This article contains spoilers for The Squid Game Season 2.

The first season of The Squid Game was a global phenomenon and was easily the biggest hit Netflix had outside of Stranger Things. Korean Game of Death thriller about a man who accepts an invitation to join a sick contest to win money from playing twisted (and deadly) versions of children's games wowed audiences everywhere. It was scary, shocking and terrifying, but also entertaining and quite poignant in its commentary on class and capitalism.

Season 2 acknowledges that the surprise is gone, but instead relies on the audience's prior knowledge of the games' premise and weapons that against them. This season is darker, grittier and crueler, as if creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is rebelling against the capitalist systems that made the first season of The Squid Game a global hit, yet kept him from seeing any of the rewards, making the second season made the audience regret ever wanting to see more.

Season 2 sees season 1 protagonist Seong Gi-hoon (Lee Jung-jae) return to the games in an attempt to shut them down. He spends every passing moment trying to do that convinced players to vote against continuing death gamesand make sure they know who the real enemy is. However, at every turn, he is undermined and forced to watch more people die horrible deaths for absolutely no reason other than the sick entertainment of rich monsters.

One of the people leading the charge to keep the games going despite the many deaths is player 230, also known as Thanos. Played by Choi Seung-Hyun, aka TOP, Thanos is the shock to the system and jolt of chaotic energy that The Squid Game needed to maintain its balance between absolute horror and twisted fun. Yet when the world needed him most, Thanos died a slow and painful death.

Thanos is one of the best characters in the second season of The Squid Game.. He's an unpredictable anime character come to life - a boy who dances to the most beautiful tune of the season knowing full well that he will face death. He's also a guy who suddenly starts speaking English just to make himself look cooler, and even throws in a little Spanish for good measure. TOP basically plays an exaggerated version of himself in the show and even directly references some of his dances and performances. Likewise, the story of Thanos forgetting his lyrics during the rap show finale echoes TOP doing the same in real life.

Thanos originally seemed to be a kind of Joker figure for The Squid Game, ie. a force of chaos and fun that does nothing but barely survive and would do anything to mess with everyone else. That is, until he eventually met a gruesome end when he was killed in the bathroom during a fight between the players. As Hwang explained to him The Hollywood Reporterthis moment was meant to show how people can lose sight of the battle against the system and instead turn against each other despite being on the same side. In your own words:

"We invent so many ways to divide us. We think everyone is our enemy. Everyone is someone you're up against. On the flip side of that, I think we're asking less questions about our underlying systems that made us behave this way, and I created this environment, I wanted the struggle between people to reflect that."

As for why Thanos had to die, Hwang admitted that he's one of his favorite characters, but it was the right time to kill him off. "I'll admit, I think the death was sudden," the creator added. “It was very intense, it was the right way at the right time for him to leave. The way he leaves the story, if you watch it until season three, you almost feel like he's still there in some way. about how he affects the plot."

The third season of The Squid Game will premiere on Netflix in 2025.