This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Squid Game season 3.
Jun-hee’s baby was the real main character ofSquid Gameseason 3, with the child making it through the last three games and giving Gi-hun purpose in the final episodes. While we knew thatPlayer 222’s pregnancywas going to play an important role in season 3, Jun-hee’s child turned out to be the driving force of the story. The baby was a symbol of the better future Gi-hun believed in, to the point that Player 456 sacrificed himself to save the child at theend ofSquid Gameseason 3.
The VIPs from season 3 were just as evil and twisted as the ones from the first season, demanding that the baby be considered a player. While In-ho seemed to care about the child to some extent, the Front Man agreed to the VIPs' demands and made the baby an official player. Replacing her mother as the new Player 222,the child obviously had no agency and would not have survived had it not been for Gi-hun.
Player 222’s Baby Was The Official Winner Of The Squid Game
Gi-hun Sacrificed Himself So That The Child Would Survive
Perhapsthe most surprising twist inSquid Gameseason 3 was that the baby was the official winner of the games.For the final game, at least one player would have to be killed in each round, meaning that, in theory, only three people would have to die. However, between betrayals and a lot of distrust, most of the finalists died before the third part of the final game. Myung-gi, Gi-hun, and the child made it to the final round, after which it was clear that the show was going to end in tragedy.
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While Player 456 was more than willing to die to let the baby and her father get out of there alive, Myung-gi was blinded by his fears and insecurities. Player 333 did not believe that Gi-hun would sacrifice himself and even questioned why he was close to Jun-hee and cared about the baby that much. With Myung-gi threatening to kill his own child,Gi-hun realized that he would have to kill Player 333 to avoid a bigger tragedy.
Unfortunately,Myung-gi fell to his death before they pressed the button to start the final round.In other words, either Gi-hun or the baby would have to die for the other one to win. Almostevery character inSquid Gameseason 3would have killed the baby to win, but Gi-hun was the biggest example of how humanity is not beyond hope yet. Gi-hun did not hesitate to take his own life so that the baby could live, therefore making “Player 222” the official winner of thatSquid Game.
What Happened To Jun-hee’s Baby After The Games Ended
The Front Man Took Care Of The Child For Six Months
Squid Gameseason 3’s finale included an epilogue set six months after the island exploded. We caught up with the surviving characters, including Player 246 and his daughter, No-eul, and Jun-ho. After everything that happened, Jun-hoo was no longer interested in being a police detective and seemed to have come to terms with In-ho’s choices. Jun-ho would still have one big surprise, though, as In-ho left the baby and the prize money to him.The former detective arrived at his apartment and found Player 222’s child along with the credit cardthat would make her a millionaire.
Squid Game’s prize money is 45.6 billion won, or $33.4 million.
We don’t know exactly what happened with the baby during those six months, butwe can assume that In-ho took care of her for a while until it was safe to move her to another place.There was really no one else left to care for Jun-hee’s baby, so the fact that In-ho gave the child to Jun-ho suggests that the Front Man still trusts his brother and knows that he will do the right thing. It’s unclear if Jun-ho will raise the child on his own, but her future is set, at least financially.
We can only speculate what Jun-ho and the child’s lives will look like going forward, including how much she will ever learn about her parents.
The finale left us with a lot of questions, one of which is what is next for Jun-ho. On the one hand, Wi Ha-joon’s character helped expose the games and got to look in his brother’s eyes one more time before they got separated again. On the other hand,Jun-ho didn’t have a conversation with In-ho, and while the Korean Squid Game might be over for now, they are still happening in other countries. After all,Cate Blanchett made a cameo inSquid Gameseason 3as the recruiter for the American games.
Raising the child might be Jun-ho’s new purpose, and money will obviously not be a problem. But we can only speculate what Jun-ho and the child’s lives will look like going forward, including how much she will ever learn about her parents.We didn’t learn a lot about Jun-ho’s personal life, except for one brief scene where he and his mother discussed In-ho’s disappearance.
The Real Meaning Of The Baby Storyline In Squid Game
Jun-hee’s Child Represented Gi-hun’s Hope For A Better Future
Jun-hee’s baby having such a big role inSquid Gameseason 3 may have been surprising, but it tied into Gi-hun’s arc of trusting in a better future. Humans can be awful, andSquid Gamegave us more than enough examples of that. However, as Player 456 tried to say before making the ultimate sacrifice, humans are inherently complicated and cannot be treated as disposable horses or pieces of trash. Even after everything he experienced,Gi-hun kept his values and put someone else’s life over his own.
Player 456 was not the only one in this season to show that humans are capable of doing good things even in extreme circumstances. For example, Hyun-ju had the chance to complete Hide-and-Seek and move on to the next round, but she chose to go back to help Geum-ja, Jun-hee, and the baby. Likewise, even at the height of her grief, Geum-ja asked that Gi-jun help Player 222 and the baby.
Some might question why Gi-hun would let his own daughter grow up without a father to save somebody else’s child, but that is exactly the point of his character.Player 456 was selfless, and while he had some dark moments, including the killing of Dae-ho, he would never let a helpless child diejust so that he could survive.Squid Gameseason 4 is not happening, and it’s hard to imagine how else the show could’ve ended if not with Gi-hun’s death.
Gi-hun’s story inSquid Gameseason 3 was tragic and even flirted with character assassination, but the finale proved that nothing could really break Player 456’s spirit. Jun-hee’s baby was often a plot device that helped the show get its point across, but at least Gi-hun’s death had some purpose.
Squid Game
Cast
Squid Game is a South Korean series released in 2021 that follows numerous financially struggling participants who are invited to partake in children’s games with deadly outcomes. As they compete, they vie for a substantial cash prize, all while navigating lethal challenges orchestrated by mysterious figures.
