Squid Game Season 2’s 10 Biggest Spoilers

Dec. 26, 2024, 10:20 a.m.

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Squid Game Season 2’s 10 Biggest Spoilers

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WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Squid Game season 2.

Squid Game season 2 was full of twists and turns as well as some tragic deaths. It took three years after Squid Game season 1 for season 2 to arrive, meaning viewers had a lot of time to come up with theories for what was going to happen next. While some of those theories weren’t that far away from what happened, Squid Game season 2 had a lot of surprises in store.

Although Squid Game season 2’s cast included many new characters, Lee Jung-jae’s Seong Gi-hun remained the focus of the story. Additionally, the Front Man was given a lot more to do this season, with Lee Byung-hun’s character ditching the mask for most of the show. From Gi-hun’s plan to take down the games and his failed insurrection, a lot of big things happened in Squid Game season 2.

10 Gi-hun Spent Two Years Searching For The Salesman

Gi-hun Used His Money To Search For The Salesman

At the end of Squid Game season 1, Gi-hun tells the Front Man that he is coming for them and will put an end to the games. Now a millionaire, Gi-hun lived up to his promise and spent all of his time and money in the search for the Salesman. Gi-hun knew that the only way to track down the people behind the games would be through the Salesman, the man responsible for recruiting desperate people to the competition.

Apart from the opening sequence, Squid Game season 2 takes place two years after the end of season 1.

To do so, Gi-hun hired shark loan Mr. Kim and gave him enough resources to put together a big team that would watch over all train and subway stations. However, after two years, Gi-hun had yet to find the Salesman. Fearing that he would miss the right window and would have to wait until the next year, Gi-hun hired even more men and had them watching all subway stations at the same time all day. While it worked – Mr. Kim and Woo-seok found the Salesman – Gong Yoo’s character knew he was being followed and ended up capturing Gi-hun’s men.

9 The Salesman Dies Playing Russian Roulette Against Gi-hun

Gong Yoo’s Character Challenged Gi-hun For A Deadly Game

Squid Game season 2, episode 1 was almost entirely focused on the Salesman, a character that stole the show in the first season despite only appearing in two scenes. This time, actor Gong Yoo was given a lot of time to shine, albeit in only one episode. After forcing Mr. Kim and Woo-seok to play a deadly game of Jokenpo combined with Russian Roulette, the Salesman went to Gi-hun’s office and confronted the former Player 456 about his plans. Gi-hun explained that he was after the people calling the shows, not their “dogs.”

The Salesman started as a low-level masked guard before becoming the games' recruiter.

This led to one of the best scenes in Squid Game season 2, as the Salesman challenged Gi-hun to a game of Russian Roulette where the odds would not be reset at the end of every turn. In other words, either Gi-hun or the Salesman would be dead after a maximum of six rounds. Decided to beat the recruiter in his own game, Gi-hun accepted the challenge and survived five rounds. While the Salesman could have used the loaded gun to shoot Gi-hun, he honored the game’s rules and shot himself.

8 Park Gyu-young’s Character No-eul Is One Of The Pink Guards

No-eul Is A North Korean Deserter Who Works As One Of The Masked Guards

The identity of Park Gyu-young’s Squid Game character was one of the biggest mysteries leading up to season 2. A rising star known for shows such as It’s Okay To Not Be Okay, Sweet Home, and Celebrity, Park Gyun-young was expected to be playing a significant character in Squid Game season 2. Interestingly, whereas most of the announced Squid Game season 2 cast members were confirmed as new players, Park Gyun-young’s character remained a mystery. In hindsight, it makes sense why they didn’t reveal who she was playing.

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Squid Game season 2, episode 2 introduces No-eul as a North Korean deserter who is slowly losing hope that her child, who stayed in North Korea, will ever be found. No-eul is struggling financially and doesn’t even have a place to sleep other than her car. Between that and the little girl at the park needing money for cancer treatment, everything suggested that No-eul was going to participate in the games. However, the big twist was that No-eul was part of the games’ staff. Park Gyu-young’s character is one of the pink guards and works on the games every year.

7 Gi-hun Returns To The Games So That His Men Can Find The Island

Gi-hun Had A Tracker On His Tooth And Offered To Play The Games Again

While there were a lot of theories as to why Gi-hun was playing the games again in Squid Game season 2, the answer was relatively simple. After his plan to find the Front Man with the help of hired guns didn’t work – the masked guards were ready to counterattack – Gi-hun put into practice his plan B. Hours earlier, Gi-hun had put a tracker under one of his teeth. Therefore, should he fail to find the Front Man in Seoul, he would offer to play the games again so that Jun-ho and the rest of the guys could find the island.

Squid Game Season 2's Returning Main Cast Character Lee Jung-jae Seong Gi-hun Wi Ha-joon Hwang Jun-ho Lee Byung-hun Hwang In-ho Gong Yoo Salesman

In theory, Gi-hun’s plan should have worked. The Front Man accepted Gi-hun’s request and made him “Player 456” again. Now on the island, all Gi-hun would have to do was survive until Jun-ho and the mercenaries arrived. However, the information that Gi-hun had a tracker leaked, most likely due to Captain Park. They removed the tracker from Gi-hun’s tooth and placed it on a completely different island, meaning that Jun-ho’s team would have no clue where Gi-hun actually was. Once Gi-hun noticed his tracker was gone, he realized help wasn’t going to come.

