Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Gi-hun and Sang-woo face each other in the final Squid Game, taking the attacking and defending roles they knew as children. Their fight becomes a bloody struggle in the rain. Gi-hun gains the advantage but refuses to finish his friend, instead offering to invoke the rule that would end the contest without a prize. Sang-woo kills himself and asks Gi-hun to care for his mother, making Gi-hun the winner.
Released with the money, Gi-hun returns home to find his own mother dead. A year later, he remains withdrawn and barely uses his fortune. An invitation brings him to the dying Il-nam, who reveals that he helped create the games with other wealthy men and joined this contest for pleasure. They make a final wager over whether anyone will help a stranger freezing outside. Someone brings assistance before midnight, but Il-nam dies before responding to Gi-hun's victory.
Gi-hun changes his appearance and begins carrying out promises left behind by the dead. He takes Sae-byeok's brother Cheol to Sang-woo's mother and leaves a suitcase of money for them. On his way to visit Ga-yeong in Los Angeles, he sees the recruiter playing ddakji with another man. He misses the recruiter but takes the invitation away from the prospective contestant. At the airport, Gi-hun calls the organization, rejects its treatment of people as racehorses and turns away from his flight.