Park Gyu-young's Squid Game Season 2 Character Explanation and Identity Twist

Notice! This article contains spoilers for Squid Game Season 2.

Park Gyu-young plays an important role in squid game Season 2, but her character's narrative is much more distorted than one might imagine. Like most squid game Season 2 cast members Park Gyu-young is a new addition to the show's roster and was not a part of Season 1. Best known for her roles in several other TV shows like Sweet home, A good day to be a dogand It's okay not to be okayPark Gyu-young appears as one of the main secondary protagonists in squid game 2nd season.

Since most of the new additions to the show's cast in season two play competitors in the titular games, it's hard not to assume that Park Gyu-young would follow suit as well. However, after initially maintaining an air of ambiguity surrounding the role he will adopt, squid game season two finally reveals who she plays. The reveal is surprising in more ways than one, because it highlights how Park Gyu-young's character is involved in the darker behind-the-scenes power struggles that unfold throughout the season as the games progress.

Park Gyu-young's No-eul is one of the masked guards in the game Squid

She wears the mask with the triangle symbol

Like others involved in the games, Park Gyu-young's character No-eul also receives the games' calling card in the first moments of the show. However, during the game "Red Light, Green Light", squid game season 2 finally reveals that she is one of the snipers shooting at players from one of the cabins at the top. This confirms that, instead of being one of the competitors, she entered the games as a guard.

Although No-eul diligently fulfills her responsibility to kill players who lose the game, she finds herself at odds with other guards when she refuses to be part of their corrupt practices. No-eul wears a mask with a triangle printed on it. squid game didn't explicitly mention what these symbols mean, but those with the triangle are like soldiers who are above those with circles but below those with masks with square symbols. Based on this, No-eul seems to be somewhere in the middle in terms of the hierarchy followed among the guards.

No-eul is a North Korean defector who tries to find her daughter

His daughter was just one year old when he left her behind

In squid game In episode 2 of season 2, No-eul meets a private investigator and offers him money to help her find her daughter. However, the private detective becomes frustrated and assures him that he has already tried. He also implies that No-eul attacked one of his superiors in North Korea before fleeing the country, which makes it nearly impossible for him to find his daughter. Disheartened by the private detective's statements, No-eul looks at a photo of her husband and daughter and wonders if she will ever be reunited with her family.

squid game Season 2 Episode 2 also establishes that No-eul lives in her car and receives her gaming calling card moments after she's about to give up. While episode 2 doesn't reveal how becoming a guard in the game will help her find her daughter, this suggests a connection between their desperation and the opportunities that games apparently present. Episode 3 eventually features an interaction between No-eul and the Games Official, which confirms the real reason she agreed to become one of the guards.

Why No-eul became one of Squid Game's guards

She believed the money from the games would help her find her daughter

Some of the guards in squid game The first season was involved in an illegal organ trading operation, where they kept some of the lost contestants alive to harvest their organs and sell them on the black market. Even in season 2, some guards are involved with the same. One even intentionally shoots a contestant lost in the "Red Light, Green Light" game in the leg to ensure he is alive and his vital organs are functioning. However, No-eul interrupts the operation by shooting the man in the head and ending his suffering.

The games official, who apparently leads the illegal organ trading operation, asks one of the guards who shot the man to death. When the guard reveals that it was 011, which is No-eul's uniform number, the Officer invites her to his office to ask why she did it. No-eul claims that she is just fulfilling her responsibility as a guard by killing the game's defenseless losers. Even when the Official tries to defend the organ trading operation by claiming that the dying players' organs will eventually help someone else, No-eul refuses to accept his justification.

That's when the officer remembers that when he met her seven years ago in the hospital, she was vulnerable and had lost everything after leaving North Korea. He hired her as one of the guards because he felt bad for her. No-eul says she is grateful for the opportunity, but refuses to become an accomplice in her organ trading business. Enraged by your defiance, the officer also reminds her that she said she would do anything to find the child she left behind. This suggests that No-eul entered the games to acquire enough money to hire a detective and find her daughter.

Why do the other masked guards attack 011 in Squid Game Season 2

They do this to stop her from stopping the organ trading operation.

No-eul apparently becomes defiant towards the Officer and the other guards in squid game Season 2 because she starts to lose hope in the system she is a part of. Previously, she was driven by the goal of finding her daughter. But after the private investigator asks her to give up, she wonders if the search for her son is still worth it. A part of her also seems to have empathy for the players when she sees a man who only seems to be at the games to help his son fight cancer. mirroring his own despair and pain.

After his interaction with No-eul, the Officer realizes that she has become a problem for him in the games. No-eul proves him right by killing another player who was intentionally left half-dead by the guards. Therefore, the Officer allows other guards to attack and threaten her. As a result, two guards break into his room in squid game Season 2 and warn her to stay out of their way.