Warning! SPOILERS for Squid Game season 1.

The death of player 067 in Netflix's astonishingly popular Korean survival thriller Squid Game stands among the show's most emotionally devastating scenes, but how exactly did the character die, and is there any way she could make a comeback for a potential season 2? 456 individuals each plagued by mountains of financial debt came to the fictional island in writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk's horrifying blood bath, and despite 455 of them (presumably) meeting their end in variously grizzly ways, few hit the audience as hard as the tragic murder of a pickpocket.

Rising actress and model Jung Ho-yeon has gained serious attention for her role as player 067, a young North Korean defector turned criminal named Kang Sae-byeok. She is repeatedly referred to as "Pickpocket" by Squid Game's protagonist Seong Gi-hun, at first because she actually stole quite a bit of money from him prior to entering the games, but later on as they bonded in the face of unspeakable horror, as a term of great affection. Player 067 is introduced as a fiercely independent character, and garners sympathy early on as it is made clear she has a violent history with the show's most abusive and consistently obnoxious character, Jang Deok-su (player 101). By necessity she finds a few unlikely allies while teaming up with Gi-hun's team, and in one of Squid Game's many emotionally traumatizing moments, ends up bonding with another young woman named Ji-yeong (player 240), only to watch her get shot in the head over a game of marbles.

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Prior to the series' penultimate episode, "Front Man", Sae-byeok was severely injured after narrowly surviving the fifth game: a bizarre combination of hopscotch and a memory challenge which forced the remaining players to cross a glass bridge without breaking through the wrong panels and plummeting to their death. Though she was one of just three people to survive the challenge--the others being Gi-hun and his childhood friend Cho Sang-woo (player 218)--the post-game explosion of the bridge sent glass shards flying into Sae-byeok's abdomen, causing her to lose a critical amount of blood. While Gi-hun ran to the guards pleading for help for his dying friend, Sang-woo saw his opening and promptly stabbed the already motionless girl in the neck, securing his spot as one of Squid Game's two finalists.

Kang Sae-byeok looks on with a helpless expression in Squid Game.

One popular fan theory suggests that player 067 may still be alive, as her elimination from the game was never formally announced over the intercom like all the rest. She also had a knife on her person at the time of her death, leading some to believe she could have cut her way out of the black box before being incinerated. This theory is unlikely, however, as most of the scene was produced in slow motion, with only music and the intermittent sounds of Gi-hun's heartbreaking reaction audible. The announcement could have been made at any point during this scene, and the prize money representing her death was shown being added to the prize pool--a clear indication that the games policies remained intact, even if the viewer couldn't hear it. Given that Sae-byeok was already approaching death's door prior to being violently stabbed in the neck, it seems implausible that she could have escaped several arm guards in her condition.

Sae-byeok has amassed a large fanbase as one of Squid Game's most popular fan favorites, so it is understandable why so many people are desperately looking for any way to bring her back should the games return for a season 2. It is possible Dong-hyuk could utilize flashbacks or introduce a new character important to 067's past in order to keep Jung Ho-yeon tethered to the series in some way, however the showrunner may want to avoid using any cheap tricks to bring her character back full-time. One of the reasons the show is so disturbingly gripping is that it forces the viewer to experience the horror of the games alongside the players, whose deaths you are supposed to feel in a very raw, unsettling way. Squid Game already pulled off one resurrection, and going to that well a second time risks permanent damage to the audience's emotional investment in these amazing characters.

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