Sumith Prasad
The second season of Netflix’s survival thriller series ‘Squid Game’ ends with Seong Gi-hun waging a war against the organizers of the Squid Game with the support of his longtime friend and former colleague, Jung-bae. They join hands together to find the Front Man, the supreme force behind the deadly game, without knowing that their companion is the person they are looking for. Throughout the installment, Gi-hun and Jung-bae are inseparable, especially because of their connection, which has lasted for years. However, they become “separated” when their rebellion fails miserably, as the latter’s fate gets rewritten tragically! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Jung-bae Dies Instead of Gi-hun After Their Rebellion Fails
Gi-hun and Jung-bae’s determination to shut the Squid Game down leads them to the control room with the hope of finding the Front Man. Meanwhile, Hwang In-ho, their target, stabs them in the back by killing two of their supporters/allies. Soon, the soldiers at the place outnumber the rebels and force the two players to surrender to the Front Man without knowing the real identity of their enemy. In a surprising turn of events, the antagonist kills Jung-bae rather than Gi-hun, the driving force behind the rebellion. His best friend’s death leaves the protagonist in severe distress, which explains why the Front Man chooses the former to kill over the one-time winner of the Squid Game.
As far as the Front Man is concerned, there is nothing satisfying about killing Gi-hun. If he had wanted the protagonist to die, he could have killed the man even before the latter joined the Squid Game again. Since they both nurture a companionship, the Front Man gets numerous opportunities to murder Gi-hun, only for him to dismiss them. The masked antagonist primarily wants to break the goodness in the one-time winner and teach him a lesson. He wants to see Gi-hun suffer and eventually accept that the world is far from his idealistic notions. Killing Jung-bae is part of the lessons he wants to teach the protagonist.
Gi-hun starts playing the Squid Game for the second time with the belief that he can save hundreds of people from dying. The Front Man kills this belief by murdering Jung-bae. In a way, by killing Gi-hun’s friend, the masked antagonist is asking the one-time winner how the latter will save hundreds if he cannot even protect his inseparable companion. This unuttered question kills the determination and resilience of the “little hero,” who breaks down in front of his enemy, only for the latter to celebrate the protagonist’s fall.
Jung-bae’s Death Sets Up Squid Game Season 3
Jung-bae’s murder can be seen as a bridge between the second and already-announced third seasons of ‘Squid Game.’ Gi-hun originally decides to put an end to the titular game to honor the memory of Cho Sang-woo and Kang Sae-byeok, who die playing the same in the first installment. The stakes in this endeavor increase when it becomes a vengeful mission. Now, Gi-hun has to defeat the Front Man to find value in his friend’s death. He may not be able to forgive himself if Jung-bae dies for nothing. When the Front Man kills the player, the rebellion becomes incredibly personal for Gi-hun, enhancing the narrative of the third season.
“The end of Season 2 is going to make people more curious about how Gi-hun will do in the game now that this traumatic event has happened to him. After what’s happened to his friend, can he still maintain his objective of saving the other people in the game?” Lee Jung-jae, who plays Gi-hun, told Netflix’s Tudum. “How much pain can someone [Gi-hun] endure in order to achieve their goal? Would that determination he had in the beginning still be intact? Would he still have that feeling inside of him? Because now his best friend is dead,” the actor added.
Jung-bae’s murder sets the stage for Gi-hun and the Front Man’s potential showdown in the third and final season of the show. The protagonist will be fighting a war against the potent masked force to honor his friend’s sacrifice, which makes the narrative of the upcoming episodes emotionally charged.
Read More: Where Was Squid Game Season 2 Filmed?
