Squid Game season 3 episode 1 recap: the games continue after Gi-hun's failed escape plan

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 1.

The episode opens on the stairwell where the players and guards were fighting. Player 145 surrenders his gun to the guards and is killed. Player 246 is pushed to the side and as the guard stares down at him, he pleads that he has a sick daughter at home. He’s shot, but not killed. The female guard instructs him to close his eyes and does exactly as she says if he wants to live. She holds a scanner to his neck and it’s announced that Player 246 has been eliminated.

Player 246’s body is loaded into a coffin and one of the male guards expresses how pleased he is that the female guard has decided to become one of them finally. She tells him she wants to see the operating room. When he asks why, she says there shouldn’t be any secrets between them now they're partners. Meanwhile, another coffin is taken into the middle of the main room where the remaining players wait. Player 120 lifts the lid off to reveal Gi-hun inside. She feels his pulse and tells the other players he’s still alive.

Elsewhere, on the boat, the guards are looking for the missing man, the drone pilot that Captain Park pushed overboard in secret. Captain Park tells the men he thinks the guard was drunk. Jun-ho’s partner, Woo-seok, says he heard talking followed by some noises at about 3AM. He checks with Captain Park because he says he saw him out on the deck. Jun-ho wants to look for the body, but Captain Park talks him out of it. Nearby, the drone pilot's body is seen washed up on the rocks of an island.

In his bed, Gi-hun recalls the final battle with Front Man in his sleep when he’s awoken by Players 149, 007, 222 and 120 by his side. He sits up and looks at the remaining players around the room all staring at him. He asks where everyone else is and Player 120 shakes her head. She asks after Gi-hun’s friend, Jung-bae, and he looks at her sadly. Again, he replays the words Front Man said before shooting his friend dead.

The guards enter the room. It’s revealed that another 35 players have now been eliminated. The prize fund grows to 36.9 billion won. The share would be 660 million won per player and they says it's time to vote again to see if they’ll continue to the next game. Gi-hun steps forward and pleads to the guards, asking why they kept him alive and no-one else. He holds one of the guard’s guns to his head and asks for them to kill him, but they won’t. From his room, Front Man watches. He receives a call from Captain Park who tells him they’ve docked to find another drone pilot. Front Man tells him they cannot find the island until the games are over. Captain Park wants to know what happens if things go wrong and Front Man tells him to kill them all, including Jun-ho.

Back at the main room, they’re casting their votes once again. Gi-hun refuses to vote and therefore forfeits. The players are still divided, but the ones on the circle side who want to stay have more people. They shout out as one of the players on the X side steps forward to vote and in fear, she votes to stay instead. Meanwhile, Front Man meets with a guard. He says that eight managers and 27 soldiers have been killed. He instructs him to replace the soldiers and repair damages to the building.

The coffins arrive at the incinerators, but instead of Player 246’s being burnt, it drops down to the operating room, marked with the sign for organ donation. The male guard is leading the female guard down to the basement and he wants to know where she learned to shoot and why she crossed the border. She says they can talk once it’s all over, but wants to see the operating room first.

Back at the voting, the majority have chosen to stay so they’ll proceed with the next game. Player 100 is heckling Player 456 asking him if his plan all along was to get rid of lots of players. They accuse him of acting when he asked the guards to kill him. But then, they start clapping for him to thank him for the larger prize pot.

Then, Player 044 approaches Gi-hun. She tells him he’ll hear all his friends screaming every day until he dies. Gi-hun looks up at her and grabs her by the throat. He’s handcuffed to the bed so he can’t grab her again as two other players pull her away. At the operating room, three men pull Player 246 onto the table just as the male and female guard arrive. He vouches for her and says they all trust each other, that’s why they don’t wear their masks in the room. She takes hers off. But, as they go to cut Player 246 open, she fights the male guard beside her and grabs her gun.

Although she tells them to drop any weapons, one of the guards grabs his gun from under the table. She shoots him before he can fire. They try to shoot her, but she beats them to it. As she goes towards the male guard who brought her down, she tells him the reason she crossed the border was because she shot her commander in the head and then, she shoots him dead, too. The only remaining guard is the one who operates on the bodies. She instructs him to save Player 246 and if he dies, she’ll kill him.

In the main room, Player 124 has five pills left from Thanos's necklace and takes one. Everyone else is getting food and Player 333 gives the pregnant Player 222 some of his. Gi-hun refuses to eat despite Player 149 offering hers. Player 120 then comes over to apologise for not bringing more ammo and Player 007, Player 149's son, says it’s Player 388's fault because he came back for ammo and then just sat on the floor. Gi-hun doesn’t look up or say a word until they’re gone. Then he looks back at Player 388 and continues to stare.

