By Lauren Morris

Published: Friday, 22 October 2021 at 12:00 am

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South Korean hit Squid Game has become the most-talked about drama of the year since arriving on Netflix last month, with viewers becoming obsessed with the streamer’s biggest series ever.

The series, which has inspired various Squid Game costumes, Squid Game cookie recipes and Squid Game theories, sees Lee Jung-jae lead the Squid Game cast as Gi-hun, a man with huge debts who is invited to compete in a series of children’s games for the chance to win a huge amount of Squid Game prize money.

The only catch is that those who lose the game also lose their lives – so you can imagine that there’s a whole load of deaths across the nine-part drama.

Whether you’ve already seen the drama and need reminding, or can’t bear to watch and just want to know what happens, we’ve got you covered with a complete guide to who dies in Squid Game and which episode it happens.

Read on for a list of all the Squid Game deaths in season one. And of course – major spoiler alert.

Player 324 and 250

Episode: 1, ‘Red Light, Green Light’

Young players 324 (Lee Han-Sol) and 250 (Park Ji Hun) are two of the first contenders to bite the Red Light, Green Light dust in Squid Game, with both being killed by the creepy doll in episode one.

Unfortunately for 324, it took his death for everyone else to realise that losing the game meant losing your life, resulting in half of the other contestants trying to flee the arena in hysteria and being shot by the killer doll.

Player 119

Episode: 3, ‘The Man with the Umbrella’

While quite a few players die during the tournament’s second round – the Dalgona cookie game – Player 119’s stands out, having been eliminated after taking a guard hostage and trying to prevent his death.

The unnamed player grabs a guard’s gun after failing to cut his umbrella out of its honeycomb case in time and forces the guard to take off his mask, disgusted to see the face of a young man. At a dead end, Player 119 decides to shoot himself in the head.

Player 271

Episode: 4, ‘Stick to the Team’

All poor Player 271 wanted was his dinner – an egg and a bottle of water – but instead, he received a beating from ruthless gangster Jang Deok-su and his goons, who stole the meal for themselves. Player 271 died as a result, kicking off the deathly riots after lights out. The Squid Game is brutal!

Player 111: Byeong-gi

Episode: 5, A Fair World

Player 111 – the doctor who was asked by corrupt guards to harvest the organs of dead contestants in exchange for tips about upcoming games – finally met his maker in episode five when the Front Man discovered the underground operation.

Byeong-gi (Yoo Sung-joo) and the guard who’d enlisted his help were facing off in one of the arenas, when the Front Man turned up and killed them both. “You ruined the most important aspect of this place. Equality. Everyone is equal while they play this game,” the Front Man tells him. It’s nice to know the Squid Game head has some principles.

Player 199: Abdul Ali

Episode: 6, ‘Gganbu’ 

This one still stings. The kind and compassionate contestant that is Abdul Ali (Anupam Tripathi) meets his untimely death in episode six during the marble challenge, having been tricked by his game partner Sang-woo (Hae-soo Park) into losing.

After beating Sang-woo fairly in a game of marbles and leaving him with just one left, Ali agrees to wait until the timer runs out to see whether there’s a chance they can win together – however, Sang-woo deceives Ali by replacing all his marbles with stones. As the timer runs out, we see the heartbreaking moment Ali realises that his friend has betrayed him and that his fate is sealed. *Sobs*.

Player 240: Ji-yeong

Episode: 6, ‘Gganbu’ 

Ji-yeong (Lee Yoo-mi) didn’t get much screen time over the course of the series but her death was definitely a tear-jerker in episode six, with the young contestant sacrificing herself for Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon).

Having been released from prison after killing her abusive father and immediately met by the Squid Game recruiter, Ji-yeong had nothing to lose but her life in the competition, and chose to let Sae-byeok continue so she could make it out and give her family a better life.

Players 069 and 070

Episode: 7, ‘VIPs’ 

Another casualty from the tournament’s marble round was 070 (Lee Ji-ha) – a player who’d entered the game with her husband, 069 (Kim Yun-tae). The pair were sadly torn apart when 069 defeated his wife in their game of marbles, however in episode seven, he decided that he couldn’t go on without her and ended his life.

