#squid game theory

[001x456]

this parallel is scaring me because if it was done on purpose then I fear there's a possibility that in season 3 we will see a fight between gi-hun and in-ho (like gi-hun and sang-woo in the final round in season 1) where in the end gi-hun refuses to kill in-ho (I doubt gi-hun will outright forgive him, but maybe he will try to tell in-ho to go home to jun-ho, that it doesn’t have to end in death) and when gi-hun tries to offer his hand to help lift in-ho up, in-ho will pull the same stunt sang-woo did and kill himself to maybe save gi-hun or jun-ho. something about "small sacrifice for the greater good"

:(

[angel-wing-feathers]

Theory time: watch me over analyze this singular picture and have it bite me in the ass when s3 comes out

Being fr? I dont think this is In-ho.

The picture as a whole seems off, especially next to the other promo pic of him we got. He just seems way too casual, and very unlike every other picture we see of In-ho as the Frontman.

Every time we see In-ho, he’s very upright, always sitting or standing sure of himself. When in his arm chair he’s not necessarily relaxed but he sits uncomfortably proper posture wise. Even in the new set of promo pics in the contemplative picture he sits with his back properly flat against the back of the seat.

The only time In-ho does let himself slouch is when he is resting his arms on his knees in their team conversations (s2), but still as Young-il will keep a big presence, and never when presenting himself as the Frontman.

You know who is slouchy and casual almost every time we see him?

Bbg we know its you— what are you planning who are we ambushing like this

[toobusybeingdelulu]

Soooo I could not get this guard theory out of my mind so I went back and tried to find parallels between the introduction of the square guards in season 1 and in season 2, and let's just say there are some interesting differences.

The speech in both seasons is basically the same, but the way the scenes are shot and the focus put on the square guard in s2 episode 3 is so blatant that it’s hard not to notice.

I’ll leave you to this vid I made, and I ask you to stop it in order to read the descriptions.

(Note; I wanted to use the Korean dub for s2 too but I could not find it in streaming :((

[nie13chen]

As much as I wish for it, I don't believe we get a happy ending for In-ho.

What if opposing Gi-hun is some kind of defence mechanism? The more In-ho observes him, the more he's aware of the alternative path he could have chosen, and it hurts.

In-ho still has a sense of justice. He's an ex police officer, so he dedicated his previous life to bringing justice to the world. He kills the doctor in season 1, who wanted to take advantage by helping the guards with the organ trafficking thing. He wants everyone being treated equally in the game (it's another question if that's even possible, btw). The point is that I believe that it's one of the reasons he stayed because he convinced himself that the games are just.

So, watching Gi-hun must show him that he might have chosen the wrong path. And the more he sees himself in Gi-hun, the more he understands that this might be what he actually wished for himself, and he realizes that there's no turning back for him. Even if he stopped the games and left the island, his strong sense of justice wouldn't allow him to be happy with all the blood on his hands. He would always know that it wasn't necessary if he had followed the path Gi-hun chose.

That's why I believe he's going to sacrifice himself as one last act of justice. He's going to make 'a small sacrifice for the greater good' so he can finally find the peace with his brother and the world he has been looking for so long.

[bebx]

it’s probably silly but just a thought because there must be a reason why in-ho decided to return to the game as the front man after he won back in 2015 — and what if the reason is because they tortured him into agreeing to work for them as the front man, or what if they threatened to kill jun-ho if in-ho refused to work for them? and jun-ho’s life was what made in-ho agree to be the front man.

(maybe they knew in-ho was an ex cop with expertise, wits, strength, intelligence, and basically what a person needed for the job. and in-ho met the criteria, thus they needed him.)

again this is probably silly and not true. but like… just a thought

in-ho becoming the front man to save jun-ho’s life and jun-ho thinking his brother has betrayed him :(

[neahtrix]

//S3 spoilers!

Gi-Hun is defo is that box, I’m telling ya. They sent him back in the same box they put the eliminated players in, their way of rubbing it in his face that he failed. Nearly everyone who fought with him were eliminated, and he’s being forced into their shoes to reinforce just how badly he failed. But he’s alive. Somehow, he’s alive.

[phoebecatesl0vr]

Wait hear me out (he probably didn't survive and its probably gi-hun but i miss my glorious king guys 😓)

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Ways I can see Squid Game 3 can go in terms of story:

1) Front Man, once and for all, tries to convince Gi-hun that people are inherently bad and that the games are just reflecting human nature. Front Man says that when push comes to shove, people will turn on each other since they value self-preservation over everything else. Gi-hun then says, “So if you had to kill Jun-ho for the money, would you?” Then for the first time in years, In-ho begins to doubt his own ideology.

2) As a continuation to the point above, In-ho confronts Jun-ho again. This time, instead of shooting his brother, In-ho kills himself (which also acts as a callback to the Salesman’s death).

3) Myung-gi redemption arc. I’m 50/50 on him either surviving and promising to actually help take care of Jun-hee’s baby, or tragically sacrificing himself but not before telling the group that they need to help Jun-hee raise their baby.

4) Yong-sik and Geum-ja survive. Only saying this because we already did the fakeout of Geum-ja dying during mingle game and I’m not sure how killing off Yong-sik would benefit the story. What I mean by that is that the only characters who I’d see getting development from Yong-sik’s death is his mom and Hyun-ju. Since Hyun-ju already has to live with Young-mi’s death, the only storyline I can think of in which Yong-sik dies is for his mom’s character development, which feels exceptionally cruel since the whole point of her being in the game was to get her son out. I don’t know, it feels too cruel to the point of grimdark if Yong-sik were to die for his mom’s pain, which is why I’m leaning to him surviving.

