Squid Game Explained
Lots of people were confused with the ending of Squid Game Season 1. There were lots of lingering questions with the ending of Squid Game. Like where the games take place, why Gi-hun didn’t leave, and why he didn’t spend his money for an entire year. If you have any questions about Squid Game, I will hopefully answer all of them today! SPOILERS AHEAD!
But first, a quick summary of Squid Game: If you are in the group of 5 individuals that didn’t watch Squid Game, here’s a summary. In Korea, Gi-hun is a gambler with a horrible situation for himself. He’s getting chased by loan sharks and has a doctor bill for his mom that he can’t pay. On top of all of that, he is estranged from his daughter and ex-wife. At a train station, a person in a suit offers him to play a game of ddakji for money. Once Gi-hun wins himself hundreds of dollars, the man offers a game with higher stakes. Gi-hun accepts the offer, and is knocked unconscious and taken to a dormitory with 455 other players. The game consists of six children games where every player is equal. When Gi-Hun gets to the dormitory, he recognizes 2 players, Cho Sang-Woo, a childhood friend, and Kang Sae-byeok. The twist to the game is that every player who is eliminated adds 100 million won to the prize pool. And by the way, being eliminated means death! Gi-hun battles his way through the six games, and comes out on top.
After winning the games, Gi-hun had 45.6 billion won to spend. However, a year later, all the money is still sitting there. The reason for this is that Gi-hun had lost everything, in exchange for the money. He lost his best friend and his mom. This gives Gi-hun big guilt so he refuses to use any of the money. Once he has a talk with Oh Il-nam, he starts to spend his money. He starts spending his money now because he finally knew who created the games. The guilt that he had for over a year went away.
A big question that people have with Squid Game is why Gi-hun didn’t leave to see his daughter. Just when Gi-hun was going to leave on a plane, he sees the same person who brought him into the games. Gi-hun sees another desperate man trying to win money in a game of ddakji. Furious, Gi-hun chases after the man but only manages to get the card used to enter the games. Once calling this number, Gi-hun confronts the frontman to demand who runs the games. The frontman tells Gi-hun just to get on the plane. However, he refuses and walks back to the airport terminal, setting up Squid Game Season 2.
The biggest twist of the show is when it is revealed that the old man (Oh Il-nam) is the mastermind behind the games. This brings up the first big question of the show, why? The old man was in horrible condition one year after Gi-hun won the games. However, once Gi-hun asks him why he started the games with everyone else, he does state the answer. The old man thought that a person with too much money, and a person with no money, all eventually get bored. To counteract this, the old man made the games so that the ultra-rich people could have some fun. Gi-hun wagers all of his money to see if a homeless man will get help by midnight. Gi-hun wins the bet and Oh Il-nam dies shortly after.