Player 244, Kim Si-hyun

Episode: 7, ‘VIPs’

Player 244 (Kim Si-hyun) – a pastor who embraced his faith throughout the tournament – was pushed to his death during the glass bridge round in the penultimate round of the competition.

After taking too long to choose which glass stepping stone to jump onto, the decision was taken out of his hands when another contestant pushed 244 off of the bridge, killing him as a result.

Player 101, Jang Deok-su and Player 212, Han Mi-nyeo

Episode: 7, ‘VIPs’

Two of the least likeable Squid Game characters – Jang Deok-su, Player 101 (Heo Sung-tae) and Han Mi-nyeo, Player 212 (Kim Joo-ryoung) – were defeated by the glass bridge round, with Mi-nyeo keeping her promise to kill Deok-su if he betrayed her.

Ruthless ganger Deok-su and the unpredictable Joo-ryoung’s relationship had its highs and its lows throughout the competition, with the two being romantically connected at one point before Deok-su cast Joo-ryoung aside for the tug of war challenge. Joo-ryoung ultimately got her revenge, however, grabbing ahold of Deok-su on the glass bridge and taking him down with her.

Player 017

Episode: 7, ‘VIPs’

Player 017 came into his own during the glass bridge game, revealing that he’d spent 30 years working as a glassmaker in the outside world and could tell the difference between tempered and normal glass.

Unfortunately, the Front Man decided to make the challenge even harder for him by turning off the lights, with 017 being pushed to his death by Sang-woo with just one stepping stone to go until safety.

Hwang Jun-ho (maybe?)

Episode: 8, ‘Front Man’

Squid Game’s eighth episode was a real shocker for detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who not only discovered that his missing brother was the Front Man behind the games, but ended up being shot by him as well!

While Jun-ho was shot in the shoulder and fell backwards off a cliff, we don’t know for certain that he’s dead (although it’s not looking good). Hopefully, he’ll make a surprise return in season two?

Player 067, Kang Sae-byeok

Episode: 8, ‘Front Man’

Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon)’s tragic death was not only heart-breaking, but one that certified Cho Sang-woo’s status as a murderous traitor who was always just looking out for himself.

The North Korean defector, who entered the games to give her brother and mother a better life, made it all the way to the final round, but began to deteriorate after a shard of glass from the fifth round’s bridge flew into her abdomen.

As she started to bleed out in the tournament’s sleeping area, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) tried to raise the alarm and get her medical help but returned to find that Sang-woo had finished the job, slitting her throat with a knife.

Player 218, Cho Sang-woo

Episode: 9, One Lucky Man 

It wouldn’t be long until series villain Sang-woo of SNU (Park Hae-soo) got his comeuppance, with the investment fraudster losing to his childhood friend Gi-hun during the final round – the titular Squid Game.

In a scene that came full circle with the beginning of the series, which opened with a young Gi-hun and Sang-woo playing Squid Game together, the pair played one another again but this time, with knives. While Gi-hun suffered a number of injuries, he eventually had the upper hand over Sang-woo but chose to end the game, which would spare both of their lives but forfeit the jackpot. As Gi-hun was waiting for Sang-woo to agree, Sang-woo took matters into his own hands and stabbed himself in the neck – making Gi-hun the Squid Game winner.

Oh Mal-soon

Netflix

Episode: 9, One Lucky Man 

Despite leaving the Squid Game, Gi-hun doesn’t manage to escape death, returning home to find that his mother, Oh Mal-soon (Kim Young-ok), has succumbed to her ailments and died while he was away.

Player 001, Oh Il-Nam

Netflix

Episode: 9, One Lucky Man 

In the final episode of Squid Game, we learn that Player 001 – Oh Il-Nam (O Yeong-su) – was one of the masterminds behind the whole tournament and decided to enter the games as a contestant to get a thrill from competing before dying from a brain tumour.

On his death bed, Il-Nam invites a shocked Gi-hun to visit him, explaining how he had survived and why he took part in the games, before passing away and becoming the last person to lie in Squid Game season one.

Squid Game is now available to watch on Netflix. Check out our lists of the best TV shows on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix or alternatively head to our TV Guide for something to watch tonight.

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