Hated the ending of Squid Game S3? Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk reveals he had something else in mind; take a look
Squid Game S3 was never meant to end the way it did. Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk opened up about his scrapped ending, and why he chose a different one
Spoiler alert: Major plot details from Squid Game Season 3 ahead.
Still not over the ending of Squid Game? You're not alone, but here's something that might surprise you. The creator of the show, Hwang Dong-hyuk, recently revealed that the final scene wasn’t always going to be the unfulfilling sacrifice it turned out to be. In fact, Squid Game almost had a happy ending! In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Hwang, 54, opened up about how he wrote the first drafts of Squid Game seasons two and three in just six months — but rewrote and rethought them over time. And one of the biggest changes? The ending.
When asked why he chose to end the show with Gi-hun sacrificing himself to save the baby, and why the final scene was set in LA, Hwang said, “In the beginning, when I was just vaguely thinking about seasons two and three, I thought of an ending where Gi-hun makes it out of the games alive and goes to see his daughter in the US. So it was kind of a happy ending. But once I actually started writing, I got to thinking more and more about what it is that I wanted to say through this show. What kind of message should I be sending to the world? And that’s when I felt the current ending would be more appropriate.” What changed his mind? The world, apparently.
“I felt that the world had gotten even worse compared to when I was working on season one. Economic inequality was getting worse; there were no real solutions being offered for the climate crisis; the threat of war was growing in various parts of the world; and the number of vulnerable people falling outside the social safety net was increasing. It felt like the younger generations were losing more and more hope for the future,” said Hwang.
{{/usCountry}}“I felt that the world had gotten even worse compared to when I was working on season one. Economic inequality was getting worse; there were no real solutions being offered for the climate crisis; the threat of war was growing in various parts of the world; and the number of vulnerable people falling outside the social safety net was increasing. It felt like the younger generations were losing more and more hope for the future,” said Hwang.
{{/usCountry}}That bleak outlook led Hwang to give the ending a darker but more meaningful twist. “So as part of the older generation, I thought that in order to leave a better world for future generations, it was time for us to put a halt to our incessant greed and selfishness, at least to some extent. I felt it was time for us to make sacrifices and start thinking seriously about how we can create a better future,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}That bleak outlook led Hwang to give the ending a darker but more meaningful twist. “So as part of the older generation, I thought that in order to leave a better world for future generations, it was time for us to put a halt to our incessant greed and selfishness, at least to some extent. I felt it was time for us to make sacrifices and start thinking seriously about how we can create a better future,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Which brings us to the baby. “So that was the reason behind having a baby be a part of the story. The baby symbolises hope and the future generation. By having Gi-hun, a member of the older generation, sacrifice himself to save that child, I wanted to convey the idea that this is how we must look at giving the future generation a better world. I felt that was the most suitable ending for this show,” he said.
But what about the original ending? Would Gi-hun have made it out alive? “The ending wasn’t about him being the sole survivor again. I had a vague idea that Gi-hun and a few of the other major characters — and maybe including the baby as well — would survive and leave the island. I imagined Jun-ho and the police arriving at the right time during the final game and, instead of Gi-hun ending the game on his own, he’d do it with the help of others," he said.
So yes, the ending could have been much happier. Instead, it became a statement. And love it or hate it, it certainly got people talking.
