Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ is known for its unexpected twists and turns, catching the audience as well as its characters entirely off guard. They are made even better by the fact that there are enough breadcrumbs left for the curious viewers to follow and for the shocked ones to look back at and understand how something was right in front of their eyes, and they missed it. The first two seasons deliver many such moments, which only makes one wonder what the third season has in store. Of the several surprises we can expect in the final season, one could have to do with the revelations about family connections, especially when it comes to the heroes and villains of the story. There is a lot that suggests that Oh Il-nam, aka Player 001 in Season 1, may have fathered Seong Gi-hun, aka Player 456, and/or Hwang In-ho, aka the Front Man, aka Player 001 in Season 2. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Evidence of Il-nam Being Gi-hun’s Father is Sparse
One of the major twists of Season 1 is when we discover that Player 001, Oh Il-nam, wasn’t killed when he lost during the marble game like the other players who lost. In fact, he is the mind behind the savage games that test the mettle and morality of the players. However, there is another thing that has the potential of being more shocking than this reveal. There are several things that suggest that Il-nam could be Gi-hun’s father. To begin with, Gi-hun’s father is never mentioned in the show. While we know about his mother, we know absolutely nothing about his father, including whether he is alive or dead. This gives a clean slate to the character and opens the door to the theory of Il-nam being that absent father.
During the games, there are several times when Il-nam mentions things that also happen to be true for Gi-hun. When Gi-hun reveals he doesn’t like plain milk, Il-nam reveals his son didn’t like plain milk either. When the old man asks him if he was spanked a lot as a child, Gi-hun wonders how he could possibly know that. While there is a connection where the elder man becomes a father figure to the protagonist, the most evidence about them being father-son comes out during the marble game. When they pair up for the game, the old man goes about the fake town, remembering how closely it resembles the neighborhood he grew up in.
Now, this makes sense because he created the games based on the ones he played during his childhood, which means that he would create a fake town based on the one he grew up in. However, Gi-hun also says that it looks a lot like his own neighborhood and clearly resembles some alleyways he knows from real life. Above all, there is the part where Il-nam intentionally loses the game, giving the win to Gi-hun. One could say that he does it so his son can continue playing the games. However, the twist about Il-nam being the creator of the games doesn’t allow all these things to give as much weight to the theory as it requires to become the truth.
The Theories About Oh Il-nam Being Seong Gi-hun’s Father are on Thin Ice
The first thing that anyone is bound to ask is if Il-nam really was Gi-hun’s father, why did he let his own son play the game where the mortality rate is exceptionally high? He himself was playing the game to get the excitement of childhood back in his life, but why would he intentionally throw his own son in the fire? From the looks of it, the part about the milk preference and the neighborhood could be entirely coincidental. In fact, in an earlier episode, when Il-nam and Gi-hun meet outside of the games, Il-nam reveals that he has a friend in the neighborhood he is living with. One could say that this could be an excuse he gave to serendipitously meet Gi-hun and convince him to join the games again. But there is a chance that maybe he really did have a friend in the neighborhood because he grew up there.
Another thing that suggests that Gi-hun is not Il-nam’s son is the birthdate. The first season takes place in June, and around the 24th, Il-nam says his son’s birthday is coming up. In the ninth episode, Gi-hun confirms his birthdate to be October 31, which is nowhere near June. It’s a bit of a clash from 0426, which is the pin he punches in to use his mom’s ATM, which he says should be his birthday. Now, this could be one of the oversights on the part of the show’s creators, but even with that, if 04/26 is his birthday, it is still nowhere near June 24.
There is one more thing that could be used to support the theory of Gi-hun’s parentage. A look at his mom’s ATM card reveals her name to be Oh Mal-Soon. One could say that her having the same last name as Oh Il-nam means they could have been married, and Seong Gi-hun took his mother’s maiden name. However, one must consider the fact that in Korean culture, women keep their maiden name even after marriage. The children, however, take the name of their father. This means that Oh is Mal-soon’s original surname and not the one she got after getting married. It also means that Gi-hun’s father’s surname would be Seong. If anything, the common surnames would suggest that Il-nam and Mal-soon are siblings. Moreover, Oh is one of the most common Korean surnames, so using this argument as evidence is nothing more than a stretch.
