s friend on the outside, Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), get shot right where Gi-hun can see. Player 246, aka Park Gyeong-seok (Lee Jin-wook), also meets what appears to be a gruesome end at the hands of a guard, but something wasn’t quite right about that moment. Whereas there was no denying Jung-bae was dead, Gyeong-seok got shot in a more nebulous area. 

A theory quickly emerged that the guard who “shot” Gyeong-seok is No-eul (Park Gyu-young), who somewhat knows Gyeong-seok from the outside world. At the very least, she knows he has a daughter battling blood cancer, so she’s empathetic toward why he enters the games. When Season 3 begins, we learn that she was, in fact, the guard who shot him, but it was in a non-fatal area. She works quickly to move him to the organ harvesting room and threatens the doctor to fix him up so that the two of them can escape the island. 

This is one theory that turned out to be true, though, to be fair, there was a lot of foreshadowing leading up to the reveal. Player 246 gets a lot of screen time despite not being super integral to any of the games. No-eul’s bond with him needed to pay off somehow, and their story makes for a thrilling B-plot on “Squid Game” Season 3. This was one of the things we wanted to see happen in “Squid Game” Season 3, so it was great to see it pay off.

New “Squid Game” Season 3 theories emerged pretty much until the final episodes dropped. One even came to light following the final trailer when fans began speculating that Player 333, aka Lee Myung-gi (Im Si-wan), would wind up killing Player 120, aka Cho Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon). This was based on a fight Hyun-ju appeared to be having with someone looking an awful lot like Myung-gi. 

It turns out Hyun-ju is fighting someone else in that clip — however, she is ultimately killed by Myung-gi when he stabs her in the back. Hyun-ju finds the exit to the maze but goes back to get Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri), Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim), and the newborn baby, so they can all get out together. Her altruism would be her downfall, as she doesn’t pay attention to anyone approaching her from the other side of the doorway, leaving room for Myung-gi to stab her without realizing who she is or that she was helping Jun-hee.

It’s a devastating moment, but it’s in line with who Myung-gi is as a character. Im Si-wan stated as much in a press conference (via Korea JoongAng Daily), saying: “I personally believe that there are two types of people: Those who are innately evil, and those who aren’t, but just make bad decisions. I think Myung-gi is the latter.”

The trolley problem manifesting on “Squid Game” Season 3 always felt less like a proper fan theory and more of a natural continuation of the show’s themes. Still, fans were confident some trolley problems would present themselves based on the Season 2 post-credits scene that sees a group of players enter an arena with two giant dolls and a railroad crossing structure that flashes green. Given the imagery, many viewers guessed that the show would really use Season 3 to explore the philosophical concept of saving one person tied to a train track over another.

When the participants play jump rope, the railroad crossing sign is there, and the platform they need to get across has rails on the side like you would find on train tracks. The iconography might be there, but the game itself doesn’t present much in the way of a trolley problem. People just need to cross the bridge without falling to their deaths. If anything, the train aesthetic exemplifies how Gi-hun has already admitted that he’s willing to sacrifice a few to save the many. That’s fundamentally what the trolley problem gets at if you have one person tied to one side of the tracks and a bunch more tied to the other.

At the end of Season 2, Gi-hun admits that a few people might die if they stage a rebellion, but it’ll be worth it if they can get everyone else out of the games alive and put a stop to them for good. His morality has already been compromised, so making the jump rope stage be reminiscent of the trolley problem is a good reminder that sometimes there are no good options. Sometimes, you have to be willing to sacrifice a little to save a lot. 

When “Squid Game” Season 2 revealed that Jun-hee was pregnant, it was safe to assume she’d give birth at some point during Season 3. That’s precisely what happens, as she goes into labor during hide-and-seek, probably the worst game for that to happen in. From that point on, the infant is part of the games, and Gi-hun promises to do everything in his power to protect the child.

Gi-hun goes the extra mile in that regard. During Sky Squid Game, Myung-gi dies before the final button is pressed, meaning Gi-hun and the baby are the only two remaining players. For either to live, one has to die. Everyone else was more than willing to throw the infant off the tower, but Gi-hun isn’t like most players. Much to the surprise of the VIPs, Gi-hun sacrifices his life so that the baby, Player 222, winds up the final winner. 

Fans theorized that this would happen following Season 2. “Squid Game” is undoubtedly a dark show, but killing a newborn may have been a step too far. Jun-hee’s child survives and receives all the money they could ever need. Hopefully, this means the baby will never feel compelled to join the games. They’ve exited the cycle of debt and poverty that has engulfed so many and the ending represents a more positive future. 

The final seconds of “Squid Game” Season 3 establish one final fan theory as true. The Front Man, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), travels to Los Angeles to give Gi-hun’s money to his daughter. As he’s riding in a car, he hears the unmistakable sound of people playing ddakji, so he lowers the window and sees a Salesman (played by Cate Blanchett) doing precisely that with a man. The two share a glance, almost like they know exactly who the other is. In-ho puts the window back up and gets on his way.

It’s unclear what the future of the Korean Squid Game holds. The island’s facilities were blown up, erasing all evidence, and it feels like it would take a while to get them back up-and-running if In-ho is so inclined. But it almost doesn’t matter if that version of the games closes for good. It’s obvious that this competition has a global reach, including one in the United States.

It’s already been reported that Netflix is working on an English-language version of “Squid Game” with David Fincher helping to develop it. Season 3’s closing moments set up this spinoff that will apparently have Blanchett attached as a Salesman who lures people in severe debt into the games. There’s presently no word on when this spinoff will air, but as long as there are people struggling financially, there will be stories to tell in this universe. Fans are also hoping to see what’s been unofficially dubbed “Squid Game Zero,” a prequel series about the birth of the games.