Squid Game Season 3 Episode 1 Recap: Keys and Knives

Netflix’s sensational Kdrama’ Squid Game’ returns for season 3, picking up right where it left off at the end of season 2. Seong Gi-hun’s quest to take down the Front Man and his sadistic organization has crumbled, leaving most of his co-conspirators dead. Yet, the former winner himself survives, forced to reckon with the adverse death toll of his failed plan. On the other hand, once No-eul, Guard 011, is confronted with the order to kill Player 246, the father of a dying young girl, she makes a rogue decision of her own. Meanwhile, while the players are still reeling from the previous day’s violence, they’re thrown into a brand new game. As the remaining players are sequestered into two groups, in episode 1, titled ‘Keys and Knives,’ loyalties and moralities are both tested in one swift stroke. SPOILERS AHEAD!

No-eul Saves Player 246

Gi-hun’s insurrection, fought with only a handful of soldiers and ammunition, inevitably results in defeat. As such, soon after Jung-bae’s execution, more guards are sent to kill every other player fighting in the stairways. This includes Player 246, aka Gyeong-seok, the single father whom No-eul had met on the outside. The only reason he’s in the Game is because he wants to pay for his daughter’s expensive cancer treatment. Since No-eul is aware of his situation and has even met his daughter, she’s unable to heartlessly pull the trigger on him as she does with the other players. For the same reason, when the guard comes across Gyeong-seok in the stairways, she makes a risky decision. Instead of shooting him with the same precision she uses on other players, she leaves the player with a non-fatal bullet wound.

In quick succession, No-eul asks the man to follow her instructions and play dead if he wishes to live. The other guards assume she has simply decided to join up with the group of guards who run underground organ harvesting operations on the eliminated players. For the time being, No-eul plays along with the implication and manages to convince the group’s leader to take her to the morbid operation room. Nonetheless, once she has infiltrated their lair, she quickly turns on them, killing the other guards and forcing the doc to put his skills into saving Gyeong-seok from his near-fatal wound. In fact, when it comes down to it, she agrees to use her own Type O blood for a transfusion, which will ultimately save his life.

Gi-hun Struggles With Survivor’s Guilt

Even though the Front Man and his guards kill every other insurgent they can find, a few manage to survive. Dae-ho, the young former marine, returns to the sleeping quarters to get ammunition, but ends up staying behind out of mounting fear. Hyun-ju, another former marine, comes looking for the same ammunition in the eleventh hour. In the end, Geum-ja saves her from making a reckless decision and exposing herself as an insurgent to the guards. Then there’s Gi-hun, the leader who had to watch the Front Man execute his close friend, Jung-bae, right in front of his eyes. Nonetheless, even though everyone else gets killed, the Front Man decides to leave Gi-hun alive.

Naturally, this creates much contention among the surviving players. His insurrection had included most of the Xs (players who last voted to end the Game and return home). As such, the night’s event has severely depleted their numbers. Although most of the group still have faith in Gi-hun, his survival makes for a strange picture. The Os (players who last voted to keep the Game going) taunt him with theories about how he intentionally led the Xs to their demise to bulk up the prize pot. Meanwhile, Gi-hun himself can’t help but drown in his own guilt. As someone who has already been through the Game once, the player has plenty of survivor’s guilt. Yet, the unsuccessful insurrection takes a unique toll on him since these players’ deaths are now directly on his hands. It’s likely that the Front Man kept Gi-hun alive for this very reason, as punishment for his continued rebellion against the Game.

The Fourth Game is Announced

Now that most of the X players have died in the uprising effort, the next voting outcome remains pretty predictable. Most of the Os have stuck around long enough to no longer be deterred by the idea of potential death, theirs or anyone else’s. A few Xs have changed teams since they have come so far anyway. Gi-hun, who is kept handcuffed to his bunk, loses his grip on reality and sits still, shell-shocked. Therefore, his unwillingness to participate forfeits his vote. Thus, the ultimate consensus remains in favor of continuing the Game, setting the players up for another round. This time, they’re divided into teams of red and blue for a game of hide and seek.

The teams are chosen at random, with the Red Team serving as the seekers and the Blue Team the hiders. But, of course, there’s a twist. Each member of the Blue Team is given a key that they can use to unlock doors in the arena. Using these keys, they can try to stay hidden for the duration of the game or find their way out of the maze. Once a Blue player finds the exit or manages to stay hidden until the time runs out, that individual player will win the game. Inversely, the players on the Red Team are each given a dagger. Their task is to find a Blue player and kill them before the time runs out. Any Red player who fails to kill at least one person will be eliminated from the round.

A Few of the Players Swap Teams

Both the Red and the Blue teams pose a unique complication for the players. For people like Nam-gyun, who are willing to kill without care, the Red Team is a dream come true. Nonetheless, for others, like Geum-ja, the prospect of taking another person’s life remains unfathomable. Alternatively, the idea of being on Team Blue and becoming prey is equally daunting, especially for people like the ruthless Jeong-dae. However, these randomly assigned positions aren’t final. Before the game begins, the players are allowed an opportunity to swap places. The swap can only occur before the game begins and must be as a result of mutual consent by a Red and Blue player.

Many of the bolder, bloodthirsty players manage to get their hands on the dagger by promising to protect their counterparts. However, Jeong-dae isn’t so lucky and has to remain on Team Blue. However, some crucial swaps end up taking place. Yong-sik recognizes how much of a burden the Red team is on his mother. Therefore, he convinces her to swap places with him, even though killing another person will be just as difficult for him. Similarly, Myung-gi attempts to offer the same deal to Jun-hee, who is pregnant with their child. Initially, the expecting mother rebuffs his offer, unwilling to have anything to do with him. Nonetheless, she changes her mind when he asserts that he’ll simply come to her once the game begins so that she can kill him and safely clear the level.

Gi-hun is Out For Revenge

Once the swap happens, most of the more morally uncorrupt characters, notably Hyun-ju, Geum-ja, and Jun-hee, naturally end up on the Blue Team. Nonetheless, Gi-hun seems to have no intention of swapping places even though it means he would have to kill someone else. In fact, he’s eager for the opportunity to deliver another player to their fate. As the leader of the uprising, Gi-hun is bound to blame himself for everyone’s deaths. Therefore, he jumps at the opportunity to pin some of the same blame on another player. Part of the reason the insurrection attempt failed is that the players simply didn’t have the numbers to take out the guards.

More pressingly, they only had a few stolen weapons with borrowed ammunition. Therefore, eventually, a time had come when the insurgents were losing solely because their guns ran out of bullets required to fight. Dae-ho had been sent to retrieve some ammunition from the sleeping quarters. However, he ended up staying back, immobilized by his fear. For the same reason, some of the blame can easily be shed on the young man. Since Gi-hun is desperate enough to get vengeance for his fallen friends, he does just that. As a result, when the hide-and-seek game begins, it becomes clear that the former winner has plans of letting his darker impulses take over and seek revenge on Dae-ho.