Squid Game Season 3 unveiled the dark transformation behind one of its most enigmatic characters, showing how In-ho became the Front Man. Through a flashback scene, viewers learned how In-ho won the Squid Game, which simultaneously revealed the differences between Lee Byung-hun’s character and Lee Jung-jae’s Seong Gi-hun.
Why and how In-ho became the Front Man before Squid Game Season 3
The latest and final season of Squid Game aligned the storylines of two polar opposite characters in the show, In-ho and Seong Gi-hun. Viewers learned how In-ho became the Front Man—a rather brutal journey that stripped away his humanity.
When In-ho was a participant in the game, he was given an opportunity to skip the final game if he chose to slit the throats of all his competitors the previous night. Il-nam, the previous Front Man, offered him a knife as a special advantage.
In the current game, In-ho offered the same advantage to Seong Gi-hun. It seemed like he did it to justify his own actions in a similar situation. However, to In-ho’s dismay, Gi-hun didn’t kill any of his competitors.
Meanwhile, the flashback scenes reveal In-ho brutally killing all his fellow participants. Instead of just slitting their throats, In-ho starts stabbing everyone, mutilating their body parts in a frenzied state.
It is possible that In-ho’s cold-blooded betrayal of his fellow participants made him a worthy candidate to become the Front Man. On the other hand, the scene raises the question of whether the only true qualification to lead a merciless game is to lose every ounce of humanity.
Actor Lee Byung-hun, who played In-ho in the series, has offered his insight regarding In-ho’s psyche and if there’s any humanity left in him. Byung-hun referenced In-ho’s last act of saving the baby in the final game, where Seong Gi-hun sacrifices himself, claiming that it shows that he still has a conscience “deep down.”
The acclaimed K-drama star told Netflix, “That actually highlighted the fact that he has that last remaining piece of humanity deep down somewhere. That’s the agreement that director Hwang and I came to. That’s how I played my character.”
