Reviewing the end of Squid Games

“We are not horses, we are humans. And humans are…” -Gihun

What if I told you that the ending that we got, wasn’t the ending that was supposed to happen?

I asked you guys whether or not the ending of squid games was surprising to you. 

Here are the results:

1 means that you weren’t surprised at all and 5 means you were very surprised. 

It seems like the overall views are kind of in the middle and leaning towards pretty surprised. Some people were shocked because they killed off the main character. And here’s what some of you guys had to say about it:

“The sacrifice of player 456 was very unexpected. I personally thought he did the right thing. The explosion of the island was a little too expected, though. Any movie or tv show always has the main villain (or in this case, the island) going away or passing away.” -Loki Summers

“In my opinion, the ending was symbolic, depressing, but overall, needed and powerful. It wasn't meant to be comforting, but to emphasize a deeper meaning: systems built on greed and inequality can't collapse because of one individual alone. Instead, real change requires collective action. Gi-Hun's line, "We are not horses—we are humans," highlights that humans have moral choices. Each person can choose who they become, whether they follow the system or resist it. The ending shows that awareness alone is not enough, and that systems continue when people are afraid to be the first to stand against them.” -Anonymous

“I thought it was a shocking ending to the entire series of Squid Games.” -Alyxis Klatt

“In just three days, Season 3 amassed 60.1 million views — breaking the record for most views for a show in that time frame — and the rapid success of Seasons 2 and 3 made Squid Game the only show ever to make the Most Popular List in its first week.”

Right now, all 3 seasons of Squid Game hold the number 1, number 2, and number 3 (respectively) spots on the most popular non-English show on Netflix.

In my opinion, I thought the ending was good. It wrapped up Gi hun’s story in a way that sent out a message that all humans should be considered equal, and his goal was accomplished. 

The series, in general, shows how people can change from one event to another. Not going into specifics here, but there were a few alliances that broke in the end. 

This show shows that people still have morale. Gi hun could’ve just dropped the baby over the ledge and won the games. Instead, he just stood there facing the frontman’s viewing room. He did this because the frontman made Gi hun a deal, allowing Gi hun and the baby to live, but since Gi hun didn’t kill the other players the night before, the frontman didn’t let them both live. When Gi hun finally realized this, he stood at the edge of the platform and said, “We are not horses. We are humans. And humans are…” And those were his last words. He probably didn’t finish his sentence because there is no one way to finish it.

Now it’s time to answer the question you’ve probably had since the beginning of this article: What was the original ending of Squid Games going to be? And why did they change it?

This is what the creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had to say: “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. 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 witnessed the American recruiter woman would be Gi-hun.”” The article went on to say that the creator was watching the events around the world, and he decided that the ending we got would have a bigger influence on the world as a whole. 

So while the ending we got was surprising to some and not surprising to others, it was meant to have an impact.

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