'Squid Game' Season 2 Episode 6 Recap: Will Gi-Hun Be Able To Save The Players?

The penultimate episode of the second season of Netflix’s Squid Game takes an expected turn, as the third game brings out the worst in participants, setting the stage for an eventful and violent finale. Previously, a rift was created among participants regarding voting, as the allure of winning a greater reward keeps players hooked into the game despite knowing the risks. Unable to convince his fellow participants to see reason, a distraught Gi-hun prepares for the horrors the game has to offer, and the third game—Mingle—seems to be a manifestation of his fear as it sows the seed of distrust among participants. The two different factions, those who want the game to continue and those who don’t, end up engaging in a violent conflict in the aftermath of the third game, and the repercussions of the clash will prove crucial to the future of the participants. 

Spoilers Ahead

The Mingle turns out to be as merciless and vicious a game as it seemed it would be, as it draws the raw survival instinct out of the players, who let go of their moral scruples, family relations, and loyalties to protect their skin—which directly challenges Gi-hun’s worldview. Yong-sik ends up abandoning his mother on one occasion, and she is taken into Gi-hun’s group. In-ho points out the fact in the presence of Gi-hun to slyly attack his ideology. Geum-ja seems to be so agonized over her son’s betrayal that she chooses to be in denial. Hyun-ju’s good friend, Young-mi, gets abandoned by Myung-gi on another occasion, as he was trying to protect the group and chose to sacrifice a single life to protect others. Even though Hyun-ju is anguished over it and blames Myung-gi for her friend’s death, Jun-hee defends her former lover. During the final phase of the game, Jung-bae pairs up with In-ho on one occasion and witnesses him murder a participant in cold blood to avoid disqualification—but really to avoid blowing his cover. 

The game appears to have shaken the morale of the players pretty badly, and those who had previously changed their initial stance regarding the continuation of the game once again switch their stances. Gi-hun plans to use this as an opportunity to convince the participants to use their vote wisely; however, In-ho advises him not to, as he fears a clash could erupt if the supporters of continuation decide to reduce the numbers of the opposition. 

On the other hand, after continuously scouring the seas, Jun-ho and his squad finally stumble upon an island that seems to be the place where the games are being hosted, and using a drone, they locate a hatch that leads to an underground access. Jun-ho decides to send a team to scout the area, and as they try to pry open the booby-trapped hatch, the ensuing explosion results in the death of one of the operatives. They might have found the right place, but finding an entrance to the arena is going to need a lot more research than initially assumed. It should be mentioned that they are on a time crunch as well, given the duration of the game is six days, which means the longer it takes for them to locate the arena, the lower the chances of Gi-hun’s survival. 

On the island, the organ harvesting operations resume after No-eul decides to step back and not interfere any longer, and it is revealed that the managing officer had instructed two lecherous enforcers to rough her up. He further instructs the duo to keep an eye on No-eul, who might decide to secretly act on her own to stop their heinous scheme.

After the completion of the third round, a hundred participants survive, and once again a vote is conducted to decide whether the game will continue. This time, a number of participants vote against continuation, tipping the scales towards Gi-hun’s faction, who oppose the game; however, a nerve-wracking moment comes as the final vote once again proves to be the decider, and once again In-ho is the candidate who will cast it. We don’t know whether it was his training as a marine or basic instinct, but Jung-bae was able to sense something was off about In-ho from the way he straight up murdered a participant with ease to avoid disqualification, and he almost shares the incident with Gi-hun as In-ho goes to cast his vote. However, quashing Jung-bae’s suspicions, In-ho votes against continuation, much to the relief of the game opposers. But as the result of the vote appears to be a tie, the enforcers announce another vote will be conducted the next day. 

Gi-hun is able to discern the nefarious plan of the authorities, as they want the participants to clash with each other, thereby lessening the numbers of participants to tip the scale in favor of the gamerunners. Adhering to Gi-hun’s advice, some of the opposers try to appeal to the senses of the supporters, but their rivalry appears to be too intense to be assuaged by mere discussion. It is only a matter of time until both parties end up clashing. Gi-hun is able to apprehend the true depth of the depravity of the game authorities when he finds out that the participants were given forks with their lunch, clearly to be used as a weapon if a clash breaks out. 

Gi-hun’s fears come true when Thanos and Nam-gyu start bullying a mild-mannered participant, Min-su, who used to be their team member but ended up defecting to the side of the opposers, and to defend him, Myung-gi decides to step in. Myung-gi, who is an opposer, calls upon his fellow faction members, who back him up, and Thanos and Nam-gyu find strength in their fellow game supporters as a violent scuffle breaks out. Thanos manages to pin down Myung-gi, and almost chokes him to death, when Myung-gi brings out his fork and stabs him to death. As the episode ends, a number of members from both factions appear to have been killed, which means if the supporters of the game lose numbers, this iteration of Squid Game might very well be terminated by voting. However, things won’t be as easy at this stage, as In-ho has surely planned for countermeasures even if the vote goes against the continuation, because, as always, the power lies with the game and not the players. With Jun-ho’s backup support still unable to find their way to the island, Gi-hun needs to come up with a feasible plan if he wants to save the participants. But with In-ho planning for a timely betrayal, a timely rescue appears to be impossible.