5) I can definitely see an ending where Gi-hun manages to save the last few contestants, but loses faith in humanity. Especially if the games continue on since people still desire entertainment and you can’t destroy people’s greed/selfishness.

6) The ONLY happy ending I can see for Gi-hun is if A) In-ho realizes his ideology is flawed since he can’t bring himself to sacrifice his brother Jun-ho for wealth and power and B) the O’s finally come to their senses and switch over to the X’s. This is the only happy ending I can see for Gi-hun since even if he manages to take Front Man and the VIPs down, he saw just how cruel people can be to each other. At this point, it’s not enough to take the games down, the people have to show they’re willing to change. It’s just like the ending of Squid Game season 1 where the homeless man was helped by the bystanders, thus proving Gi-hun’s point that there’s still good in people.

[xenosnack]

In Ho is not Il Nam's son

Hi all,

While doing the dishes I got the idea why InHo can't be Il Nam's son. A lot of evidence suggest - like the milk - that he might be his son, but I don't think so.

My first evidence is the most obvious: In Ho was in the game, would you really think that his father would let his own grandson die? Chaebol life would suggest that, but even then he wouldn't be able to know Jun Ho. Was In Ho and Jun Ho brother in laws?

In the first season of Squid game Il Nam is a player, therefore he couldn't call the Frontman with orders as we see it in the first season. Even if he used the bathroom, do you really think that Gi Hun would let the old go man alone? Maybe, as we know that he is a morally gray character even if you would like to believe it or not.

So the Frontman was getting orders from someone else. Could that be Il Nam's real son? Of course this would only make sense if Il Nam had a son, who he didn't adopt.

Was the Frontman ordered to play the games? I really would like to know if Young Il was a name In Ho came up with, or was it the name of the man who sent him orders in the first season. As the gamemasters and vips think that these people are trash just as the Salesman/Reqruiter did, wouldn't that suggest that In Ho is only another cog in the system.

Il Nam wasn't as cruel as I thought first. While he did come up with the games - with some other rich assholes - I think, he still didn't think of those people as trash, at least he never mentions them this way. This could be a reason for In Ho reaching a position higher up.

[izzyfishie]

moments like these make me wonder how many foreshadows s2 has to s3 that we haven’t caught yet

[gihun-the-troubled-twink]

Thinking about how Gihun absolutely wanted Sangwoo to end the game with him and come out of it alive together, but how Sangwoo was already suicidal and dealing with depression and so when he realized he had put up all this fight against his very own hyung, the man he cherished during his childhood, the reality that the world is truly fucked up had finally settled in and that drove him to complete his own suicide.

“Im sorry hyung” was not because he fought Gihun or tried to kill him, Sangwoo knew Gihun would have forgiven him, but he also knew that if he took Gihun’s hand he would have had to live with that fact for the rest of his life and he’d be even more alone than he was before. And he was sorry that he had to make Gihun bear witness to the loss of his childhood friend, because he knows how much Gihun loves him.

Gihun was probably one of the only people that reached out to him while he was going through his depression and on the run. What would you do if you were forced to kill the only person who supported you during your darkest moments? Youd feel so much guilt and shame it would eat you alive. And thats why Sangwoo stabbed himself. It fucking hurts me man ugh

[lenorenevermore99]

Y'know I'm starting to think that the one on the box is actually a knocked out Gi-hun. I feel like In-ho might have had him sent back to the other players in the box, with the handcuffs inside (and maybe some other stuff) just to see what they would do with him. It might be a way for In-ho to make Gi-hun lose his faith in humanity

It would be a hard blow for him if he comes to his senses only to see that the people he's trying to save have tied him up, and betrayed him in a sense.

[angel-wing-feathers]

A controversial one but if it weren’t for main character plot armor, Sae-Byeok (067) would have won

[001x456]

I had a horrible dream where it was revealed that Oh Il-nam had In-ho's wife killed so he would be willing to be the frontman and now I can't stop thinking about it... like he so would do this, Il-nam liked Gi-hun and despite that still encouraged him to rejoin the games knowing he would likely die just for his own personal entertainment. God what if he killed Gi-huns mom too

two scenarios:

In-ho being completely shattered, utterly deranged and joining Gi-hun in taking down the game when/if he found out

or

In-ho already knowing about this from the beginning and being too broken / too defeated / too depressed to fight he joined the game as the Frontman, one of their dogs

[itsmahree]

i wonder what the lee byunghun of squid game universe looks like since noone ever mentioned inho looking like him

[nie13chen]

I've been wondering for a while now: How does Gi-hun want to end the games? It's one thing to free the current players and another one to end the whole thing. Even if he convinced In-ho, would In-ho even be able to stop the games? Season 1 mentioned that there are games in other countries as well. They're probably globally connected. So, if In-ho rised up against the higher-ups, wouldn't just all people involved end up dead?

Let's say In-ho is powerful enough to end the Korean games. Wouldn't the VIPs just continue elsewhere? Maybe they'd even establish new games and get rid of In-ho if he even survived to get out of there? If Gi-hun loses In-ho, how does he plan to continue? If he managed to track down and contact the VIPs, how does he plan to convince them? I doubt that they'd just show up to get killed.

Only if In-ho is the mastermind behind the whole thing, Gi-hun would have a chance to end everything, but considering that In-ho was in the games himself and that there have been several games before he won, I doubt that this is the case. The only option is that Il-nam was the person to internationally coordinate the games and that he passed on this heritage to In-ho. If he did, wouldn't In-ho be replaceable?

I'm not sure if my way of thinking is correct. If I missed an important point (I'm very tired), let me know.