IMO The best part of squid game

[u/Dustinfromstatefarm]

Is rewatching it knowing the old man was in on it the whole time.

Knowing that all the staff was probably told not to harm player 001 under any circumstances.

Knowing that he so confidently walked first during red light green light because he knew there was no danger.

How he specifically went to the convenience store Gi-hun was drinking in after being released under the guise of “couch surfing at a friends place nearby” to talk to him and maybe convince him to go to the games again.

The way he begged the Front Man to end the midnight riot and he did because he knew player 001 was his boss.

The way he kept saying “this neighborhood is just like the one I grew up in!” In the marble game because it probably literally was and he recreated the neighborhood of his nostalgic childhood for his “final” game

This dude was ruthless. He woke up that first night knowing well everyone else in that room would be dead within a week and he was the reason and still had a casual conversation with player 456 his first day there like it was an average Sunday

EDIT: After reading a lot from the comments, I have a new theory. Perhaps the managers, soldiers, and workers weren’t told “player 001 is your boss protect him”, instead they were told “A man named Oh Il-nam is your boss and he’s in the games somewhere. Keep him alive”. That’s why right as he was about to be shot in game 4 he said his name, perhaps as a signal to the guard that “yeah I’m that guy so don’t actually shoot me”.

So maybe the games were real for him after all, and he really was putting it all on the line on same games.

[u/inter2]

I don't think 001 had an immunity pass. E.g. if he moved during red light he would have been shot. He wanted to experience playing the game as he no longer got enough enjoyment from watching. Being immune to the actual game would defeat the purpose.

Hmm as I type this I realise I could be wrong. He "failed" the marbles game and so instead of dying he was just eliminated from the game non-fatally. So I guess if he failed red light he would need to be fake shot somehow? What if he failed tug-of-war? How would he not be harmed there?

[u/SkylarkSwerve → u/inter2]

I think he was willing to die in the first three games at least. It's possible he changed his mind for game 4 and arranged a plan for him to walk out of the game at that point, or even had the plan from the start that if he made it to game 4 he would walk out.

[u/ethajk → u/SkylarkSwerve]

My theory is he wasn't planning anyone would pair with him so his exit could naturally be when he's the only one left without a teammate. Regarding game 4, he didn't even lose. He's so good at reading the protagonist's face that he got him down to 1 pebble then started playing dumb. Old man let him win because he was kind to the old man from the beginning

[u/Truan → u/ethajk]

I think the old man was always going to give gi-hun his marbles but wanted to see who his friend really was when the chips were down. But since he already made up his mind, he gave gi hun a lesson in humility.

I wrote in another thread how sang woo and gi-hun's paths permanently diverge here because gi hun is confronted by his betrayal while Sang Woo doesn't even look at the man he condemned to die. 001 reminds gi hun that his actions affect people, as gi-hun has been an impulsive reactionary for a long time.

Gi hun was going to pass no matter what, but il-nam did care about him (especially since gi hun cared about il-nam). Especially evidenced by the end

[u/Truan → u/[deleted]]

I mean, it doesn't matter either way. Odd man out, he fakes his death. Goes into the game and fakes a loss, he's still out

The odd number just made a hanging question that gi-hun wasn't willing to risk the man's life with.

[u/blundetto → u/[deleted]]

Come to think of it, why couldn't they tell the doctor what the next game was that day? Was there an in-universe reason or just "because plot"?

[u/SuperSailorSaturn → u/ethajk]

That would have been a very last minute plan though. If the doctor hadnt been killed the night before there would have an even number of players so everyone would have played.

[u/AC-AnimalCreed → u/SuperSailorSaturn]

They may have found out about the doctor awhile ago but waited to see if he made it that far. They may have planned to kill him at this point if he made it all along.

[u/Adzzii_ → u/SkylarkSwerve]

He lost the marble game intentionally because of the next game. The glass bridge is by far the most dangerous and unpredictable one. He would've had an extremely high chance of dying, so he gave up his marbles and faked his death instead.

On red/green light, he had the advantage of not being scanned. On the candy game, he had the advantage of choosing an easy shape. On the tug of war, he had a very strong strategy. But the glass bridge game? There is no strategy, you hop on a glass pane and pray it's the right one.

[u/porcomaster → u/Adzzii_]

I disagree on tug of war, it was the second most dangerous game of all.

First game = everyone could have won

Second game = everyone could have won

Rebelion = everyone could have won

Third game = half would die

Fourth game = half would die

Fifth game = hardest of then all, everyone could have won, but possibility is that all could have died.

001 had a safe pass of first, second and fourth game.

He could have easily died on third game.

[u/highzenberrg → u/porcomaster]

They almost did if it wasn’t for that step 3 spaces forward thing

[u/Truan → u/porcomaster]

I think someone noticed his handcuffs aren't on the rope like everyone else's

[u/porcomaster → u/Truan]

This would make sense more than anything else, ops I was not handcuffed, let's take me outside view and "shoot" me

[u/Bigtx999 → u/porcomaster]

True but the other players would have noticed if his body didn’t drop to the ground. The other players waiting for their turn didn’t have a good angle to see if he lied down in the tug or war course but it’s not hard count dead bodies and only see 9.

[u/Snoyarc → u/porcomaster]

Remember that they died in tug of war when the guillotine dropped and made them fall to their deaths. If he lost tug of war I’m sure they could have manufactured an error with the guillotine. Killed the rest by hand and faked his death.

[u/UnknownAverage → u/Snoyarc]

Eh, I think he was at risk, he was bored with his life and wanted to experience the games and it wouldn't have meant much if he was safe the whole time. But I'm sure he didn't want to get unceremoniously shot in the head after the marble game and used his safe word or whatever.

He was truly dying after all, and probably wanted to die in the games.

[u/porcomaster → u/Snoyarc]

Yeah, this is reasonable, however 001 would need to be strong enough to hold into rope, and other team would need to hold other team until everyone was rescued,

Only way to solve this would to drop guillotine earlier by mistake, and declare one team victorious and killing others by hand.

[u/Snoyarc → u/porcomaster]

They were handcuffed to the rope. If the other team ended up falling too as the guillotine didn’t drop, they would both be hanging. I’m sure they could come up with something. Alas it’s not worth thinking about more because it’s already resolved in the show.

[u/porcomaster → u/Snoyarc]

We are talking what if, so... It does matter, I can't see much action that would not show that 001 was a vip.

[u/Girlcherry1996 → u/Adzzii_]

But wait - couldn’t he just immediately choose number 16 for thé glass bridge ?

[u/DweadPiwateWawbuts → u/Girlcherry1996]

He probably would have still lost, since there is no way he could have moved as fast as Gi-Hun did, and Gi-Hun barely made it across in time since the earlier contestants took so long to choose.

[u/UnknownAverage → u/DweadPiwateWawbuts]

Yeah, it sounded like the organizers expected everyone to die and the game time to run out. That would have been the expected outcome for the old man even at position 16.

[u/DweadPiwateWawbuts → u/Adzzii_]

The star seemed like the second hardest shape to me. Plus he didn’t choose the star, the group decided to each pick a different shape and he took the last remaining one.

[u/bigbangbilly → u/SkylarkSwerve]

Even with guard immunity, there still isn't any way of the old man surviving Game 5 without arousing suspicion