Season 3, Episode 1, titled “Key and Knives,” directed and written by Hwang Dong-hyuk, continues  the deadly saga in the aftermath of Gi-hun’s failed rebellion against the Front Man. Despite the uprising, nothing changes. The games continue until only one player remains to claim the 45.6 billion Korean Won prize (approximately $33.4 million USD). If all players perish before the final game, the prize will be evenly distributed to the families of the deceased.

The central theme of this episode is despair. Gi-hun is shattered, haunted by Jung-bae’s death and the futility of the rebellion. He believes hope has died. Meanwhile, the remaining X Players dream of escape, desperate to return home, but they are continuously outmaneuvered by the game masters. The votes are rigged, the rules bend at will, and the O Players are handed victory again and again. This manipulation highlights just how vile the VIPs and the Front Man truly are. Cloaking exploitation as opportunity, they justify the slaughter as a chance to “escape poverty,” all while propping up a system where the rich grow richer and the poor are treated as expendable. Gi-hun must now decide whether to surrender to despair or reclaim his faith in humanity and fight on with his moral compass intact. Survival means nothing if it costs him his humanity.

The Remaining Players

After the rebellion collapses, No-eul (Park Gyu-young) saves Gyeong-seok’s (Lee Jin-wook) life because she cannot bear the thought of his daughter, Na-yeon, a young girl battling severe blood cancer, becoming an orphan. No-eul later storms into the Organ Trafficking Ring’s operating room, single-handedly killing the corrupt traffickers who have made a fortune selling organs on the black market. There, she saves Gyeong-seok and thinks of a plan to escape.

Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is returned to the players’ quarters and reunited with fellow X Players: Kang Dae-ho (Kang Ha-neul), Cho Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), Park Yong-sik (Yang Dong-geun), Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim), Lee Myung-gi (Im Si-wan), and Kim Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri). Still reeling from Jung-bae’s death and the rebellion’s failure, Gi-hun spirals into madness until the Pink Soldiers restrain and cuff him to prevent further chaos.

With many X Players having died during the O Players’ ambush and the failed uprising, the vote once again falls in favor of the O Players. In retrospect, Gi-hun could have led a more effective ambush, but his moral idealism clouded his judgment. His unwillingness to make hard, brutal choices doomed the rebellion from the start. Yet even if they had succeeded, the VIPs likely would have rigged the outcome. These games were never meant to be fair, only entertaining.

The next round begins: Hide and Seek. Players are randomly divided into two teams, Blue and Red. The Blue Team must either escape the facility using hidden keys within 30 minutes or survive undetected. The Red Team, armed with knives, must find and kill them within the same time limit. If a Red Team member fails to eliminate an opponent or kills a teammate, they will be executed. Players caught between teams are allowed to switch sides before the game begins. This is not a game of tag; it is a game of murder. 

The Rescue Team

Detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) presses on in his search for the island, leading a covert rescue operation with the help of Choi Woo-seok (Jeon Seok-ho). Unknown to them, Sea Captain Park (Oh Dal-su) is secretly an agent for the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), under orders to delay the rescue until the final game concludes. The Front Man’s plan is methodical. He will complete the games, evacuate the VIPs, Pink Managers, Pink Soldiers, and himself, and then obliterate all evidence with a final detonation.

As the team docks at a nearby port to recruit a new drone operator, Woo-seok grows suspicious. The previous drone pilot allegedly drowned after drinking too much, but Woo-seok suspects foul play. He recalls seeing Captain Park holding a screwdriver shortly before the disappearance. When he brings this up to Jun-ho, the detective dismisses it as paranoia. Jun-ho bans alcohol among the crew but continues to overlook the more dangerous possibility: sabotage from within. Woo-seok, unconvinced, separates from the team to investigate further.

Jun-ho is a good man and a dedicated detective, but he is prone to dangerous misjudgments. His trust in the wrong people and his past mistakes, such as not revealing In-ho’s identity to Gi-hun, may once again cost him dearly. Regardless, Gi-hun would still lose, as exposing In-ho would give The Officer (Park Hee-soon), the Front Man’s lieutenant, the excuse to execute In-ho and take over as the new Front Man. The games would continue with or without In-ho.

Rating: 9/10