Squid Game season 3 ending explained: who wins the final game?

Squid Game season 3 marks the final instalment of the hit Netflix show, bringing the story to an undoubtedly intense close.

Picking up where season 2 left off, Gi-hun, aka Player 456, and the remaining players must battle through the final deadly games to fight for their survival. With Gi-hun personally seeking his revenge against Front Man. Meanwhile, Jun-ho continues his search for the island, hoping to reunite with his brother and free any survivors before it's too late.

With the 45.6 billion won prize continuing to divide players, Front Man and the VIPs watch on as they take on game after game to pay off their debts in the outside world. But, at what real cost?

Here's a recap of everything that happened in Squid Game season 3 episode 6.

The final episode begins on Jun-ho boarding Player 246’s boat after killing the guards pursuing him. Player 246 is dressed like a guard, so they think he is one. When Jun-ho holds his gun up to him, Player 246 explains what's happened. Jun-ho knows to use the scanner, which confirms he’s a player. He tells Player 246 to show him where the games are and he points to the island barely visible in the fog.

Back at the final game, Player 333 asks Gi-hun if the baby is okay. She is. But then they’re prompted to move to the final round and head over the bridge. Player 333 gets there first and takes the pole from the middle of the platform. He turns to Gi-hun, still on the previous platform, and tells him to hand the baby over and stay put. Gi-hun tells him that if he did that, Player 333 would have to choose to kill himself or his own child on the final platform. He says he knows. Gi-hun only has five minutes to cross over. Meanwhile, a guard calls Front Man out of the VIP room.

Guard 11 is in Front Man’s office. She pours alcohol over the files in the archive and sets them on fire with a lighter. She holds her bleeding side where she’s been injured and pours more alcohol over the files. But, as she’s leaving, she notices files marked as lists. Meanwhile, as Player 333 demands the child, he steps nearer onto the bridge. Gi-hun tells him if he and the baby don’t make it across, he’ll lose. Player 333 suggests they all die together.

Elsewhere, an officer shows Front Man that there's a boat approaching on the radar. On the boat, Jun-ho says he’s called the coast guard while his teammate helps the injured Player 246. He tells them the coast guard will be there in a couple of hours and puts on the diving gear to head off solo. In the game room, Gi-hun tells Player 333 he’ll let him kill him on the platform, so the baby doesn’t have to die. Player 333 says he doesn’t believe him. Gi-hun says he swore to Player 222 that the child would be safe, so he has to trust him. Player 333 starts accusing Gi-hun of being with Player 222. Meanwhile, guard 11 is looking through the lists, they’re of all the guards. She finds herself.

Gi-hun lays the baby down on the bridge and Player 333 tells him to step back, so he does. There’s 40 seconds left. Player 333 uses the pole to pick up the baby and bring her over to his side. But, while he’s distracted, Gi-hun pulls the knife he was given by Front Man out of the murdered player behind him. With two seconds left, Gi-hun leaps over the bridge as it retreats. He’s armed with the knife and Player 333 picks up the pole.

In guard 11’s file, it explains how she defected from North Korea and worked as a performer at the amusement park. There’s a photo of her with her husband and daughter. It says that her husband was executed and her daughter is dead. Player 333 and Gi-hun fight and Player 333 knocks the knife out of Gi-hun’s hand. The button rises from the platform and it needs to be pressed before the final round officially starts. They fight and the pole gets thrown off the ledge. Gi-hun gets the knife, but Player 333 grabs the baby and dangles her over the edge. He threatens to drop her unless Gi-hun throws the knife to him and moves away. He agrees.

Once Gi-hun is far enough away, Player 333 puts the baby down on the platform, grabs the knife and starts stabbing at Gi-hun. He slices him in the side and stabs him in the arm, but he's wrapped his jacket around it to protect himself. They both roll off the edge. Gi-hun has one hand on the platform and Player 333 is hanging onto him below. He falls but manages to grab onto Gi-hun's jacket, but then the jacket starts to rip and while Gi-hun holds onto it, Player 333 falls to his death. As Gi-hun pulls himself back onto the platform with the baby, he realizes the button to start the round was never pressed.

The coast guard arrives, but there’s a drone up in the sky watching from the island as it does. Meanwhile, Jun-ho arrives at a door under the island. While Guard 11 sits in Front Man’s office as the archives burn, holding a gun to her face to shoot. At the final game, Gi-hun steps on the button to begin the round. He’s given ten minutes. Guard 11 stops herself from shooting as she hears the baby crying on the screen in front of her from the game. There are three minutes left. Gi-hun stands on the edge, cradling the baby. Tears come to his eyes. He turns round and places the baby down. Then, he falls backwards and down to his death, sacrificing himself.

