Squid Game was incredible. What a great show. Not just because of the two big identity reveals,
but because of the third implied twist. There are three main clues that everyone is talking
about, but that’s lazy. So I went back and rewatched the season to find as many clues
as possible. Here are 10 clues, scenes, and events that take on new meaning on back of
the father-son theory. First, let’s review the three commonly discussed
clues. Gi-hun said that he could not digest regular
milk, and the Old Man said that Gi-hun was just like his son. An early clue that the
Old Man may be Seong Gi-hun’s father. The second clue was the marble town. Both
Gi-hun and the Old Man said that the alleyway reminded them of the alleyway from their childhood
neighborhoods. And last, but not least, Gi-hun’s birthday.
The first PIN number that Gi-hun tried was his birthday – 0426 or April 26th. And during
the scene in which the Old Man pretended to have dementia, he asked Gi-hun what day it
was because if it was the 24th, then it was his son’s birthday soon. And that aligns
with Gi-hun’s birthday. So those are the three clues that every lazy
articles points out. But let’s go deeper. Here are 7 other clues and scene that take
on new meaning if the Old Man is Gi-hun’s father.
#4 – Curious Introductions The Old Man was the first person with whom
Gi-hun spoke on Day 1. And it just so happens, that the Old Man was contestant number 1 and
Gi-hun was the last contestant - 456. Gi-hun pointed that out, and the Old Man said “I
knew that.” Gi-hun then told the Old Man that he should be at home, having his daughter-in-law
cook for him, to which the Old Man asked Gi-hun if both of Gi’hun’s parents get their
food cooked for them by their daughter-in-law. #5 – Red Light Green Light
The first game that the contestants played was red light green light. The Old Man was
the first to move after the first round of deaths. And he was having a blast. Both Gi-hun
and the Old Man survived game #1, but afterwards, the contestants held a vote to see if they
would end the larger game. And the decision came down to contestant #1 - the Old Man.
Although he wanted to keep playing, he chose “No,” possibly because his son had chosen
“No” also. Pretty cute. #6 – Chance Encounters
Outside the game, the Old Man found Gi-hun sad and drinking alone and shared a meal with
him. The Old Man commented on the small odds that they’d run into each other and said
that they were quote “destined to meet” there. But in hindsight, the Old Man may have
gone there to see his son one last time before going back to play the game again. And in
the end, Gi-hun chose to go back and play the game again as well.
#7 – The Team Gi-hun and Cho Sang-woo formed a team with
Abdul Ali, and the Old Man asked if he could join them. Then, they were given a meal. And
both the Old Man and Gi-hun remembered that type of lunch. Apparently, Gi-hun’s mother
used to make those meals for them each morning. And speaking of meals, Gi-hun came up with
a licking technique for the honeycomb, and afterwards, the Old Man thanked him for that
as the technique helped the Old Man to pass the round as well.
#8 – The Fight The gangster, Jang Deok-su killed a man in
the residential area, and money was added to the pot. So they all learned that killing
there was allowed. Gi-hun told the Old Man to stay awake that night. And he did. The
Old Man climbed to a top bed, screamed for them to stop the madness, and the Front Man
did just so. The fight was stopped. After the fight, the group finally exchanged their
real names. But the Old Man struggled to say his, seemingly due to memory issues, but possibly,
as a way of keeping his identity a secret from Gi-hun. And lastly, without even being
asked to do so, the Old Man stayed up all night, watching over their group.
#9 – Second Watch The Old Man gave Gi-hun’s team advice as
to how to win at Tug-of-War. And afterwards, their new team of 10 created a barricade.
They agreed to take turns keeping watch, and the Old Man asked to join Gi-hun for Second
Watch. During second watch, Gi-hun had flashbacks to a violent workers strike that he was once
part of, and the Old Man said that he had heard about it. Then the Old Man began suffering
from his brain tumor, so Gi-hun laid him down and poured water on him to lower his temperature.
