Warning: There are spoilers for Squid Game Season 2.
squid game Season 2's twist with the masked guards addresses a Season 1 mystery about gaming. Much of the games' inner workings are revealed in squid game season 1, including how players are recruited, why Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su) created the sadistic competitions, and establishing the games' global reach through the presence of VIPs. squid game The season 1 finale showed that despite Il-nam's death, the games would continue and be supervised by Front Man (Lee Byung-hun).
One element of the games that wasn't explored as much in Season 1 was the masked guards and why they cooperate. The information provided came from Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who was just pretending to be one of the guards to find his brother. One of squid game new characters from season 2, Kang No-eul (Park Gyu-young) offers much-needed insight into what life is really like for the masked guardsalong with the reason why they voluntarily cooperate.
Squid Game Season 2 Episode 2 No-eul Twist Solve a Mystery of the Masked Men
The guards are also the target of his despair
One of squid game The biggest twist of season 2, which occurs in the second episode, is that No-eul is not a potential player, but one of the games' masked guards. No-eul's story suggests that game leaders target individuals desperate to be guards, just as they target individuals desperate to be players. squid gamethe guards cooperate because, like the players, they are desperate and have nowhere else to turnand the guards have the luxury of survival.
While not all guards may be as desperate as No-eul, Front Man's story is yet another indication of how games target desperate individuals. Before working for the games and becoming the leader, Hwang In-ho was a police officer who fell from grace after he was discovered to have taken bribes to cover his sick wife's medical expenses. For desperate individuals like No-eul and In-ho, the money and power offered by working in games is attractive.
Squid Game leaders targeting other desperate people makes a lot of sense
It fits perfectly with the program's themes
The simple truth behind the guards' cooperation is a perfect extension of the squid gamethemes. The relentless cycle of capitalism continues, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Members of the lower socioeconomic classes turn against each other, while the corrupt and the ultra-rich delight in promoting this division. Despite the power they think they wield, guards are also victims of the games, just like Front Manwhich continues the destructive cycle rather than trying to break it.
Of course, the guards' cooperation is also facilitated through their illicit business of selling musicians' organs on the black market. Their desire to do so goes beyond profit and is linked to the desperation that motivates them to be as ruthless as some of their members. squid gameplayers feel like they have to be. If Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) successfully destroys the games in squid game In season three, it will be intriguing to see what this means for No-eul and the other guards.