Squid Game creator reveals original finale plan

Note: This article contains heavy spoilers for the third and final season of Squid Game. If you've not seen it and don't want to have the ending spoiled, perhaps look away until you've wrapped up the last few episodes.

The end of Season 3 of Squid Game has arrived. The final games have been played, and the ending has left a lot of fans still scratching their heads. Gi-hun's death, a surprise cameo from Cate Blanchett, it all felt a little odd. According to Squid Game's creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, the last episode of the show could have been very different.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, he revealed there was an original plan to have Gi-hun survive the events of the third season. "I don't know if I can call it an original ending, but in the beginning I had a vague idea about how I would end the story," Dong-hyuk said. "And back then, it was having Gi-hun end the game, in one way or another, and leave alive and go see his daughter in America. So originally, I thought the person who witnesses the American recruiter woman would be Gi-hun."

"But as I began writing the story, and as I began to think more and more about, 'What do I want to deliver with the ending of this story?' And also, 'What should Gi-hun's journey and what should his destination be?' I was witnessing more and more what was happening around the world and I thought it was more fitting for Gi-hun to send this powerful and impactful message to the world [with his death] and that should be how the story comes to a close," he continued.

The ending certainly left fans with mixed emotions, but we know that this isn't the last we'll see of Squid Game. An American spin-off is on the way, alongside more from this hit Netflix show. If you want our opinions of the last season, you can find our review here.