Jia-Ju in Entertainment On June 26, 2025, 2:10 pm

Squid Game 2 Recap: Everything To Remember About The Second Season So That You’re Prepped For Squid Game 3

Squid Game 2 season recap

Six months of waiting – in torment, might we add – and the third and final season of Netflix’s Korean hit survival series Squid Game will finally be hitting our screens soon. Gearing to drop on 27th June 2025, Squid Game 3 has all its viewers on the edge of their seats, ready to be distraught by new brutal games and praying for a satisfying showdown between Player 456 and the Frontman.

And if you’ve been too preoccupied with life to remember where we last left off, here’s a quick recap of Squid Game 2 to go through before you dive headfirst into the storm ahead of you.

Table of Contents

Squid Game 2 season recap

– What went down in Squid Game 2 –

1. Gi Hun ditched the red hairdo and re-entered the games

Image credit: Netflix

…because the series has to continue.

And because it would also be odd to see Gi Hun brooding in a flaming hairdo after he abandoned his plans to head to the US and remains in Seoul instead, with a life mission of stopping the barbaric games once and for all.

With a cleaner cut, newfound wealth, and a renewed determination fueled by vengeance, our main man spends three years tracking down The Salesman – the absurdly good-looking and snappily-dressed Squid Game recruiter – aiming to re-enter the games.

Upon forming allies with Detective Hwang Jun Ho, Gi Hun is sent back into the games as Player 456 with a tracker implanted in his dental crown, so that Jun Ho will be able to locate the island where the games are being played. The plan fails before the games even start, of course.

2. The demise of everyone’s favourite Ddakji Daddy

Image credit: Netflix

Daddy Gong Yoo may not have had a major role in the series, but his Russian Roulette madness was definitely one of the highlights of the season. We, of course, had to remind you about it.

Like a devil in a crisp suit looking all dandy and a dangerously charming smile plastered across his face, the deranged Salesman invites Gi Hun to indulge in a game of Russian Roulette with Time To Say Goodbye very fittingly playing in the background.

Because Gi Hun is truly the luckiest person on Earth, the Salesman was the one to take the bullet, and he did so like a true psycho. Chills.

3. Frontman joins the games under a disguise, just for funsies

Image credit: Netflix

Perhaps the most unpredictable twist of Squid Game 2 is Frontman joining the games under the guise of Player 001. He earns the trust of Gi Hun and joins the gang, introducing himself as Oh Young Il and sharing his emotional account of joining the games as he needed the money for his gravely ill and pregnant wife.

While the Frontman looked like he was having the time of his life playing the “good guy” and fooling everyone else around him, there seems to be a proper intention in his entering the games as a participant – one that we might only find out in the upcoming season.

4. Crazy tension between the ‘X’s and ‘O’s

Image credit: Netflix

Another surprise: In Season 1, the players were allowed to choose if they would like to end the games, with the awareness that there is a risk of death, with the odds being 1 out of 456. And if they do, the games will end with no winner, nor prize money.

This time round, the rules have been tweaked. Players are allowed to vote whether to end the game or not after every round, and a majority vote on the ‘X’ would mean the end of the Squid Games, and any prize money in the pot is split equally amongst all surviving players.

The voting system ignites a storm of tension, with some desperate to go home and many more voting for the games to continue as the payout isn’t enough yet to cover their debts.

5. New players that we love and hate

Image credit: Netflix

New season means a new cast, and it’s a pleasantly diverse lot in Season 2.

We’ve got Gi Hun’s longtime friend Jung Bae, an eager former marine Kang Dae Ho, a petite and pregnant Jun Hee, her cryptocurrency influencer ex-boyfriend Myung Gi, an indebted gambler Yong Sik, and his elderly mother Geum Ja. And finally, the MVP of this season – a transgender woman named Hyun Ju, who wishes to use the cash winnings to pay for a gender affirming surgery in Thailand.

The show wouldn’t be fun without our band of bullies, led by a cocky celebrity rapper who goes by Thanos, ploughing through the games under the influence of drugs and with an air of reckless abandon. He eventually gets stabbed in the neck by Myung Gi, so viewers might not see much of him in Season 3, but his annoyingly demented character was great to watch while it lasted.

6. Detective Jun Ho on a passionate boat search

Image credit: Netflix

And gave us nothing. Other than serve face, perhaps.

Our pretty cop man teams up with Gi Hun this season, after taking a bullet to his shoulder shot by his brother – aka the Frontman – and was saved by boat captain Park, who turned out to be a mole, quietly sabotaging the team’s search for the Squid Games island.

Unbeknownst to Jun Ho, he spends three whole years scouring the seas of South Korea, and the whole of Season 2 doing the same, but to no avail. Poor boy.

7. An emotionally conflicted Pink Guard

Image credit: Netflix

Yay to badass female characters. After Sae Byeok in Season 1, Kang No Eul is taking over the girl crush agenda this season. The North Korean defector has an intriguing backstory as a Pink Guard of the Squid Games, a job that’ll provide her with the funds needed to track down and reunite with her daughter.

While her stoic character dutifully shoots down players without mercy, it is an act of intervention against illegal organ trafficking and to end the suffering of the dying players. Her moral compass puts her at odds with her colleagues, who even threaten her life.

No Eul also forms a soft spot for Player 246, who she recognises as the father of a sick young daughter she had bonded with previously. While the last episode of Squid Game 2 suggested the death of Player 246 after being shot down by a Pink Guard, it is widely theorised that No Eul had deliberately wounded him, so that she could help him escape the hellhole and back to his daughter.

8. The uprising

Image credit: Netflix

The finale of Squid Game 2 was a wild ride. Gi Hun plots a revolt with his allies, which starts with them playing dead during a bloodthirsty brawl between team ‘X’s and ‘O’s. As the guards enter the sleeping area to identify the dead, they get ambushed by the group of rebels, and this leads to a shoot-out around the compounds as the gang tries to make their way to the control room.

Realising that their supply of ammunition is running out, Dae Ho rushes back to the sleeping area for more of them, but ultimately suffers a panic attack. Hyun Ju goes to check on him and is unable to leave to help out the rest of the rebel players stuck in the shootout, when more guards arrive to keep the players in check.

Amidst the chaos, Player 001 betrays his fellow rebels and slips back into his menacing Frontman attire and masks. Confronting Gi Hun and Jung Bae, he tells Gi Hun to “witness the consequences of his little game” and ultimately kills Jung Bae.

Recap of major events in Squid Game 2

Lots have happened, and lots more will be happening soon. If you don’t have the time for a full Season 2 binge before the imminent release of Squid Game 3 on Netflix, this recap will help jog your memory. Happy watching!