Why does Squid Game Season 3 only have 6 episodes?

Hwang Dong-hyuk's breakthrough series Squid Game Season 3 is finally streaming on Netflix, which marks the final chapter in the deadly games.

Debuting in 2021, Squid Game became one of the top-streamed shows globally, paving the way for Seasons 2 and 3. After a wait of six months, the final chapter is finally upon us. However, many fans were disappointed with a shorter episode count.

While Seasons 1 and 2 had 9 and 7 episodes, respectively, Squid Game Season 3 only has 6 episodes, the least in the series yet. The reason behind this change is that Season 2 was initially conceived as the final season.

However, as the story needed more to reach its conclusion, Dong-hyuk split the final story into two seasons, with 7 and 6 episodes, respectively. Since Seasons 2 and 3 were both produced back-to-back and are a part of one big story, Season 3 ended up having only 6 episodes.

More on this in our story.

Squid Game Season 3: Why is the final chapter only six episodes long?

In Squid Game Season 3, the decreased episode count (from the previous seasons) has a major reason behind it. While Season 1 was a self-contained story in itself, Season 2 ended on a major cliffhanger because both seasons were initially written together.

In an interview with Deadline, Dong-hyuk revealed how Seasons 2 and 3 would be connected:

''I wrote seasons two and three at the same time, and we were in production for both simultaneously...''

He added:

''When I was writing the script for the two seasons, I felt like there was a big turning point or an inflection point, and that was the end of episode seven, so I thought that it would do it justice to have a separate season after that. That’s why I had first seven episodes as Season 2 and then the rest of Season 3.''

After envisioning the story, the creator felt that the story demands more episodes, which is why it was split into two parts, with 7 episodes in Season 2 and 6 episodes in Squid Game Season 3.

Squid Game Seasons 3 and 2 are connected and one big story

Talking about Season 1, the story was largely self-contained. The premiere season introduced us to Gi-hun and the deadly games and came to its natural conclusion.

After 9 episodes of bloody fights, backstabbing, and betrayals, the season came to an end with Gi-hun finally winning the games for the first time and vowing to put an end to them.

While the Squid Game Season 1 finale was the perfect set-up for Season 2, it was in no way a continuation of the story. Season 2 saw Gi-hun team up with Jun-ho to put an end to the games, for which he re-enters the game with a tracker in his tooth.

While his tracker plan went haywire in Episode 1 itself, Season 2 introduced a fresh batch of players with new deadly games and storylines. After trying to end the games, Gi-hun finally decided to stage a player revolt in the Season 2 finale, which led to his friend, Jung-bae's death.

The Season 2 conclusion felt abrupt because Squid Game Season 3 is a continuation of that story, which opens with the consequences of the player revolt and features three new deadly games.

For creator Dong-hyuk, Squid Game Seasons 3 and 2 were one big interconnected story of 13 episodes, which explains the short runtime of only 6 episodes in the final chapter.

Squid Game Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.

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