The Ending of 'Squid Game' Season 1, Explained

On September 17, 2021, Squid Game premiered on Netflix, drawing millions of subscribers into its compelling mystery. Hwang Dong-hyuk's hit Korean drama follows a deadly Game, where players compete through several rounds of children's games at the chance of winning a prize of 45.6 billion won (roughly $38 million). Eliminated players are summarily executed, in a brutal show that takes place in complete secret in present-day Korea. As we watch the players, including gambler Ki-hun (Lee Jung-jae), disgraced banker Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), and North Korean refugee Sae-byeok (Hoyeon), we also gradually see the machinations behind the Game, which turns bloody violence into entertainment.

By the end of the series, viewers get both a winner and an explanation for the Game, with a bunch of global societal context mixed into a huge twist. If you need a refresher on what to remember before season 2 arrives on Netflix on December 26, 2024, here's an explanation of what went down in the Season 1 finale of Squid Game.

Who wins the Game, and what happens to the 45.6 billion won prize, in 'Squid Game' season 1?

The season 1 finale opens with Gi-hun and Sang-woo doing a coin toss for the Squid Game, the real-life children's game we briefly saw in the series opener. Gi-hun is out for blood after Sang-woo killed Sae-byeok at the end of the penultimate episode. The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) explains to the VIPs that Squid Game has been the most physical and violent game among Korean kids since the 1970s and '80s, and it lives up to the description, as former childhood friends Gi-hun and Sang-woo begin fighting to the death with the steak knives in the pouring rain.

Eventually, Gi-hun gets the upper hand and has Sang-woo pinned to the ground, knife in hand. But, as mad as he is, he doesn't kill his former friend. Instead, he heads over to the finish line, as an attendant gets ready to shoot Sang-woo once he wins. Gi-hun recognizes that his win means his frenemy's death, and he opts to stop the game and give up the money instead of letting Sang-woo die. However, in his last moment, Sang-woo stabs himself, letting Gi-hun collect the prize money, and asks Gi-hun to help his mother.

Gi-hun, completely devastated, gets dropped off in Seoul with a debit card filled with his winnings. On the ride back, he talks with the Front Man, where the game master tells him to forget the competition and explains, "You bet on horses. It's the same here but we bet on humans. You're our horses." Gi-hun makes his way back to his home and discovers that his mother has died while he was gone.

Fast forward to a year later, and an unkempt, bearded Gi-hun is riding the subway. At a meeting with a banking executive, we learn that he's barely spent any of the prize money, which has been sitting on that debit card. We don't get much of an explanation why, but we do see him ask the bank exec for 10,000 won (about $8), which he spends on beer and flowers from a street vendor. It seems to be a decision made out of grief, and the trauma he hasn't processed from the game yet.

What is Oh Il-nam's (Player 001) secret in 'Squid Game' season 1?

In creepy Squid Game fashion, the flower Gi-hun bought from the street vendor has a business card for the Game and an invitation to a random high-rise building that night. When he gets there, he discovers Player 001, real name Oh Il-nam (Oh Young-soo), who we thought had died after losing the marble game. Instead, he's alive and lucid, though he's lying in a hospital bed hooked up to an oxygen machine.

It turns out that Il-nam is filthy rich; he explains that he "makes a living lending out money." Everything he said in the Game was true, including his name and the brain tumor, but he entered the Game after watching as a VIP for years. He was even there when the Game was created, out of rich people's boredom. Il-nam says he joined because he wanted to feel true excitement before he died, beyond just spectating.

Even on his deathbed, Il-nam summoned Gi-hun to play another game. He points out the high-rise window to a random man on the street, passed out drunk in the snow. Il-nam opines on whether anyone would help the unconscious figure; he reveals his true nature by calling the stranger a "disgusting, stinking drunk, little piece of trash." Even though Gi-hun is obviously furious, Il-nam doesn't care, and he offers a bet on whether anyone will help the man before midnight, showing that he's far gone and completely lacking empathy.

Gi-hun offers to bet anything on the drunk man's life, as he doesn't care about himself anymore. He watches raptly to see if anyone will help, throughout Il-nam's confession. Il-nam asks if Gi-hun can trust anyone to be good after going through the Game (which is a valid question), but Gi-hun still wants to believe in humanity. In the very last second, some cops arrive to check on the man. Gi-hun sees this, but Il-nam doesn't. He dies with nothing to counteract his bleak beliefs, though, it's doubtful that one act of kindness would change anything. (Read our breakdown for more on all the clues that foreshadowed this twist throughout the season.)

What happens to Jun-ho at the end of 'Squid Game' season 1?

Though Squid Game's season 1 plot is famously bleak, there was a constant thread of hope in the subplot surrounding cop Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun). After overhearing Gi-hun's story, Jun-ho begins to wonder if his long-missing brother In-ho may be involved with the Game, and he infiltrates the competition in disguise. Through his investigation, we see the behind-the-scenes details of how the Game operates: the power levels between the guards, the off-book organ harvesting, the player rosters dating the Game back to the '80s, and the über-wealthy VIPs who view the Game as a sport.

By season 1's penultimate episode, the Front Man and the Game's staff are on high alert to find the intruder. Jun-ho has escaped the facility and is on the surface of the deserted island, but he struggles to find a signal to send the Game evidence to his colleagues. (He's lucky his phone apparently can sustain a charge for nearly three days.) Eventually, the red-suited guards surround him at a cliff edge with nowhere to run.

Jun-ho and the Front Man end up in a stand-off, as the lead game maker tries to talk the cop down and shows off an insider knowledge of police firearm procedure. Jun-ho does shoot the masked man in the shoulder, but instead of letting the guards shoot, the Front Man begs Jun-ho to come with him. Eventually, he removes his mask, revealing that he has actually been In-ho all along. Even as he's in shock, Jun-ho refuses to go with him, so In-ho shoots his brother in the shoulder. Jun-ho falls off the cliff, and that's the last we see of him. (Spoiler alert: He survives.)

How does 'Squid Game' season 1 end?

Something about the night with Il-nam, either getting an explanation for the Game or regaining his faith in humanity, sparks a change in Gi-hun. He cuts his beard, gets a K-pop idol-inspired fire-red haircut, and visits Sae-byeok's brother in the orphanage. He brings the child to Sang-woo's mom (Park Hye-jin), who will take care of him while Gi-hun visits his daughter in America, with a gift of half of his winnings. With that, the winner can keep his promises to Sae-byeok and Sang-woo.

On the way to the airport, while speaking on the phone with his daughter, Gi-hun spots The Recruiter (hi, Gong Yoo!) playing ddakji with a new player. Gi-hun takes the Game card away from the stranger, and right before boarding the plane (like, literally on the jet bridge), he calls the number and tells him that the Game must end. In response, the omniscient Front Man tells Gi-hun to get on the plane. But Gi-hun walks in the opposite direction.

With that ending, season 2 will see Gi-hun taking matters into his own hands and trying to end the secret, multinational game. We have no idea how that's going to go, since the police didn't believe him at first and Hwang Jun-ho, the only officer who knew the truth, has a huge conflict of interest. Either way, the second and third seasons will center on a thrilling quest to end the Game once and for all.