In the Squid Game finale, Il-nam challenges Gi-hun to one final game, and the moment may also contain a secret twist for Squid Game season 2. The Squid Game finale shocked fans everywhere when it revealed Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su) was behind the deadly competition. Though the show made it look like Il-nam died after the marble game, player 001 merely wanted to feel alive by participating in the life or death challenge and faked his demise. In reality, he was one of the architects behind the event. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who believed he had developed a genuine bond with the older man, feels betrayed after discovering Il-nam is alive. Then Il-nam, who's in bed and dying from a tumor, challenges Gi-hun to a final game to show him that his faith in humanity is ill-advised, betting him that no one would help a freezing man on the street outside.
Squid Game was a runaway hit for Netflix. After debuting on September 17, the series, created, written, and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, has continually set streaming viewership records. In its second full week, from September 27 to October 3, Nielsen indicated that viewers streamed Squid Game for more than 3.2 billion minutes. The series also reached more than 142 million subscriber households in its first month, becoming Netflix's most-streamed show ever.
Though the Squid Game finale reveals Il-nam was behind everything, another twist may be hiding in the episode. When Il-nam challenges Gi-hun to a game, he wants to test his faith in humanity. According to Il-nam, he will win the final Squid Game challenge if no one helps a homeless man on the street, but Gi-hun wins if someone lends a hand. In the end, Gi-hun wins when someone helps the freezing person; however, there's something peculiar about the moment. Despite hearing the rules, Gi-hun does nothing. He could've helped the homeless man himself and ended the game. However, he doesn't interfere. He just waits and watches, much like Il-nam. According to one fan theory (via Reddit), Il-nam didn't care about the homeless man and was testing Gi-hun to be his heir. The theory says that Il-nam even backed out of the deal after someone helped the homeless person, faking his death so he could continue his search for a replacement.
The theory has a surprising amount of evidence. Though Il-nam lost the game with the homeless man, he proved Gi-hun wasn't so different from him. After all, they both stayed in the safety of the building, playing games with a man's life. Gi-hun is out to go back to the games at the end of Squid Game season 1, supposedly looking to put an end to them. However, Gi-hun has already shown he's capable of duplicitous behavior, even trying to trick Il-nam during the game to win the marble competition. If Il-nam is looking for an heir, he'd want them going back to the games, so Gi-hun could still be a candidate.
Of course, the theory that Il-nam is searching for an heir also has significant issues. Namely, by all accounts, Il-nam is dead in Squid Game's ending. In the scene, Gi-hun doesn't check Il-nam's body properly, so there is a slight possibility that Il-nam faked his demise. However, unlike the previous fake death, Gi-hun is present the whole time. So there's nothing significant in the scene that suggests player oo1 will live on to search for an heir in Squid Game season 2. Whether or not Gi-hun takes over the games remains to be seen. But for Il-nam, it may be game over.