Over night, the Old Man wet himself. So Gi-hun gave the Old Man his own jacket to cover up
the evidence. And later, the Old Man gave Gi-hun his own jacket out of fear that the
game operators would get mad at Gi-hun for not being dressed to code. Pretty cool. The
icing on the cake, was that Gi-hun had the option of pairing with this guy, but he ended
up choosing the Old Man. Father-Son. Unfortunately, the next game was the marbles, so they would
be competing versus each other. #10 – Gganbu
Gganbu is a term for a good friend. Someone with whom you would share everything. Even
your marbles. The Old Man was dominating Gi-hun at the guessing game. And technically, Gi-hun
lost. But the Old Man threw Gi-hun a lifeline by pretending to have memory issues. And Gi-hun
took advantage of that. So they kept playing, and Gi-hun won, or rather, stole the Old Man’s
marbles. The Old Man was down to just one marble and suggested one last bet, winner
takes all. And of course, Gi-hun said that wasn’t fair. 1 marble vs 19 marbles? That’s
when the Old Man called him out as having taken advantage of a friend. Gi-hun felt bad,
but ultimately, it’s a dog eat dog world. So the Old man did not hold it against Gi-hun.
In fact, the Old Man gave Gi-hun his last marble, after which, he told Gi-hun that his
name was Oh Il-nam, and then faked his death. #11 – The Last Game
Gi-hun went on to win the game, but when he returned home, his mother was dead. That broke
Gi-hun. So for the next year, he continued to live the life of a pauper. As he sat by
the water drinking, he bought flowers from an old woman, who gave him another Squid Game
card with an invite to the Sky Building on December 24th at 11:30PM. He went there and
learned that old man was still alive. And the Old Man told him his name once again - Oh
Il-nam. Il-nam told Gi-hun that money did not make him happy, so he and his buddies
created the Squid Game. But even that was not enough, which is why he decided to play.
And then he said that thanks to Gi-hun, he got to remember all the things he had forgotten
long ago, which clearly, may have had a hidden meaning. Il-nam may not have been referring
to the fun he had had playing games with his friends, but rather, the fun he had watching
his son play games, as he had told Gi-han about during the marble game.
And of course, Oh Il-nam died at the stroke of midnight. Or at least, he pretended to
die. Granted, he faked his death once, so the timing is either very suspect or very
poetic considering the fact that he died the moment Christmas began.
The Front Man And now then ending.
Hwang Jun-ho shot his brother, The Front Man, in the shoulder. And The Front Man returned
the favor. And it may have been an actual favor. Because Jun-ho fell into the ocean,
but he may have survived. And only time will tell whether or not Jun-ho chooses to play
in Season 2 And here’s a wild card. Oh Il-nam told The
Front Man that he knew that he would not have as much fun watching as playing, so it begs
the question: Will The Front Man, who had already won the game in 2015, decide to play
again in Season 2? The Ending
Last but not last, Oh Il-nam’s final bet was to see if there’s still any good left
in humanity. And Gi-hun won that bet. Someone did save the drunk guy. But even more importantly,
after a year of mourning, Gi-hun was reborn. He went and got a fancy new haircut, and then
finally went and found Kang Sae-byeok’s little brother in a shelter as he had promised
her that he would do. Gi-hun then gave Cheol to Sang Woo’s mother, who had unknowingly
lost her own son when San Woo killed himself to let Gi-hun win the game.
Gi-han then bought a ticket to go see his daughter in the USA. But on his way to the
airport, Gi-han saw The Salesman recruiting someone to the Game. Gi-hun ran over and told
that man not to go and took his card. Then right as Gi-hun was about to board the plane
to go see his daughter in the USA, he called the Front Man and threatened him. But only
time will tell whether or not Gi-hun fights against the Game or decides to take up his
father’s mantle, symbolized by the time that Oh Il-Nam gave him his Player 1 jacket.
Like father like son.