On the boat, Jun-ho is crossing off the islands they’ve searched already on a map. Woo-seok comes in with food and drinks. He wants to talk about Captain Park and asks Jun-ho about how Captain Park saved him after he was shot on the island. Then, Woo-seok tells Jun-ho he noticed that Captain Park had a screwdriver in his hand when he caught him on the deck after the drone pilot disappeared. Jun-ho makes excuses for him, but Woo-seok says it’s weird. He says he trusts his gut, but Jun-ho continues to defend him. Then, Jun-ho turns on Woo-seok saying he’d been drinking with the drone pilot that night and dismisses him.

Meanwhile, as everyone sleeps, Gi-hun continues to stare at Player 388. He wakes up and finally sees Gi-hun staring at him. The guards enter and instruct the players to get ready for the next game. Front Man is told that the VIPs have arrived. As the players ascend the stairwell, there’s bullet holes everywhere and a collection of players hanging dead by their wrists in the middle.

Inside the fourth game, they’re instructed that they’ll be divided into two teams. They will each draw a blue or red ball from the dispensing machine by turning the mechanism. Elsewhere, the doctor has stitched up Player 246. He says he needs to give him a transfusion, but they don’t have any blood. The female guard tells him to use hers. Meanwhile, the players draw their teams at random. The mother and son players get split. Gi-hun joins the red team. The game is announced as hide and seek.

The blue team are told that they have 30 minutes to find the exit and escape or stay hidden so they’re not caught. The red team are told they have to find the blue team and kill them. If a red player doesn't kill at least one blue player, they’re eliminated. Each member of the blue team is handed a box with a necklace inside and a key. They’re told that the key works for doors in the arena to access new areas.

Once a door is opened, it cannot be locked. The red team are handed a box each, too. Inside, a knife each to kill the other players. The blue team are angry they haven’t been given anything to defend themselves, but the red team argue they can use the keys to escape. The guard offers them a chance to swap teams with someone on the opposing side.

At the boat, they have a new drone pilot. Woo-seok calls Jun-ho and says he’s not coming on the boat that day because he needs to look into something. He tells Jun-ho he’ll be in touch if he finds anything. Woo-seok gets into a car with a man and tells him that their old boss is dead. He tells him how they had to play rock, paper, scissors, but says it's a long story.

Player 044 steps forward for the blue team and says she’ll lead them to freedom. Only four players are listening to her speech. Player 124 approaches Player 125 and tries to convince him to switch teams to hiding. He starts to talk about the woman he killed from their team and realises that Player 125 was watching and didn’t save her. He pulls out Thanos’s necklace and says their whole team is dead now and they need to work together. Player 333 tries to switch with Player 222, saying it’s her only way out. He says she won’t kill anyone, so they should swap. He says he’ll kill someone and then find her. Since she won’t swap, he tells her to kill him instead and then escape. Then, both her and the baby can live.

The mother and son talk about swapping. He tells her to give him the knife. She says she’ll swap with someone else, but he says they can’t stick together or they’ll get hunted. She says he won’t kill anyone if he has the knife. He says she couldn’t either. Player 100 tries to switch with Gi-hun, but he stares him down coldly. Player 388 is desperately trying to switch with a woman, but she refuses him.

He notices again Gi-hun staring at him and approaches him, asking him why he’s staring. He tells Gi-hun it wasn’t his fault and they wouldn’t have won anyway. He instead tries to blame Gi-hun, grabbing hold of him and shouting in his face. The guards back him down. The game announcer tells the players the game is about to begin.

On the boat, Captain Park asks Jun-ho where Woo-seok is. Jun-ho tells him he had a family emergency. Captain Park says he thinks he got scared and left. Meanwhile, the blue players leave the main room to start the game. The mother and son have switched roles. He tells her he’ll get it over with and come find her. She says she can hide, even after his dad beat her so many times, she didn’t die. He tells her she has her secret weapon, the knife hidden in her hair clasp, if she needs it. She says they’ll leave together. Player 222 approaches Player 333 and tells him to swear on his life and accepts switching with him. He tells her he swears he’ll find her.

The blue players enter the game room, a series of paths like a maze, the ceilings covered in painted stars. They are given two minutes to hide before, they're told, the red team will come. Player 100 says they need to spread out and look for the exit. If it’s found, the player must shout and they can all follow. Meanwhile, Player 124 approaches Player 333 and asks if he wants to work together and he agrees. Player 222 is struggling and Player 120 offers to go with her. The mother, Player 149, follows. Finally, red team enters the arena. Gi-hun stands to enter and says the words: “It’s all your fault” as he goes to hunt down Player 388.

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