Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Squid Game season 3.
Squid Gamestar Yim Si-wan shares an honest reaction to the shocking Player 333 twist in season 3. During theSquid Gameseason 3 ending, Player 333, whose name is Lee Myung-gi, is willing to kill his own baby in order to win the entirety of the $4.56 billion won prize for himself.
Player 333’s decision isSquid Game’s ultimate twist, especially since it comes after Myung-gi teams up with Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) to eliminate the players who want the baby dead.Instead of finding redemption, Myung-gi becomes the final villainthat Gi-hun must overcome in the games.
While speaking withThe Hollywood Reporter, Yim was asked whetherSquid Gamecreator Hwang Dong-hyuk spoke with him about what Myung-gi represents in the show’s critique of a capitalist society. Yim explains thatMyung-gi’s decision goes beyond the show’s critique of capitalism:
Well, I don’t think the character of Myung-gi can only be interpreted within the context of capitalist society. He’s more of a character who poses fundamental questions related to human nature. In my view, he shows what happens to a person when they’re put in an extreme position between morality and selfishness — and the ending that will find them if they make the wrong choice.
Yim reveals that he"wasn’t exactly thrilled"to learn that Myung-gi would make it to the end of the games because of"the ugly process"that would allow the character to reach that point. He alsoshares how he would’ve liked for Myungi’s story to endif the decision had been left to him:
When I finally had a chance to read all of the scripts, I learned that I’d be staying in the game for a very long while. Honestly, I wasn’t exactly thrilled, because I got to see the ugly process that allows him to survive for so long. So that was a recurring question mark for me throughout shooting — is it really good that Myung-gi is still in the game? How should I be thinking about this? As for myself, Yim Si-Wan, I would have preferred that he died by sacrificing himself for Kim Jun-hee. I wish she could have been the one to play the final game with their baby. But it wasn’t my choice to make.
As for what it was like filming the final Sky Squid Game sequence with Lee, Yim explains why it was difficult for him and why he had to"listen closely"to Hwang’s direction during that sequence:
It was the worst situation. Looking back on filming that scene, I still didn’t really have full conviction or understanding of what kind of character Myung-gi is, even until that very last point. All the way up until then, I was always questioning his motives and what kind of character he is deep down. So in that last scene, I really had to listen closely to the direction I received from Director Hwang, putting all my effort into understanding and focusing on his intent.
While Myung-gi is experiencing a wide range of emotions during his confrontation with Gi-hun, Yim emphasizes whyhe decided to primarily focus on the"intense fear"that the character is experiencing. Check out his final comments below:
Yeah, it really was. But rather than thinking about the good and evil of humanity that’s encapsulated in that scene, I just focused on the intense fear that the character would feel in that situation. So, rather than thinking about harming or not harming the baby, I was more focused on portraying how fearful Myung-gi would be in that situation. Fear is what I believed Myung-gi would feel most of all, because ultimately, he’s a pathetic coward. So, I made the choice that fear was the basis of my whole performance in that sequence.
What This Means For Squid Game
Myung-gi Has A Tragic Ending That Aligns With The Show’s Themes
Yim’s disappointed reaction to Myung-gi’s arc is understandable, especially when Player 333 seemed to be on a path to redemption. He would have liked to see Myung-gi sacrifice himself to save the life of Kim Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri), which would have allowed the character to die with honor instead of as a villain.
Hwang has explained Myungi-gibecoming instantly villainous inSquid Gameas a metaphor for humanity choosing to help themselves instead of future generations in an economic and environmental context. This is an apt interpretation of Myung-gi’s story, but so is Yim’s interpretation of beinga cautionary tale about choosing to be selfish instead of being moral.
While Yim did not like Myung-gi’s decisions, he did his best to follow Hwang’s direction and to capture how incredibly scared Player 333 is when he faces Gi-hun. Realizing that Myungi-gi is"a pathetic coward"was the key to unlocking fear as the driving emotion in that final scene.
Our Take On Yim Si-wan’s Comments
Player 333’s Decision Is Shocking, But It Doesn’t Come Out Of Nowhere
Myung-gi wanting to kill his own baby is one ofSquid Gameseason 3’s most shocking plot twistsand Yim’s comments make it easy to understand why it was a difficult scene to perform. His remark about"the ugly process that allows him to survive for so long"indicates that the twist does not come out of nowhere, though.
This is particularly apparent during Hide-and-Seek, when Myung-gi decides to kill as many players as he can even though he’s already passed the game, and he even stabs Cho Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon) in the back. Trying to kill his own baby is Myung-gi’s ultimate low point, but he wasalready on his way there in earlierSquid Gameepisodes.
