Squid Game season 1 ending explained and season 2 predictions

Why did Il-nam create the games in Squid Game?

Oh Il-nam, a cheerful old man who participates in the games despite his looming illness, reveals himself to Gi-hun as the creator a year after the end of the final game. He believes people living in poverty won’t be given another chance at life, so he offers a unique opportunity to those with no other options: play life or death games for money.

"At some point, all my clients began to tell me the same thing. That they had no joy in life anymore. So, we all got together and did some pondering. What can we do to have some fun?        — Oh Il-nam"

In his eyes, Il-nam was being generous. He had an incredible amount of money and wanted to do something meaningful with it, so he created a pool for other billionaires to gamble on a higher level: Squid Game. To him, betting on human lives was equal to betting on horse races, in morality and entertainment. Humanity is doomed to distrust, pain and poverty, so why not give back to those people while having some fun?

He dies with this ideology, and the games continue on. Most likely, In-ho will continue to act as The Front Man, while a new billionaire host will be chosen to preside over the games.

What happened to In-ho and Jun-ho in Squid Game?

The side plot for season one follows Detective Hwang Jun-ho as he searches for his missing brother In-ho. He overhears Gi-hun’s attempt to inform the police of Squid Game, and recognizes the business card as one that his brother received years ago.

During his infiltration of the games facility, Jun-ho finds a room filled with detailed information about all participants and winners of the games dating back to 1988. Jun-ho finds his brother’s name listed as the winner of the 28th Squid Game in 2015.

What most likely happened to In-ho is that much like Gi-hun, he could not get over what happened to him in the games. However, unlike Gi-hun, he lost faith in humanity as a whole and became subject to Il-nam’s ideology. It’s possible that he attempted to get back in contact with the Squid Game directors, who trained him to act as The Front Man to run the games for Il-nam. Another possibility could be that Il-nam indoctrinated In-ho directly after sensing that his views aligned with his own.

In any case, In-ho’s indoctrination into the Squid Game program led to his disappearance to the outside world, becoming a missing person as he worked full-time as The Front Man. In-ho turned his back on humanity, including his brother, to facilitate the games he believed humanity deserved. Jun-ho could have become a detective because of this event, but the brother he found was not the one he was looking for.