“We are not horses. We are humans. Humans are…” These were the final words spoken by Seong Gi-hun in the iconic closing scene of Squid Game Season 3 — but what’s their real meaning?
It was one of the series that marked the history of modern television production: Squid Game is the most-watched show ever by Netflix viewers — a series that shared with the rest of the world a raw and brutal vision of South Korean society. The show has reached its third and final season, ending with a finale that left everyone speechless. The protagonist, Seong Gi-hun, makes it to the end of the games once again in his return to the deadly competition. But this time, things will turn out differently.
Seong Gi-hun’s last words and how we got to that scene
From the very beginning of the second season, Seong Gi-hun’s goal was to put an end to those terrible games — an extreme symbol of what can happen in a society torn apart by economic inequality. A large group of people desperate for money offers their lives by participating in games where you can die every day. Those who survive may eventually win a huge amount of money, but if you fail… you’re dead. All of this is to entertain a group of shady VIPs who finance the games solely for the purpose of watching what unfolds from their privileged seats.
For this reason, Seong Gi-hun decides to participate in the games a second time, this time with the goal of stopping them. His plan builds up throughout the second season but ultimately fails miserably: unfortunately, the games continue, and the participants show no signs of wanting to stop. Gi-hun keeps surviving, a growing veil of helplessness visible on his face. Until one of the participants he had grown fond of, Jun-hee, gives birth to a child during the games. She will die, but not before making Seong Gi-hun promise to protect the child until the very end.
And this is what Seong Gi-hun will do, game after game. He will always hold the child in his arms, not even trusting the child’s biological father, Lee Myung-gi, after discovering his involvement in the games. Due to an unfortunate series of events, Seong Gi-hun and the child will be the only survivors of the final game, and according to a ruthless rule, one of them must die — or both will be “eliminated” by the organization.
In the most touching scene of the entire Squid Game series, Seong Gi-hun throws himself into the void, taking his own life and leaving the child alive as the winner of the games. But before ending his life, he speaks some words clearly to the VIPs, confident they are watching him closely. It’s a cryptic message with a meaning that deserves careful analysis.
“We are not horses. We are humans. Humans are…”
What is the meaning of these words? Why doesn’t Seong Gi-hun finish the sentence, and what message was he trying to send to the VIPs and the game organization before dying?
The first sentence, “we are not horses,” has a clear meaning: we are not animals to be bet on. Our lives have value that should be respected, a dignity we strive to build every day. By your behavior—creating these games and forcing us to kill each other for money—you are demeaning the meaning of our lives, reducing us to beings who only chase the logic of money, without any other values.
Those words represent an attack on the entire South Korean society and economy, which has been the goal that Squid Game has aimed for from the very beginning. By making survival so difficult, the economy creates a desperate population, stealing dignity from their existence: there is no longer room for anything else, and citizens are forced to devote all their energy to schemes and tricks to make money—not always honestly—since becoming rich is nearly impossible. Desperation can lead to extreme acts, and in such a context, the existence of games created to entertain the rich while the poor try to kill each other becomes a symbol of a broken, dead, hopeless society.
All of this is what Seong Gi-hun wants to say to the cruel VIPs who are watching him. “We are humans. And humans are…” — then we see his gaze drift into the void. What’s the point of trying to explain? Those people have shown they have no heart, no capacity to feel that kind of empathy. They watch the cruelty of the human condition while eating luxurious food, their faces hidden behind masks, sitting on comfortable sofas. It’s wasted breath. That’s why Seong Gi-hun stops his sentence before throwing himself into the abyss. He had started speaking in an attempt to leave a mark, but halfway through, he realizes that none of the men listening are capable of receiving that kind of message. Despair wins, and he takes his own life.
At the same time, by removing himself from the scene, Seong Gi-hun shifts everyone’s attention to the solitary creature left behind: the baby. And the VIPs, in some way, are forced to reflect on what they are witnessing, after hearing the beginning of the phrase, “humans are…” That baby, still innocent, without guilt or responsibility, represents what humans would naturally be: beautiful creatures who deserve an honest chance, without being forced into impossible maneuvers just to survive.
From this perspective, by taking his own life and leaving the sentence unfinished, Seong Gi-hun emphasizes the message he wanted to convey. The words might not have reached anyone, but the image of a defenseless child—whose parents have just died because of those very games—might succeed in communicating what a human being has become in contemporary society. That message will reach someone, perhaps as evidenced by the furrowed brow of the Front Man as he takes the child into his arms. What have humans done to deserve this?
The unfinished phrase “Humans are…” will become an iconic moment in the world of television series and will be remembered for a long time: its meaning was never explicitly explained by Squid Game, but in a way, it has reached all of us.
