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Spoilers for all of Squid Game Season 1: Seong Gi-hun (Player 456) wins the 45.6 billion won prize after Cho Sang-woo sacrifices himself in the final squid game. Gi-hun does not execute his childhood friend. Sang-woo’s death, the revelation that Player 001 helped create the competition, and the discovery that the Front Man is Detective Hwang Jun-ho’s brother turn the victory into a tragedy rather than a triumph.
Who wins Squid Game Season 1?
Gi-hun is the last surviving contestant. The final game pits him against Sang-woo, his childhood friend and the other remaining finalist after Kang Sae-byeok is killed.
Gi-hun gains the upper hand, but he refuses to finish Sang-woo. Instead, he invokes the rule allowing the players to end the game by mutual agreement. Sang-woo rejects that option and stabs himself. His suicide makes Gi-hun the official winner and fulfills Sang-woo’s final request: that Gi-hun look after his mother.
Netflix’s 2024 Tudum recap identifies the prize as 45.6 billion won. The competition begins with 456 contestants, and the prize pool increases by 100 million won for every eliminated player.
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| Final player or figure | Season 1 outcome |
|---|---|
| Seong Gi-hun (456) | Wins the game and receives 45.6 billion won. |
| Cho Sang-woo (218) | Kills himself rather than let Gi-hun forfeit, making Gi-hun the winner. |
| Kang Sae-byeok (067) | Dies from her injuries after Sang-woo attacks her during the dormitory blackout. |
| Oh Il-nam (001) | Is revealed as a creator of the games; he later dies from his brain tumor. |
What happens to Sae-byeok and Sang-woo?
Sae-byeok’s death
The final three are Gi-hun, Sae-byeok and Sang-woo. Sae-byeok is already badly injured after the glass-bridge game. During the night-time blackout in the dormitory, Sang-woo kills her, removing the person he believes is his main remaining obstacle.
Gi-hun discovers Sae-byeok dying shortly afterward. Her death leaves him and Sang-woo as the final two contestants. It also makes the last game a personal confrontation between two men who began the story as neighbors and childhood friends.
Sang-woo’s last choice
Sang-woo’s suicide is both a confession of defeat and an attempt to give his friend a morally acceptable victory. Gi-hun has already shown that he cannot calmly kill someone he knows. By taking his own life, Sang-woo prevents the game from forcing Gi-hun to make that decision and asks him to help Sang-woo’s mother.
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What is the Player 001 twist?
Player 001 is Oh Il-nam, the elderly man Gi-hun befriends early in the competition. The finale reveals that Il-nam was not a powerless participant swept into the games. He helped wealthy associates create the competition and entered voluntarily because he wanted to experience it before dying.
His brain tumor is real, so his illness and eventual death are not fabricated. His decision to play explains details that seemed unusual earlier: his confidence about the rules, his recognition of the game environments and his lack of fear during some rounds.
The marble-game episode appears to show Il-nam’s death, but the finale reveals that he was spared. After Gi-hun returns to ordinary life, he finds Il-nam alive in a hospital. Il-nam explains his motives and challenges Gi-hun’s belief that people are fundamentally compassionate. He dies after their conversation, leaving Gi-hun with the knowledge that the games were designed as entertainment by people with enormous wealth.
Rank #3
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Who is the Front Man?
The masked Front Man is Hwang In-ho, the missing older brother of detective Hwang Jun-ho. Jun-ho infiltrates the island while searching for him and finds records showing that In-ho won a previous Squid Game in 2015 as Player 132. In-ho later became the operator of the 33rd game.
Jun-ho reaches the Front Man’s private quarters and learns the truth from the files and photographs. During their confrontation on a cliff, In-ho shoots Jun-ho. Jun-ho falls into the sea, but Season 1 does not show whether he survives. His fate is deliberately left unresolved on screen.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhat happens to Gi-hun after he wins?
Gi-hun receives the prize, but the money cannot restore what he lost. When he returns home, he finds that his mother has died. He is unable to use the fortune normally and spends a long period living in emotional shock.
Rank #4
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He eventually honors Sang-woo’s final request by giving money to Sang-woo’s mother. He also places Sae-byeok’s younger brother in her care, connecting the two families affected by the game. Gi-hun’s daughter and her mother’s new family have moved to the United States, so his financial victory does not reunite him with his child.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why doesn’t Gi-hun get on the plane?
Gi-hun dyes his hair red and heads to the airport intending to visit his daughter. On the way, he sees the same salesman who recruited him playing ddakji with another potential contestant. Gi-hun takes the recruit’s card and calls the number on it.
The Front Man tells him to board his flight. Gi-hun refuses. He turns away from the gate and walks back toward the people running the games, choosing confrontation over the reunion he had planned.
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The airport scene is not a claim that Gi-hun has already ended the games. It shows that winning has not freed him psychologically and that he now wants to challenge the system. As Haein Jung wrote in Netflix Tudum’s December 26, 2024 recap, “For Gi-hun, the game isn’t over.”
What the ending resolves—and what it leaves open
Plot resolution
The competition has a clear winner, the final prize is awarded, and the deaths of Sae-byeok and Sang-woo complete the first season’s central contest. Gi-hun’s victory is therefore literal, even though it brings no emotional relief.
Identity reversals
Il-nam changes from apparently vulnerable contestant to game creator. In-ho changes from missing brother to the Front Man and former winner. Both revelations force Gi-hun and the viewer to reinterpret earlier episodes.
Moral aftermath
Gi-hun’s grief, his inability to spend the money and his care for the victims’ families show that the prize cannot erase the violence used to obtain it. His airport decision carries that moral conflict into the future: he is no longer simply trying to survive, but deciding whether to resist the people who built the game.
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