The 7 Best ‘Squid Game’ Season 3 Theories So Far

The final season of Squid Game promises to pick up right where the second season finale left off.

In Season 2’s final moments, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) saw his rebellion fail, costing the lives of several of his allies, after 001 a.k.a. Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun) finally made a move against him. The credits sequence promised a new twist in the games — the arrival of Chul-su, a new giant doll, across from Young-hee.

So what will happen in Season 3? Some fans of the Netflix survival thrill ride have put together some truly intriguing theories.

1. Chul-su brings a new game into the mix.

As teased in the credits sequence from Season 2, there will be two giant animatronic dolls working together for the next game that features both a red and green light. So what game will they be subjecting the players to this time?

There are a few theories about this, including the idea that they’ll be overseeing a “Jack and Jill“-style racing game, group jump ropes, or even an amplified version of “Red Light, Green Light.” About that last one, fans suggest the presence of two dolls could mean they catch more people moving by watching from different vantage points than Young-hee could do alone.

The series’ creator Hwang Dong Hyuk has previously indicated there could be a Red Rover-style game called “Why Did You Come to My House” in the future of the show and sees the floral Season 3 poster as a confirmation of that.

Netflix

One of the more creative theories suggests, though, that the train tracks mean there’s a “Trolley Problem” game ahead. The idea there would be that players would have to choose between killing one person of high perceived significance, like the pregnant Player 222, or several people who are less well-regarded. Considering so much of the game has been about making choices — particularly whether to stay and endure more bloodshed — it does seem to be in keeping with the theme of this year’s Squid Game.

Everyone say hi to Chul-su 👋 Squid Game 3 coming 2025. pic.twitter.com/hCgNexjJbC

— Netflix (@netflix) January 1, 2025

2. The wall drawings foretell new games ahead — or maybe not.

A running Easter egg throughout the first season of Squid Game was the fact that the games that were played in the 33rd Squid Games appeared to be drawn on the walls of the players’ dormitory. So, naturally, fans have taken closer notice of some of the new inscriptions in the background of Season 2 and drawn varying conclusions.

This time, several walls in the room show players hanging on a series of triangles, which some have interpreted to be monkey bars, while another wall seemingly boasts a massive chess board. There also appears to be a Latin phrase on the wall (“Hodie Mihi Cras Tibi”) that translates to “Today me, tomorrow you.”

One Redditor pointed out that the image looks more like the Korean chess game Janggi, which has two rivaling sides of the board filled with various pieces (including guards, horses, elephants, chariots, cannons, and soldiers) and is won by checkmating the general of the other team. The kicker of this theory is that if it is Janggi, according to this commenter, roughly half the remaining players will need to die before they get to this one.

Another compelling theory about the drawings posits that they don’t represent new games at all. Instead, the chessboard is representative of a graveyard, and all of the swinging players are simply making their way towards it. Yikes!

3. We may finally see what square guards are up to, too.

Another theory suggests that, since we saw the perspective of a guard with a circle on their mask (the workers) in Season 1, then one with a triangle (the soldiers) in Season 2, we should finally see what it’s like to be a square guard (which are the managers) in Season 3.

The square guards have been established as the leaders of the others, so it would be highly interesting to see who they answer to. Plus, in both prior cases of behind-the-scenes guard action, the guards in question weren’t exactly falling in line (the first was Hwang Jun-ho, who was trying to find his brother, while the other was Kang No-eul, who has openly taken issue with the underground organ harvesting that other guards are up to). So perhaps there’s a manager guard in the mix who is not happy with the status quo, either, and could make a real difference?

4. That player didn’t die after all.

A lot of time was spent developing the backstory relationship of Guard No. 11 and Player 246, who joined the game to raise money for his daughter’s medical treatments and was thus a very sympathetic character, so his death would be a true tragedy.

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'Squid Game' Season 3: Premiere Date, Cast, More

As some viewers noticed, when confronted by a guard during the quashing of the rebellion, 246 could have been shot non-fatally. So when the actress portraying Guard No. 11 posted a photo of herself on set with what appeared to be the actor playing Player 246 in a guard costume, the internet went completely wild with speculation that she may have saved him instead of killing him as ordered — especially once the actor deleted the image.

5. The team dynamics will change in a very big way.

Throughout Season 2, factions were quickly formed between those players who did vote to continue the games and those who didn’t. That, of course, informed how many of the players decided to team up during group games — particularly the ones where they could protect their allies, like Mingle. Many of the no voters were killed in the events of the finale, though, so some fans suspect the teams will become randomized with a device, like a giant gumball machine.

Park Sung-hoon as Cho Hyun-ju, Jo Yu-ri as Kim Jun-hee, Kang Ae-sim as Jang Geum-ja, Yang Dong-geun as Park Yong-sik / Cr. Netflix

6. The boat captain is not who he seems to be.

Hwang Jun-ho’s attempt to reach the island became an unmitigated disaster, and some fans seem to know exactly why: The captain of the boat he used to track down the location of the current games was actually working against him.

The theory rests upon the fact that the captain was the same one who rescued Jun-ho after he was shot by Front Man (a.k.a. his own brother) in the events of Season 1. Instead of that being a right-place-right-time coincidence, some speculate he may have been the one receiving the harvested organs from the guards and thus have a vested interest in not stopping the games.

7. The grand finale will reveal the real Gi-hun, for better or for worse.

Though Gi-hun’s first attempt to lead fellow players in an uprising against the guards spectacularly failed in the events of the Season 2 finale, some fans theorize that he might just pull it off by the end and throw the VIPs into the games as punishment for what they’ve done to so many hundreds of people in the name of bloodlust. If he does accomplish this, he would have made a successful arc from the guy who stole from his own mother to a man who finally stood on principle and won against evil.

However, others suggest that Gi-hun might fully flip to the dark side by the end of the show and either join or replace the Front Man, who himself was also a former winner of the games. Evidence of that eventuality can certainly be found in Season 2 when Gi-hun proved willing to sacrifice the blood of his peers for the sake of his mutinous ambitions.

At least one theorist thinks it’ll actually be a combination of both: The idea is that Gi-hun will pretend to embrace being the new Front Man, while Hwang In-ho steps into the role of gamemaster, only to use his access to punish the VIPs. The trick of the hat in that theory is that he will have been working with Guard No. 11 the whole time.

We’ll have to wait and see which version of Gi-hun prevails when Squid Game Season 3 premieres this summer.

Squid Game, Season 3, June 27, Netflix