Warning! This article contains spoilers for Squid Game season 2.
Squid Gameseason 2 refers to one of the most well-known metaphorical terms fromThe Matrixin an early crucial scene, seemingly foreshadowing how Gi-hun and the Front Man’s stories will end in season 3. Serving as the penultimate installment to its three-season run,Squid Gameseason 2 mirrors its season 1in more ways than one. Its primary appeal comes from the titular games, and it also features another brutal round of season 1’s iconic “Red Light, Green Light” game.
However, despite sharing many similarities with season 1,Squid Gameseason 2 etches its own identity by walking through a new set of games, featuring a fresh cast, and drawing pop culture nods tomovies likeThe Matrix. Given howThe Matrixhas captured the zeitgeist since its release in 1999, it is not surprisingSquid Gameseason 2 also draws some inspiration from its ideas and story beats. What makes this reference to the sci-fi movie intriguing, however, is that it potentially spoils where Gi-hun’s story will ultimately go inSquid Gameseason 3.
The Front Man’s Matrix Analogy Explained: What The Blue & Red Pills Mean
The Front Man Offers Gi-hun A Choice In Squid Game Season 2’s Opening Arc
LikeThe Matrix’s Neospends years looking for Morpheus,Squid Game’s Gi-hun puts years into tracking down the people who run the games. When he finally finds the Front Man of the games, like Neo finds Morpheus, Gi-hun gets a choice between the blue pill and the red pill. Explicitly citingThe Matrix, the Front Man implies that Gi-hun has the option to take the blue pill and live the rest of his life comfortably with the wealth he acquired through the first games. Or, he cantake the red pill and face the harsh realities of the games again and attempt to stop them.
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Interestingly,Squid Game’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, also compared Gi-hun’s “unfinished quest” with Neo’s fromThe Matrix(viaTHR). “He could have just lived happily on, but he chooses to take the pill where he becomes aware of the Matrix and struggles to get away from it,” he said, explaining how Gi-hun settles for the path of most resistance by taking the metaphorical red pill and agreeing to re-enter the games. Similar to Neo, however, Gi-hun fails to understand what lies ahead of him and goes tumbling down the rabbit hole like Alice.
Like Neo, Gi-hun Refused To Go Back To His Old Life And Wants To Stop The Games
Gi-hun’s Choice Highlights The Paradoxical Nature Of His Free Will
ThroughoutSquid Game’s runtime, Gi-hun’s journey has been marred with similar red pill/blue pill choices, where he has the option to back off from the games and live with the bliss and ignorance of not knowing what would happen if he won them. Yet, even after returning home from the first “Red light, Green light” game in season 1, Gi-hun goes back to the game’s venue,highlighting how his choices were not merely emblems of autonomy and freedombut driven by other complex external forces.
Even though Gi-hun believes he is taking the red pill by choice in bothSquid Gameseasons 1 and 2, his decision to enter the games has some inevitability to it.
Merovingian’s quote, “Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without,” fromThe Matrix Reloaded, perfectly captures the paradoxical nature of Gi-hun’s choices and sense of free will inSquid Game. Even though Gi-hun believes he is taking the red pill by choice in bothSquid Gameseasons 1 and 2, his decision to enter the games has some inevitability to it. In season 1, he is given the opportunity to enter the games because, like other participants, he, too, is in a helpless situation where he is financially desperate and emotionally broken.
The Salesman’s “Bread or Lottery” game in Squid Game season 2can also be seen as a simplified version of the red pill/blue pill paradox. While bread, like the blue pill, offers a homeless person the fulfillment of an immediate need, the lottery ticket, like the red pill, offers the possibility of wealth and freedom but does not guarantee it.
Though his choice is framed as an individual decision, it is influenced by a lack of better alternatives. Similarly, inSquid Gameseason 2, Gi-hun returns to the games, believing he has more agency after planning his revenge against the organizers for years. However, like Neo inThe Matrix,he walks into the unknown, knowing little about the many variables that will rule his life once he takes the red pill. This shows how his choice was more constrained than he realized.
Squid Game’s Front Man Has Chosen The Comfort Of The Games Over Truth
The Front Man Is More Like The Cypher From The Matrix
Even though the Front Man offers Gi-hun a choice between the blue and red pills inSquid Gameseason 2, he is more like theCypher fromThe Matrix. As one of the leading forces behind the game’s management, he understands how the games function and exploit the powerless. Like the Cypher joins forces with Morpheus and the crew, the Front Man also teams up with Gi-hun and the heroes. However, he ultimately betrays them because he finds comfort in having power and control, believing the games give people the opportunity to change their otherwise “free” but doomed lives.
Gi-hun’s Neo Parallels Hint At How Squid Game Will End For Him & The Front Man
Gi-hun’s Story Already Seems To Be Driven By A Prophecy
“You didn’t come here to make the choice, you’ve already made it. You’re here to attempt to understand why you made it,” saysthe Oracle inThe Matrix Reloaded, helping Neo understand the importance of finding his greater purpose. Gi-hun experiences a similar Oracle-esque moment inSquid Gameseason 2 when the Shaman, Player 044, tells him that he has survived so long for a reason. She says this during the Mingle game,hinting that Gi-hun’s great purpose will have something to do with the pregnant player, Kim Jun-hee.
16
2
Budget
US $21.4 million in season 1 and ₩100 billion in season 2
Streaming On
Netflix
Even though Gi-hun takes the red pill inSquid Gameseason 2, his actions do not reflect change. He still makes massive gambles to serve his own purpose of revenge and seems more concerned with winning against the game’s organizers. TowardsSquid Gameseason 2’s endingarc, he even risks putting the lives of others on the line to prioritize his vision of justice and vengeance over collective well-being.
If Gi-hun understands why he made the “choice” and dies while saving even one player, like Jun-hee, he would dismantle the system the games thrive on by proving that selflessness and empathy are more powerful than greed and manipulation.
LikeThe Matrix’s Neo, his journey will only end when he transcends his own desires and selfish inclinations. This is where the Shaman’s prophecy will come into play. If Gi-hun understands why he made the “choice” and dies while saving even one player, like Jun-hee, he might dismantle the system the games thrive on by proving that selflessness and empathy are more powerful than greed and manipulation. This, in turn, would mark the Front Man’s defeat inSquid Gamebecause he seems to have lost all hope in humanity after his stint in the games.
Squid Game
Squid Game is a South Korean series released in 2021 that follows numerous financially struggling participants who are invited to partake in children’s games with deadly outcomes. As they compete, they vie for a substantial cash prize, all while navigating lethal challenges orchestrated by mysterious figures.
