Gi-hun refused to be like the Front Man and that’s exactly why he won in Squid Game Season 3

Squid Game Season 3 took a sharp turn when Gi-hun is offered the same ruthless option that once made In-ho the Front Man. But instead of following the same path, he does the opposite, and that's exactly where his strength lies.

He wins not by overpowering others, but by standing firm in what's left of his humanity. In a twisted world built on bloodshed, it's this one decision that sets him apart and changes everything.

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The knife, the baby, and the test Gi-hun didn’t know he was taking in Squid Game Season 3

The moment that defined Squid Game Season 3 happens in near silence. Gi-hun is called into a private room before the final game, where the Front Man reveals himself and offers him a knife. What seems like an act of help quickly turns into a dark temptation. Gi-hun can either use the knife to eliminate his competition quietly or take his chances in a deadly final game.

The offer in this episode of Squid Game Season 3 is brutal but simple: choose violence or risk everything, including Jun-hee's baby. Standing over a sleeping contestant, knife in hand, Gi-hun nearly caves. But then, a vision of Kang Sae-byeok from season 1 tells him plainly;

"Ajushi...You are not that kind of person."

Those few words bring Gi-hun back from the edge in Squid Game Season 3. This hallucination isn't just a memory, it's his conscience reminding him of the person he was, and the person he still might be. Instead of repeating In-ho's past decision when he killed his fellow players to survive Gi-hun steps back.

He puts the knife away. This refusal to give in becomes the moment that defines his arc. It doesn't just spare lives. It spares his soul.

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Why the Front Man saw himself in Gi-hun, and why that idea fell apart

The Front Man, also known as In-ho, had walked a similar path years ago. Back then, he was also given a knife by Il-nam (Player 001 from Season 1) and chose to kill his way to victory. That decision marked the start of his transformation into the very person he once feared becoming.

In Squid Game Season 3, he tries to recreate that scenario with Gi-hun, perhaps to see if he would make the same choice, or maybe because he hoped Gi-hun would take his place. But Gi-hun refuses. And in that refusal lies the true difference between them. When the Front Man surrendered to the system, Gi-hun resisted it.

The baby at risk, the easy out, the tempting advantage, and it's all dangled in front of him. Yet he chooses conscience over convenience. The story even shows how far Gi-hun had already fallen when he killed Dae-ho during the hide-and-seek round, but that moment becomes a lesson rather than a turning point.

Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk explained it best in an interview with Variety;

"The showdown between the Front Man and Gi-hun began in Season 2... it is about a clash of their philosophies."

When asked why Sae-byeok's words had to return in Squid Game Season 3, Hwang said;

"They are very simple words, yet they are the most accurate words that really pierce through him."

It's this clarity and humanness that pushes Gi-hun away from becoming another version of In-ho in the games.

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Squid Game Season 3 didn't end with Gi-hun having power or winning the games. It ended with him walking away from it by sacrificing himself. He wins not by killing others, but by refusing to be the kind of person who would.

That's the moment he breaks the cycle from In-ho and proves that in a game built on violence and capitalism, holding onto your humanity is the biggest win of all.

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