Squid Game Season 3 Episode 2 Recap

Who's in the cast:
Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun (Player 456)
Yim Si-wan as Lee Myung-gi (Player 333)
Kang Ha-neul as Kang Dae-ho (Player 388)
Park Sung-hoon as Cho Hyun-ju (Player 120)
Jo Yu-ri as Kim Jun-hee (Player 222)
Kang Ae-sim as Jang Geum-ja (Player 149)
Yang Dong-geun as Park Yong-sik (Player 007)
Roh Jae-won as Nam-gyu (Player 124)
Lee David as Park Min-su (Player 125)
Chae Kook-hee as Seon-nyeo (Player 044)
Song Young-chang as Im Jeong-dae (Player 100)
Park Gyu-young as Kang No-eul (Guard 011)
Lee Jin-wook as Park Gyeong-seok (Player 246)

In the hidden operating room, Park Gyeong-seok (Player 246) wakes up after his transfusion. The doctor begs Kang No-eul (Guard 011) to keep her promise to let him live, but she can't leave a witness behind, and she kills him.

The hide-and-seek game is in full swing. Nam-gyu (Player 124) pops a pill from the cross-shaped necklace he took off Thanos's body and teams up with Lee Myung-gi (Player 333). The two of them corner a Blue player and stab him at the same moment so that neither gets the kill alone, which means neither has passed yet. Nam-gyu then comes up with a sick bit of math: Red players don't have to stop at one kill. Every extra Blue player they kill leaves one less target for another Red player, so more Red players fail and the prize money grows faster.

Cho Hyun-ju (Player 120), Jang Geum-ja (Player 149) and Kim Jun-hee (Player 222) work out that the maze doors have keyholes in three shapes, circle, triangle and square, and that each of them holds a different one. Then disaster strikes twice. Jun-hee hurts her ankle badly, and soon after, her water breaks. Hiding in a small room while the Red Team prowls outside, Geum-ja helps her deliver a baby girl, with Hyun-ju standing guard and fighting off a Red player who finds them.

The shaman Seon-nyeo (Player 044) leads a little group of believers through the maze, claiming the spirits are showing her the way. When the group is attacked, her followers are cut down, but she survives. She points Seong Gi-hun (Player 456) toward Kang Dae-ho (Player 388), telling him the man who betrayed him went that way, bleeding. She also finds a real exit that needs all three key shapes, and she teams up with Im Jeong-dae (Player 100), who has the other keys. Once he sees the door works, Jeong-dae shoves her back inside and escapes alone.

Hyun-ju finds a second exit and rushes back to bring the others. At the door of their hiding place she runs straight into Myung-gi, who stabs her before he realizes who is behind her. When he sees Jun-hee and the newborn inside, he quietly closes the door and leads Nam-gyu away. Jun-hee later tells Geum-ja they can't stay put, because the baby's crying will draw attention.

Gi-hun finally catches up with Dae-ho in a dead-end hallway. Dae-ho breaks down and confesses he was never a marine, has never held a gun, and that even his tattoo is fake. He admits he froze and couldn't bring the ammunition back. Still, he throws the blame back at Gi-hun for leading everyone into the rebellion. Gi-hun strangles him to death. Elsewhere, Min-su, high on the pills and haunted by visions of Se-mi, stumbles across Seon-nyeo and stabs her when she scolds him.

The worst moment comes at the end. Park Yong-sik (Player 007) finds his mother, Geum-ja, and Jun-hee near the exit with only a minute left. He hasn't been able to kill anyone and knows he will die if he doesn't. Geum-ja begs him to stab her instead, but he lunges toward Jun-hee. To save Jun-hee and the baby, Geum-ja stabs her own son in the neck with her hairpin. The game ends moments later, and the guards shoot Yong-sik for failing his mission while his mother screams and begs them to spare him. Jun-hee, the baby and Geum-ja make it out, but at a terrible cost.

Player tracker

Eliminated this episode

• ❌ The doctor: killed by No-eul, who cannot leave a witness
• ❌ Hyun-ju (Player 120): stabbed by Myung-gi
• ❌ Dae-ho (Player 388): strangled by Gi-hun
• ❌ Seon-nyeo (Player 044): stabbed by Min-su
• ❌ Yong-sik (Player 007): stabbed by his mother, then shot by the guards
• ❌ Many unnamed Blue and Red players

Still standing

• ✅ Gi-hun (Player 456)
• ✅ Myung-gi (Player 333)
• ✅ Nam-gyu (Player 124)
• ✅ Min-su (Player 125)
• ✅ Jun-hee (Player 222), with her newborn daughter
• ✅ Geum-ja (Player 149)
• ✅ Jeong-dae (Player 100)
• ✅ Gyeong-seok (Player 246)

Up next: Squid Game Season 3 Episode 3 Recap. Missed the last one? Read the Squid Game Season 3 Episode 1 Recap. See every episode in the Squid Game Season 3 episode guide or browse all Squid Game recaps.