The VIPs returned with a brutal twist in Squid Game Season 3, and as explained by the show’s creator, there was a dark reason behind the change.
The final season of Squid Game reintroduces the VIPs in Episode 3, in the wake of Hide and Seek, posing as guards and personally executing the remaining surviving players.
While they were just as cringeworthy and badly acted as ever, this was a big change: in Season 1, they never participated in the games. They reveled in the bloodshed as they watched and placed bets from afar, but their hands were never technically dirty.
In a new interview, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has explained why he let the VIPs loose among the players (albeit, some of those contestants were barely alive).
The dark reason behind Squid Game Season 3’s biggest change to the VIPs
Speaking to GQ, Hwang explained: “The VIPs in the previous season were more of commentators.
“I made the VIPs in this season participate in the actual games, by changing the rules or the flow of the games.
“I witnessed many political and economical leaders around the world changing rules of games for their benefit. So I made the VIPs in Squid Game to reflect that reality. That’s why I made the VIPs go and kill the players who lost the Hide and Seek game.”
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Hwang didn’t cite any specific leaders or events since the first season premiered in 2021. However, in another interview with TIME, he highlighted the US as a major point of inspiration.
“In the past, those that really controlled the system and maintained power, they were hidden behind the curtain, almost like this big unseen conspiracy. However, it’s no longer the case, especially in America,” he said.
“We talk a lot about oligarchy these days, but these so-called big tech owners, they step up, telling everyone who they’re backing with their money.
“The people who really control the power and the system, they no longer hide behind a curtain. They willingly take their masks off, almost as if to declare, ‘We’re the ones running everything. We’re the ones in control.’”
The VIPs weren’t cast to look like any specific people – although Hwang admitted that “some of the VIPs do kind of resemble Elon Musk.”
Read more about why the creator changed the original ending of Squid Game, find out what we know about the American spinoff, and why Squid Game Season 4 won’t happen.