Squid Game Season 3 Episode Guide: Full Recap of Every Episode

I finished Season 3 at 4 AM, immediately rewatched the finale, and then couldn't sleep anyway. Hwang Dong-hyuk's brutal vision reached its conclusion with 7 episodes that answered questions I'd been obsessing over while delivering the series' most intense games yet.

The final season drew 145.4 million views in its first month, cementing Squid Game as Netflix's most-watched series ever. But beyond the numbers—this finale DELIVERED.

Full spoilers ahead. If you haven't watched, please experience it unspoiled first. It deserves that.

Episode 1: "The Return"

The season opens three years after Season 2's cliffhanger, and the first shot of Gi-hun made me gasp. His red hair is gone. The desperation is gone. What's left is determination and a dangerous edge we haven't seen before.

• Gi-hun enters the games again, this time with a PLAN
• New players introduced—I immediately got attached to several (mistake)
• The first hints of dissent among the pink soldiers
• A shocking return of a familiar face that made me literally yell at my screen

This episode masterfully balances setup with tension. It reminded me why I fell in love with this show while promising the stakes are higher than ever.

Episode 2: "Hide and Seek"

The first game of Season 3 subverts expectations brilliantly. Instead of running from the doll, players must hide from roaming hunters in a massive warehouse filled with shipping containers.

• Players have 10 minutes to hide
• Hunters (masked guards) search for 20 minutes
• Anyone found is eliminated
• Last 100 players advance

Death Toll: 287 players eliminated

Here's what got me: the game becomes a commentary on class. Wealthy players bribed guards for hiding spots, while others formed human shields hoping to survive through chaos. Gi-hun's strategy of constant movement rather than hiding was genius—and I never would have thought of it.

Episodes 3-4: "Trust" and "Betrayal"

These paired episodes broke me. A trust-based game forces players into groups of five, where one member must be sacrificed each round based on group vote.

The Twist That Destroyed Me: The sacrificed player doesn't die—they're moved to a separate game where survival is possible but brutal. This creates an agonizing dynamic where players must decide: sacrifice themselves for their group, or condemn someone else to unknown horrors?

Gi-hun faces his greatest test when he's forced to vote against someone who saved his life earlier. The show doesn't let him off easy—there are no clean choices. I paused the episode and just sat with that for a while.

Episode 5: "Jump Rope"

The most physically demanding game yet—teams of two must complete increasingly complex jump rope patterns while the rope speeds up every 30 seconds. My anxiety was through the roof.

Death Toll: 84 players eliminated

But here's what makes this episode unforgettable: it's not the game. It's the revelation about the Front Man's past. We finally learn what happened during his year as a player, and it recontextualizes EVERYTHING we thought we knew about In-ho. I had to rewatch certain Season 1 scenes immediately after.

The VIP subplot also reaches its climax here, with consequences that ripple through everything that follows.

Episode 6: "The Choice"

A quieter episode—the calm before the storm. The remaining 32 players are given a choice: vote to end the games and split the current prize equally, or continue for the full amount.

The Vote: 17-15 to continue

Here's what shocked me: Gi-hun voted to continue. His plan requires reaching the final game; he can't stop the system from outside. But this decision costs him allies and forced ME to question whether the games have changed him. Uncomfortable viewing.

The episode ends with the Front Man removing his mask for Gi-hun alone. The confrontation we've been waiting three seasons for finally begins. I was literally on the edge of my couch.

Episode 7: "Sky Squid Game" (Finale)

The 90-minute finale delivered everything promised and more. I'm still processing it.

The final game is Squid Game itself—but played on a glass platform suspended 100 meters in the air, with the boundaries marked by sensors rather than lines.

Final Players: Gi-hun vs. the Front Man himself

Yes, In-ho enters the game as a player. The confrontation between ideology and action, between hope and cynicism, plays out in the most visceral way possible.

The Ending (Major Spoilers): The final ten minutes redefine what we thought the show was about. Without spoiling the specific outcome, the ending is neither fully hopeful nor entirely bleak—it's honest. The system doesn't fall in a day, but cracks have formed.

The Cate Blanchett cameo as the American Recruiter in the post-credits scene confirms the games aren't confined to Korea, setting up potential spin-offs while providing closure to this story.

My Final Verdict

Season 3 succeeds where so many finales fail—it honors what came before while taking genuine risks. The new games feel fresh yet thematically connected to everything we've seen. The character arcs reach satisfying conclusions without feeling forced. And the ending trusts its audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping everything in a neat bow.

I've rewatched the finale twice now. I have different feelings each time. I think that's intentional.

This is how you end a phenomenon. Hwang Dong-hyuk did it right.