6 The Front Man Participates In The Games As Player 001 To Watch On Gi-hun

The Front Man Repeats Il-nam's Trick From Season 1

Just like Il-nam participated in season 1’s games as Player 001, the Front Man infiltrated this year’s competition as Player 001 as well. While the Front Man didn’t play Red Light, Green Light – he was at his office watching the first round – he joined the other players ahead of the first voting. The decision to stop or continue the games came down to the last vote, with Player 001 voting for the games to continue. Hwang In-ho, calling himself Young-il, would then get close to Gi-hun and even become part of his team for the second game.

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It's unclear whether the Front Man already had plans to disguise himself as one of the players, but the fact is that he watched Gi-hun closely throughout the entire season. “Young-il” even told Gi-hun his backstory and what led him to the games, although he was most likely talking about what happened years ago when In-ho actually played the games before winning it all and becoming the Front Man. While there was a sense of camaraderie between “Young-il” and the rest of Gi-hun’s group, the Front Man eventually dropped his act.

5 Only Red Light, Green Light Is The Same As When Gi-hun Played The Games

All Games Are New From The Second Round Onward

Gi-hun thought he could use his experience from the previous competition to help save as many people as possible this time. While this was true for Red Light, Green Light – Gi-hun saved a lot of lives by guiding everyone through the whole first game – things quickly got complicated. This time, the second game was not Dalgonna but rather a series of minigames that had to be completed in five minutes. Likewise, the third game was not Tug of War but rather Mingle. In other words, only the first game was the same as the one Gi-hun played in the previous competition.

The boy doll shown in Squid Game season 2, episode 7's post-credits scene is called "Cheol-su."

Some things were still the same, such as the fact that a fight could break out at any moment. However, for the most part, Gi-hun was as clueless regarding the games as the rest of the players. It’s unclear whether the games were always meant to be different from the ones Gi-hun played, or if this was a last-minute change made by the Front Man once Gi-hun offered himself to play the games again. Either way, Squid Game season 2 brought in two new games, as well as a different version of Red Light, Green Light teased in the credits.

4 Jun-ho’s Rescuer Captain Park Was Secretly Working For The Games The Whole Time

The Captain’s True Goal Was To Prevent Jun-ho From Finding The Island

Squid Game season 2’s first episode reveals that Jun-ho was rescued by a local captain after being shot by his brother at the end of season 1. Now a traffic guard instead of a detective, Jun-ho had spent the last two years looking for the island where the games are hosted with the help of the man who saved him, Captain Park. After Jun-ho joined Gi-hun’s mission to take down the games, he brought in Captain Park to help them search for the island once again.

However, in Squid Game season 2, episode 7, we learn that Captain Park was apparently working undercover for the Squid Games’ organizer the whole time. The captain was meant to watch over Jun-ho and make sure that he would never find the island. He was trying to mess up with one of the drones when one of the mercenaries found him. Captain Park stabbed the man and threw him out of the boat, meaning no one knows he is one of the bad guys.

3 Two Fights Break Out Between The O Voters And The X Voters

The Players Started Killing Each Other Ahead Of The Fourth Voting

Squid Game season 2 introduced a massive new rule to the competition – at the end of every game, players would get to vote whether they wanted to play the next game. If most players voted for “X,” the competition would stop, and the current prize would be split among all survivors. If most players voted for “O,” one more game would be played. Naturally, this caused a lot of turmoil and split the players into two groups.

The Extra or Special Game is also known as "Lights Out" and refers to the moment players start killing each other.

While the first two voting sessions went relatively calmly, the third voting ended in a draw. Gi-hun knew that a fight could start at any point between the two groups, and it did. Shortly after the third voting, a fight broke out in the men’s restroom, leading to the death of five players. Later that night, the “O” players attacked the ones who voted for “X” in what the games’ organizers described as the Extra Round. Knowing this was going to happen, Gi-hun planned to use the chaos of the fight to start a rebellion.

2 Gi-hun Leads A Rebellion Against The Guards After The Third Game

Gi-hun And His Friends Stole The Guards’ Guns And Started A Rebellion

Gi-hun knew that, even though there were more X voters than O ones ahead of the next voting, the fight was going to change the numbers. The voting was virtually an illusion of choice, and even if this year’s games came to an end with a lot of survivors, the competition was going to continue happening every year. Gi-hun realized the only way to save as many lives as possible and stop the games once and for all was to start a rebellion.

Gi-hun’s goal was to find the Front Man and stop the games forever, not knowing that the Front Man was there with him the whole time.

Gi-hun, Young-il, Jung-bae, Dae-ho, Hyun-ju, and a lot of other characters who were in on the plan pretended to be dead after the fight and stole the guards’ guns when they were checking the bodies. Gi-hun’s plan surprisingly worked, and after a few minutes, they had stolen a lot of weapons and started moving toward the command center. Gi-hun’s goal was to find the Front Man and stop the games forever, not knowing that the Front Man was there with him the whole time.

1 The Front Man Kills Gi-hun’s Friend Jung-bae And Puts An End To The Insurrection

Gi-hun’s Rebellion Didn’t Last Long And Ended In Tragedy

Gi-hun’s insurrection may have worked at the start, but it ended in tragedy. The rebels didn’t have enough ammo, and while Dae-ho went back for more, he had a panic attack and couldn’t move. Gi-hun and Jung-bae were trapped in a hallway with no support and barely any ammo left, with their only hope being that Young-il was going to circle the guards and catch them from the other side.

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Of course, given that Young-il was actually the Front Man, he was just waiting for the right opportunity to stop Gi-hun’s insurrection. Once Young-il reached the other side of the hallway, he shot two players from behind their backs, pretended he was dying on the radio, and told Gi-hun they had failed. Now wearing his mask, the Front Man shot Jung-bae in front of Gi-hun in the final scene of Squid Game season 2.