The South Korean Netflix series Squid Game also offers new deadly children’s games in its second season (the Pentathlon!), while Gi-hun’s fight against the game masters escalates dramatically. However, it ends on a big cliffhanger and if you don’t throw away the remote control in frustration, you’ll search the internet for theories about season 3. There’s a hint about the next and final season of Squid Game in one short end credits teaser that introduces a new killer doll.
In this article you will find out:
Warning, this article contains spoilers for the end of Squid Game Season 2.
This happens in the end credits scene of season 2
Squid Game Season 2 ends on a dramatic cliffhanger. Gi-hun (Le Jung-jae) is cheated by player 001 (Lee Byung-hun), and his rebellion against the game management fails. He sees his friend Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) die – and then it’s over. But not quite…
The end credits are interrupted by a teaser scene showing:
Players 096, 100 and 353 run towards the giant doll Young-hee, which we know from the red light-green light game. However, she has a different outfit and is in a new scenery, with a sunset and a railroad crossing.
Opposite her is a new doll, a boy (more on that in a moment). This game also has a red and a green light, but this time as part of the level crossing warning lights. What does that mean?
Young-hee and Cheol-sul: The new Season 3 doll explained
The boy doll is Cheol-sul (sometimes spelled Chul-sul). Young-hee and Cheol-sul are famous Characters that have been part of South Korean elementary school textbooks for decades. When it comes to anchoring the games in South Korean culture, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk remains true to himself.
Both dolls are likely to have motion sensors in their eyes again, but the railroad crossing suggests that the new game is more complex than just a version of the red light-green light game in which players are watched from both sides. It is conceivable that the players have to cross the tracks before the “train” arrives, analogous to a test of courage among children. But that is speculation.
More about the series:
Creator teases Squid Game’s “most exciting game of Season 3.”
Series creator Hwang only revealed this much in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
This is actually one [Vorschau auf] Cheol-su, who, like Young-hee, is a new giant puppet that we will show in Season 3. And that’s also a hint at the most exciting game in Season 3. Even though it hasn’t been revealed yet, I hope everyone will be excited about Cheol-su and the new game.
Netflix also released a teaser poster for season 3 this week, showing the two killer dolls:
When is Squid Game Season 3 coming to Netflix?
At the time of this article, there is no official start date for the 3rd and final season of Squid Game. Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk hinted at a summer/fall 2025 time frame for the series’ return in an interview with Variety.
The date currently being circulated is June 27, 2025, but this is not reliable information. Netflix’s South Korean YouTube account mentioned the date in a video description, but it has since been deleted.
All that is certain so far is: Squid Game Season 3 returns in 2025. Fans don’t have to wait as long for the new games as they did after Season 1, as the two new seasons were filmed at the same time.