The game ends. An officer tells Front Man the Coast Guard ship is approaching and he orders an evacuation. Front Man presses a red button that starts a 30-minute timer. Meanwhile, Jun-ho is climbing a ladder and notices a bomb strapped to the wall with the same timer counting down. In Front Man’s office, Guard 11 puts her uniform back on, but uses the officer’s mask to access the elevator. Front Man goes to Gi-hun’s body as Jun-ho finds his way into his office. He sees Front Man on the screen arriving at the top of the pillar with the baby. He shoots at Front Man, breaking the screen but revealing a door behind it.

Jun-ho enters the VIP room, looking over the final game. Front Man is on the circle pillar, cradling the baby, and Jun-ho shoots through the glass, revealing where he is. He shouts to his brother, In-ho, and begs him to answer why he did it. In-ho turns away and descends down the lift. Meanwhile, cars and helicopters are leaving the island. Guard 11 is in one of the cars, still grasping her injured side. There’s 30 seconds left on the timer and the whole place is empty. The timer ends and the island is set ablaze. Jun-ho has escaped in time.

Squid Game season 3 ending explained

It cuts to a figure in a dark hallway. He shoots the lock off a door and enters. It’s Gin-hu’s Pink Motel where all his winnings are piled inside of the bedroom. It cuts to six months later at the amusement park where Guard 11 and Player 246 worked. But, Player 246 is back drawing portraits and he’s drawing Guard 11, though he doesn’t know who she really is. He tells her he thinks he recognises her. She tells him she used to work there, too. His daughter runs up and Guard 11 greets her. He asks how she knows his daughter and she says from when she was working there. He tells her she’s been getting a lot better. She steps up to leave, and as Player 246 says he hasn’t finished her portrait, she says she’ll be back later.

As Guard 11 gets back into her car, she’s called by a man, but she doesn’t know who he is. When she asks, he says it’s Park Man-cheol from South Men, North Women. He was helping her look for her daughter. He says someone has said they might have seen her daughter in China, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Elsewhere, a prison is letting out inmates. Woo-seok has been released. Jun-ho and Woo-seok's friend are there to greet him. As they drive away, Jun-ho asks him what’s next for him. He says he doesn’t know now that he’s not looking for the recruiter anymore. Woo-seok asks Jun-ho what he’ll be doing, but he says he’s not a detective. Woo-seok asks him if he wants to work together. Jun-ho says they can’t be a loan shark without money. Woo-seok asks Jun-ho if he’s sure all of Gi-hun’s money is gone and Jun-ho says there was nothing left by the time he got there. Woo-seok wonders if it was Gi-hun who took it, not knowing that he had died.

When Jun-ho arrives back at his apartment alone, the baby is there wearing Player 222’s jacket. There’s a black envelope with a red ribbon placed on top of her. Inside, it says ‘Player 222 Winner’ with a bank card in Jun-ho's name. He takes it to a cashpoint and when it asks for his PIN, he enters 0222. It works and he sees the balance is 45.6 billion won.

Elsewhere, at an airport arrivals, Park Man-cheol, the man who helps reunite lost families, greets a woman and says she must be Sae-byeok’s mum. Sae-byeok was one of the players who died during Gi-hun's game and stood there waiting is her younger brother, Cheol. An elderly woman, Cheol’s adoptive grandmother, tells Cheol to say hello to his mother. He bows. She apologizes that it’s taken her so long. They hug, reunited. As Park Man-cheol looks up, he sees Guard 11 on the escalator. She’s boarding a plane to China. Park calls her and asks her if today is the day she flies out. She tells him she’s at the airport now and he apologizes that he couldn’t be there. He tells her he’s arranged for someone to meet her on the other side and hopes she finds her daughter.

Woo-seok and his friend arrive at the Pink Motel, Gi-hun’s place. Woo-seok says they’re going to fix it up. He says they’re the owner and head manager now. Woo-seok shows him where the money was. They wonder again who took it. It cuts to Los Angeles. A man in a suit approaches a house and rings the buzzer. A young girl answers, it’s Gi-hun’s daughter, and Front Man is waiting at the door. He asks if Seong Ga-yeong lives there. She replies that that’s her and asks him who he is. He says he’s an acquaintance of her dad. He says he has a gift for her from him. A black box with a red circle, triangle and square on top.

Ga-yeong asks if her dad sent the gift as a way to see how she’s doing. She tells Front Man to send a message to her dad telling him she stopped waiting to hear from him a long time ago. She says he can forget about her, but before she shuts the door, Front Man tells her that he has her father’s belongings and that he passed away. He says that before he died, he left the box of things for her. She takes it and he bows and leaves. Inside the box is Gi-hun's bloodied Player 456 jacket. A black envelope is on top with a red ribbon. She opens it and there’s a bank card inside with her name on.

As Front Man is being driven away through the streets of LA, he winds down his window at a standstill as he hears a noise. Down an alleyway, a woman in a suit (Cate Blanchett) is playing ddakji against a man. She wins and slaps him across the face. She looks to the side and sees Front Man watching her. She stares and gives a slight nod and smile. The man in the alleyway tells her they’ll play again. So, they do.

All episodes of Squid Game are available to stream now on Netflix.