Squid Game Season 3 revealed whether Player 456 (Seong Gi-hun) survived until the end. At the center of the story of Squid Game is Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a former gambling addict who joined the game in Season 1 to pay off his debt. While he ended up winning the games in Season 1, he made it his life's goal to end the games once and for all, which is why he decided to return to the games in Squid Game Season 2. However, things did not go as planned because the Front Man joined the games as Player 001, thwarting his attempt every chance he got.
Squid Game Season 2 ended with a player uprising that ultimately failed due to the Front Man's betrayal. What made it worse is the fact that Player 456's best friend, Jung-bae, was killed by the Front Man in front of him. A defeated Gi-hun is then forced back to the games at the start of Netflix's Squid Game Season 3, with him losing the will to live and fight back.
Does 456 Die In Squid Game Season 3?
Squid Game Season 3 began with Player 456 being forced back to play the games after the failed player rebellion. He was not given the chance to vote to continue or stop the games for the remainder of the competition as punishment for his reckless actions. A distraught and disappointed Gi-hun even manifested a semblance of the dark side in him after he killed his former friend and ally, Dae-ho (who abandoned them during the uprising), during the Hide and Seek game.
The sad truth about Gi-hun killing Dae-ho suggested that he was at a point of no return, which made sense because he must have felt that he had nothing to lose at that point.
However, it all changed when Geum-Ja (Player 149) gave him a pep talk about protecting Jun-hee (Player 222) and her newborn baby for the remainder of the games. Gi-hun found renewed purpose by helping Jun-hee's baby cross the deadly jump rope game by carrying her to the next platform, ultimately ensuring their safety. His heroic act, however, cemented Player 222's tragic end in Squid Game after she decided to take her own life because she felt the baby was safer with Gi-hun.
By making it to the final round, Gi-hun earned a massive opportunity to win the game and a chance to achieve his goal of stopping the Front Man and the VIPs from further victimizing innocent civilians in the future. Unfortunately, the circumstances in the final game didn't favor Gi-hun since the last two players came down between him and the baby (who was turned into Player 222 as a replacement for her late mother).
After Player 333 (who is the baby's real father) fell to his death right before the buzzer for the final game began, Gi-hun was faced with a heartbreaking decision: kill the baby to win the game or sacrifice himself so the baby can win.
The final game ended with Gi-hun sacrificing himself to save, not just the baby, but his remaining semblance of humanity, to send a clear message to the Front Man and the VIPs that the players are not horses that the rich and the powerful are betting on. Instead, players like him are still willing to defy the odds to leave a long-lasting impression (even if it means ending their lives in the process).
Why Player 456’s Sacrifice Made Him a Hero in Squid Game
Seong Gi-hun's sacrifice in Squid Game's finale is powerful in its own right because he solidified himself as the story's hero despite some dark turns in the early moments of Season 3. Player 456's ending means that he served a higher purpose by choosing to end his life to save the baby instead of pushing for his agenda to stop the games.
Gi-hun also might've realized that the VIPs would want to see him kill a defenseless baby, but he chose not to because he wouldn't have lived with himself if he decided to do so.
While proving that he has some sense of humanity left, it is enough for a final bow since the message impacted the Front Man (not the VIPs because they are a horrible group of people in the first place).
Whether or not In-ho would admit it, there are signs that Gi-hun's swan song moved the Front Man. He saved the baby amid the turmoil and the panic brought about by the Coast Guard's arrival (where he could've easily ordered someone else to do it). The Front Man also helped Player 456's daughter with a fresh start by personally delivering his belongings and the remainder of his prize money to Los Angeles, California (this is what Gi-hun would've wanted in the first place).
The Front Man also left the baby to his brother, Jun-ho, alongside the prize money, believing that he could provide a much better life for her than he could. In a way, a piece of Gi-hun still lives within the Front Man, but it remains to be seen if it will have a lasting impact on him since it appears he is too far gone.