A Major Reveal About In-Ho’s Backstory Raises Major Questions
Until the third season drops and clears up all the doubts surrounding the parentage of the characters, theories will remain just that: theories. However, the way certain details are dropped in the second season, there is a good chance that Il-nam’s true connection to In-ho might be revealed. The most important thing that leads us to this possibility is the information about In-ho and Jun-ho being each other’s step-siblings. Now, yes, there is a chance that they may have had the same father, but this is not confirmed. In fact, just like Gi-hun’s father in Season 1, we know nothing about In-ho and/or Jun-ho’s father in Season 2. One could say that they have to be related by blood because In-ho gave Jun-ho his kidney. However, blood relation is not a criterion for kidney donation. (Remember when Selena Gomez received a kidney donation from her friend, Francia Raisa?) There are certain things that have to line up for one person to donate a kidney to the other, but blood relation doesn’t matter.
Considering that the writers spend so much time building the backstories of the characters, especially the important ones, one can’t help but think about the relevance of making In-ho and Jun-ho stepbrothers. What purpose does it serve, apart from keeping the possibility open to explore In-ho’s parentage in the future? One could say that even if they are not brothers by blood, In-ho’s father married Jun-ho’s mother, and considering that Il-nam was filthy rich while In-ho and Jun-ho struggled financially, it means that Il-nam is not the one who married Jun-ho’s mother. Still, there are a lot of variables that could yet come into play, considering that the circumstances surrounding In-ho’s parentage are shrouded in mystery.
What gives more weight to this theory is the arc that In-ho’s character takes as the Front Man. We know that at one point in time, In-ho, too, received the card to join the games. To confirm this, Jun-ho finds his file with the rest of the players in Season 1, which reveals that he won the games in 2015. But it begs the question, why didn’t he leave after getting the money? What made him turn into the Front Man? So far, the most obvious answer is that by the time he came back with the money, his wife had already died. He had nothing left for him in the world, and so he was enticed to go back to running the games as the Front Man, which he would be perfect at not just because he had already seen the violence of the games but also because he doesn’t have the heart to care anymore. However, there could be another side to the story.
Oh Il-nam Being In-ho’s Father Could be Season 3’s Big Reveal
What if, when In-ho was cased as a potential player for the games, Il-nam saw his file and realized he was his son? What if Il-nam helped his son survive and win the games and then offered him the position of the Front Man when In-ho had nowhere else to go? By this time, Il-nam would already be looking to fill the position of his successor, and who better than his own son. One would wonder why Il-nam didn’t simply get In-ho out of the games and get him the money he needed. This could be because Il-nam had been out of touch with him for a very long time and found out about him rather late. Another reason could be that he didn’t want his clients to accuse him of favoritism if they found out he was his son, which is why he had to let things take their course. In any case, when Il-nam dies, In-ho becomes the boss. Why would Il-nam leave his prized possession to a random guy?
Then there is the part about the milk. As mentioned above, Il-nam told Gi-hun that his son didn’t like plain milk. In the second season, In-ho offers his milk to Jun-hee, saying that he cannot drink it anyway. It seems like a very specific detail to slip into a random scene, which is why it raises so many suspicions. Another interesting thing about Season 2 is how In-ho mirrors Il-nam’s words and actions from Season 1. He takes the name Oh Young-il, even joking that it means Number 1; Il-nam means first-man. He could have had any name with any surname, but he took the one that resembled Oh Il-nam the most. (How Seong Gi-hun didn’t pick up on this is beyond us!) Like Il-nam in Season 1, In-ho has a decisive vote when it comes to continuing or quitting the games. While Il-nam voted to leave, In-ho votes to stay, but that’s only in the first vote. For the next two votes, he switches to X from O.
Another thing to consider in this scenario is the night Il-nam dies. The fact that he invites Gi-hun for one final conversation might make one wonder why he would choose to spend his final moments with a stranger rather than with his family. But that’s the thing. As we find out soon enough, Gi-hun is not the only person in the room. As soon as he leaves, In-ho comes in and closes Il-nam’s eyes. This means that he was one of the two people to be around during his death, which seemed to have been yet another calculated move, as he clearly planned the whole thing such that he would pass away at the stroke of midnight.
Moreover, his desire to meet Gi-hun was motivated by the fact that he liked Gi-hun and wanted him to use his prize money rather than feel guilty about it. He wanted the man to turn away from his morals and see the games as nothing but the games, which is how Il-nam sees them, too. He created them for fun, he particupated in them for fun, he let hundreds of pepole die over the course of three decades for fun. He was a madman who convinced himself that nothing good was left in the world, and he wanted Gi-hun to believe that, too. Interestingly, In-ho also has the same philosophy, which seems to be another thing he inherited from his father.
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