Squid Game Star Reveals Why Player 149 Takes Her Own Life In Season 3

Squid Game Season 3 explained why Jang Geum-ja (Player 149) decided to kill herself after the brutal hide-and-seek game. Squid Game Season 2 introduced many exciting players, and one of the fascinating inclusions is the mother and son duo who became participants: Geum-ja (Kang Ae-sim) and her son, Yong-sik (Yang Dong-geun aka Player 007). Throughout the Netflix show's sophomore run, Players 149 and 007 endured and survived three horrifying games. 

Ahead of Season 3, Geum-ja actress Kang Ae-sim let it slip that she only filmed her Squid Game scenes for six months instead of one year for the rest of the major cast members, potentially indicating that her character might bite the dust sooner rather than later. In Squid Game's final season, Geum-ja's fate was sealed after her son unexpectedly did something reckless against one of the players closest to her. 

How Does 149 Die In Squid Game?

Squid Game Season 3 began with the fourth game, Hide and Seek, in which loyalties and alliances are tested. With a 30-minute time limit, the players are divided into two teams (red and blue), with the blue team being the hiders and the red team being the taggers. To move on to the next round, the blue team (each given a key) must find the exit while avoiding being killed by the red ones. The twist here is that the mother-son duo is on opposite sides, meaning that one must kill the other to advance (Player 007 is with the red team while Player 149 is with the blue team). 

Throughout the game, it was evident that Player 007 doesn't have the guts to kill anybody. Meanwhile, Player 149 joined forces with Player 120 and Player 222 (who is pregnant) to raise their chances of survival. However, things took a significant turn when Player 222 suddenly gave birth to her newborn daughter during the game (read more about what happened to Player 222 here), prompting Player 149 to help her in the remainder of the time limit.

After Player 120 found the exit before being tragically killed by Myung-gi (333), Players 149 and 222 (along with the baby) headed straight to the exit, but Yong-sik found them before passing through. 

With time running out, a desperate Yong-sik tried to murder a vulnerable Player 222, but Player 149 did the unimaginable by swooping in to stab her own son in the back, essentially killing him. This heartbreaking decision by Player 149 impacted the rest of her journey in Season 3. 

While she tried to stop the games by persuading the other players to vote "no" for the next round, Player 149 ultimately failed. With her son gone, she found no reason to continue, so she decided to hang herself before the fifth game in Squid Game Season 3, Episode 3. 

The timing of Geum-ja's death is quite tragic because it happened sooner after she delivered the final blow to her son during the horrific events of the hide-and-seek game. 

Why Did Player 149 Hang Herself?

Player 149 took her own life in Squid Game Season 3, Episode 3 because she joined the games in the first place because of her son's massive debt. After her son died, there was no point for her to move forward and try to win the game, mainly because she lost her purpose, not just in the game, but in life as well. It was also worth noting that Geum-ja was consumed by guilt due to her heartbreaking actions.

Before taking her own life, Player 149 gave Player 456 (who many believed is the hero of Squid Game Season 3's story) a much-needed pep talk about having faith in him to make things right while making him promise to keep Jun-hee and the baby safe. Geumja's death awakened something inside Player 456, giving him a sense of renewed purpose in the final rounds of the game. 

Speaking with The Wrap, Kang Ae-sim, the actress who portrayed Player 149 on-screen, explained her character's decision to take her own life, pointing out that "she's [already] lost everything" after her son died: 

"Geum-ja is a person who thinks only of her own son, but she ends up killing her son because she wants to protect another life, the newborn baby. She feels an immense amount of guilt after having killed her son. And without her son, she’s nothing, she’s empty, and she’s lost everything."

The Squid Game star also opened up about Player 149's decision to kill her own son, and it was simply to "make sure that the baby was kept safe:"

"I thought about how women can get pregnant, and then they hold a baby for nine months in their bellies. Then, when you give birth to a baby, it’s like bringing a whole new universe to this world. She just witnessed that with Jun-hee giving birth to a newborn baby, and I bet her whole brain is just focused on protecting that baby because she just witnessed that whole new universe being born. Even if it’s her own son, she had to hurt him to make sure that the baby was kept safe. That was the one thought that was filling her head."

While it's tragic, Geum-ja's decision to kill her son makes sense in the story because she witnessed him becoming a monster right in front of her eyes, and the only way to subdue that monstrosity is to become a monster herself.